5 Keys for Virginia Tech Against Wake Forest

It has been an up and down week for Frank Beamer and the Hokies.

The up was Logan Thomas’s performance and the win against Miami. The down was the defensive performance and the injuries that led to it.

The Hokies’ defense lost both James Gayle (defensive end) and Jeron Gouveia-Winslow (linebacker) in the first quarter. It has yet to be announced if either of them will play this weekend. This is compounded by the fact that Virginia Tech lost Antoine Hopkins for the season against Clemson.

Virginia Tech moved up to No. 19 in the AP rankings after the win against the Hurricanes. The game may have been the best game of the season so far in the ACC.

Thomas was able to lead the winning touchdown drive in the final three minutes of the game. The win kept the Hokies in the ACC Coastal Division Race.

The Hokies can’t focus on the win any longer. They are now heading to Winston-Salem to take on the surprisingly good Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake Forest is 3-0 in ACC play; they beat Florida State at home last Saturday.

If Virginia Tech wants to avoid the same fate as Florida State, then they must do five things on Saturday.

5. David Wilson Needs to Keep it Going

David Wilson, with the exception of last week, has been the Virginia Tech offense. He refuses to go down and has a flare for the dramatic.

Sometimes this refusal to go down can cause fumbles, but it can also prove to be exceptional.

Wilson has rushed for 767 yards and five touchdowns this season. One hundred and twenty eight of those yards came against Miami. Logan Thomas had a great day, but his performance doesn’t happen unless Wilson plays well.

Wilson’s success led to Thomas’s.  Miami had to focus on the running game which opened up the passing game.

Wilson is an every-down back that can keep the Wake Forest offense off the field. He needs to have a good day in order to take some pressure off of the Hokies’ defense.

4. Offensive Line Has to Play Well

Virginia Tech’s offensive line has been a lot like Logan Thomas: inconsistent.

They couldn’t run block during the non-conference games, they couldn’t block at all against Clemson, but they can block everything against Miami.

Logan Thomas was upright for most of the day against Miami and David Wilson had holes to run through. The line had a great day, but they need to keep this up against Wake Forest.

Thomas can’t play well if he is on his back, so the offensive line needs to provide him with good protection.

3. The Secondary Needs to Bounce Back

There is one thing that can be said about Virginia Tech’s secondary: they are ball hawks.

Interceptions are a consistent phenomenon in Blacksburg. There is one drawback to this philosophy, though: Taking constant risks means that you will get burned every once in a while.

The secondary has played decently this season, but they occasionally misread a route or attempt to jump a route. If the ball is completed then the receiver is behind the defense and has a clear path to the end zone.

Miami was able to torch Virginia Tech’s secondary last week.

As a team they passed for 283 yards and four touchdowns, the Hokies were unable to cause turnovers against the Hurricanes. The secondary has to play well against Wake Forest and their quarterback Tanner Price.

Price has proven himself to be a very good player and it is up to the secondary to shut him down.

2. The Front 7 Has to Stay on the Field

Virginia Tech’s front seven has had injury issues so far this season.

Hopefully, the Hokies have Gayle and Winslow back against Wake, but that isn’t a guarantee. Their injuries loomed large over the game against Miami.

Miami’s Lamar Miller was able to run for 166 yards against the Hokies. The rushing defense was Virginia Tech’s biggest strength during the first five weeks of the season; it looked like their biggest weakness against the Hurricanes.

The reason that the front seven is No. 2 on this list is because they have been burned against Wake Forest before.

Wake Forest’s running back, Josh Harris, ran for 241 yards against the Hokies last season. Harris doesn’t appear to be slowing down, either. He ran for 136 yards on 13 carries against Florida State last week.

The front seven has to stop the run and stay on the field on Saturday. 

1. Logan Thomas has to Prove Who He is

As of now, we really don’t know what to expect from Logan Thomas. Thomas can lay an egg against Clemson and follow that up with an unstoppable performance against Miami.

This game against Wake Forest will go a long way in determining who Logan Thomas is as a quarterback.

Is he the guy that completed 23-of-25 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns, or is he the guy that couldn’t get a first down against Clemson?

We should be able to find out this weekend. The most important statistic from last week’s game was that Thomas didn’t throw a single interception.

Before last week Thomas was almost guaranteed to throw one or two picks in a game.

Logan Thomas can’t turn the ball over if Virginia Tech is going to win this game. If Thomas can move the ball and keep from turning it over then the Hokies should win.

The Demon Deacons aren’t a pushover anymore; the Hokies can’t overlook them and win.