Hokies' Matchup vs. Boise State comes at Inopportune Time in the Season

After concluding the 2009 season by defeating Tennessee 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Virginia Tech will open the 2010 regular season on the largest of stages.

Tech will kick off its season against championship contender Boise State on Labor Day, Sept. 6, in what will certainly be a matchup between two teams in the preseason top 10.

The game will be ESPN’s kickoff coverage of college football, and will take place at FedEx Field—home of the Washington Redskins.

Originally scheduled for Oct. 2, the game was moved up to Labor Day weekend in an attempt to generate immediate buzz about college football and get fans excited about the upcoming season.

However, facing elite competition right out of the gate might not be the best thing for a Tech team that has had a tendency to struggle in the beginning of the season.

Since 2004, Tech has started its schedule by playing a Football Bowl Subdivision school five times, compiling a mediocre 2-3 record to show for it.

While two of those losses were to teams that would go on to win the national championship, University of Southern California in 2004 and Alabama in 2009, there was an embarrassing loss to East Carolina in 2008.

The two wins, both of which were unimpressive, came against North Carolina State in 2005 by a tune of 20-16, and East Carolina in 2007, 17-7.

More importantly, the Hokies have a tendency to struggle with offense early on, averaging just 19 points per game in these contests.

Last season was a perfect example of the early-season issues on offense. While some of the struggles can be credited to Alabama’s impressive defense, the Hokie offense was very anemic. Tech could only muster 155 total yards the entire night and was forced to punt eight times.

In contrast, the Hokies finished the season with an average of 208 yards a game on the ground alone.

While Tech has never been known for dominating teams with offense, it could start changing in 2010 with the seemingly limitless weapons it brings back.

A backfield with redshirt sophomore Ryan Williams and healthy redshirt junior Darren Evans could bring the most potent running attack Tech has ever seen. Combining that with dynamic senior Tyrod Taylor and receivers Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale, head coach Frank Beamer might have an offense that gives any defense fits.

However, involving all of the weapons in one system could take time.

The Hokies’ first opponent, Boise State, is returning 21 starters from last year’s undefeated season. Come September, the Broncos will likely already be in sync and ready to start a run at the Bowl Championship Series title.

If the game were played in October, offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring would have ample time to work out any kinks in the system during the first few games.

Now he will be forced to make those adjustments while playing some of the toughest competition in the country.

Typically, programs schedule big games against out-of-conference opponents to improve BCS ratings, but in Tech’s case, it has shown to be just the opposite.

In 2007, the Hokies epitomized this, falling one spot away from the title game because of a week two loss to LSU, the eventual national champion.

So early in the season, the Hokies were but a shell of the team they came to be. In fact, it was in that loss to LSU that Hokie Nation was introduced to quarterback Taylor, changing the direction of Tech’s season.

In years where one loss can ruin a shot at a national championship, scheduling a big game to an Alabama or LSU in the opening weeks is an extremely risky move.

While there is no doubt that Beamer will do all he can to get his boys prepared for Boise State, there are just some things that only a tune-up game or two can fix.