Virginia Tech Football: Will the Hokies Win the ACC?

There was one question for Frank Beamer’s Hokies heading into this season. Could they defend their ACC title, despite losing the winningest quarterback in school history?

For the first time in the last few years, the national title talks had quieted down. This was due to the departures of Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams and Darren Evans.

Their departures did not quiet the talks of defending the Hokies ACC crown. Virginia Tech is in the driver’s seat to defend the coastal division title, which would allow them to play for the ACC title, again. Tyrod Taylor’s replacement, Logan Thomas, is the lynchpin to any title talks circulating around Blacksburg.

Thomas played inconsistently for the first five weeks of the season. He showed flashes of how good he could be as well as periods of poor play. The Hokies cruised through the out of conference schedule to a 4-0 record, but stumbled in their first ACC contest against Clemson.

The Virginia Tech offense was only able to score three points against the Tigers. A lot of the blame for the loss was placed on Thomas. Thomas had only thrown four touchdowns to five interceptions up until that point in the season. But then Thomas and the offense clicked the following week against Miami.

The young quarterback threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns against the Hurricanes. He also ran for two scores. Thomas followed that up with a good performance against Wake Forest. He threw two touchdowns and added two more on the ground against the Demon Deacons. The best news of all from these two games is that Thomas didn’t throw a single interception.

The Hokies offense now appears to be back on track and humming, which is good news for Virginia Tech’s efforts to repeat as ACC champions. While the offense has turned it around, it appears that the defense is heading in the opposite direction.

Bud Foster’s defense has played well this season. They are a top 15 defense but there have been some issues. The big problem facing the Hokies D is that they have been bitten by the injury bug. This started against Clemson.

Virginia Tech lost starting defensive tackle Antoine Hopkins for the season to a torn ACL. They then lost defensive end James Gayle and linebacker Jeron Gouveia-Winslow during the Miami game. It appears that Gayle will return this week to play against Boston College, but Gouveia-Winslow is done for the season after suffering a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot.   

Winslow will be replaced by Alonzo Tweedy for the rest of the season. The Hokies also got some bad news this week. It appears that they have lost All-American cornerback Jayron Hosley for the Boston College game. Hosley is nursing an injured hamstring that he suffered against Miami and aggravated against Wake Forest.

The fact that Virginia Tech’s defense is still good is a tribute to Bud Foster and the team’s depth.

As long as the offense can continue to play well then the Hokies should be in good shape. If you add that with the defense getting healthier then Virginia Tech could be a formidable force in the ACC.

The Hokies will, with the possible exception of the game against Georgia Tech, be favored to win the rest of their regular season games. Virginia Tech controls its own destiny. If Frank Beamer’s squad can win then they will probably have a rematch with Clemson in the ACC Championship Game come December.

If this rematch occurs, Clemson should be concerned because this isn’t the same Hokies team that they played in Week 5. Only one thing is certain; the ACC title goes through Blacksburg.