Virginia Tech Football: 5 Things to Watch for Against Marshall

It wasn’t the best week for the Hokies. The big news coming out of Blacksburg is that Dyrell Roberts is done for the year. He broke his arm while returning the opening kickoff against Arkansas State on Saturday. Roberts also suffered a season ending injury last season. The Hokies didn’t move in the AP Poll, ranked 13th, but moved up to 11th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Virginia Tech is heading to West Virginia this weekend to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd. Marshall is 1-2 this season. They beat Southern Miss but lost to West Virginia and Ohio in blowout fashion. The Hokies should be able to handle Marshall easily.

The game against West Virginia is probably the best preview of the Marshall team the Hokies will see. The Thundering Herd played tough early against the Mountaineers, but they were blown out in the second half.

The game should never be in doubt, but the following is a list of five things to watch for when the Hokies play Marshall on Saturday.

5. Offensive Line Play

This was the number five thing to watch for last week as well. The offensive line didn’t play great against Arkansas State last week. The loss of guard David Wang loomed over the game.

The real problem that surfaced for the offensive line was run blocking. The Hokies were held to 135 yards rushing for the game. The Red Wolves expected the run and they had a game plan to stop it. There weren’t any holes for David Wilson and Josh Oglesby to run through. Luckily, QB Logan Thomas was able to make them pay through the air.

The unit did well in pass blocking, but the Hokies need to be able to run the ball. This is the last tune up game before the real test begins in conference play. Look for the Hokies offensive line to do a better job of opening holes for the run.

4. Jayron Hosley in the Return Game

Jayron had a great day against Arkansas State as a cornerback. He didn’t have a great day as a return man. Jayron Hosley is quick and elusive, which is the perfect combination for a punt returner. He was excellent last year, but he hasn’t been as good this year.

He returned three punts for 10 yards against the Red Wolves (3.3 yd avg.). Eight of those yards came on one return. Hosley does one thing that can lead to great things, but can also lead to bad things. He attempts to make something out of nothing. When it works it is heroic, but when it doesn’t he leaves fans wondering why he tried.

This year he has been running east to west more then he has north to south. In the attempt to make a play he occasionally records big losses, trading decent field position for worse field position. Look for Hosley to make smarter decisions in the return game against Marshall.

3. Wide Receiver Play

The Hokies lost some depth at wide receiver this week with the loss of Dyrell Roberts. D.J. Coles stepped up in his absence. He had two receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came on a screen pass to Coles that he ran 49 yards to the end zone.

Danny Coale also had a big day. He caught seven passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. Coale’s huge day led the Hokies to victory against the Red Wolves. These were the positives, but there were some negatives.

The Hokies receivers need to stop dropping passes. Marcus Davis is the guilty party. Davis has exponential talent. He is tall and fast, but that combination doesn’t do much good if he drops balls that hit him in his chest.

Jarrett Boykin has also had a subpar year up to this point. He has 10 receptions on the year for 93 yards and one touchdown. He is the Hokies big play threat, but he needs to step up and become that again this year. Look to see how the wide receiving corp plays against Marshall on Saturday.

2. Quarterback Play

Logan Thomas was No. 1 on this list for the first two weeks of the season, but he has dropped to No. 2 this week. He had a good bounce back performance against Arkansas State. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns.

The one drawback is that he threw two interceptions. Thomas can’t turn the ball over if the Hokies want to win in conference play. Thomas looked a lot better than he did against ECU, so hopefully he can continue to mature as a quarterback.

The good news is that Marshall isn’t great against the pass. They allowed Ohio to pass for 288 yards last week. Look for Logan Thomas to continue to grow and have a good day against Marshall.

1. David Wilson Bounce Back

David Wilson had his worst game of the season last week against Arkansas State. Wilson carried the ball 21 times for 88 yards and a touchdown. A lot of the blame can be placed on the offensive line (No. 5) but this is Wilson’s team. He needs to play well if the Hokies are going to win.

He is still one of the 10 best running backs in the nation but he needs to have a bounce back performance this weekend. Marshall allowed Ohio to run for 271 yards, so Wilson could have a big day. If the offensive line plays well then Wilson could definitely run for 150 yards Saturday and 200 yards is always a possibility.

David Wilson’s bounce back isn’t immensely important to this game, but a bounce back would allow him to go into conference play with some momentum. Look for Wilson to have a big day against the Thundering Herd.

The Hokies success is tied to David Wilson for now, and he has the ability to carry the load. If Wilson has a good performance, then the Hokies should be able to win this game by at least three touchdowns. This is the last tune up before Virginia Tech plays Clemson, so this should be a good indicator of what’s to come.