Virginia Tech vs. Virginia Football: Virginia or UNC More Troublesome for VT?
Virginia Tech survived a furious comeback by North Carolina to secure a 24-21 victory at home on Thursday night. The Hokies can secure a spot in the ACC Championship game on December 3rd with a Virginia loss to Florida State this weekend. If it wins in Tallahassee, the “Commonwealth Cup” will also decide which team wins the Coastal division of the ACC.
But regardless of the ramifications of the game, will the Hoos be more of a challenge for their in-state rivals than UNC?
Probably not.
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The game will be played in Charlottesville and Virginia Tech may not come out with as much intensity if it knows the game doesn’t mean anything for the ACC Championship. However, the Hokies haven’t lost to UVA since 2003 no matter where the game has been played and they are still fighting for an at-large bid to a BCS bowl if they lose to Clemson.
The biggest problem Tech had was fending off a ferocious Tar Heel defensive front seven which includes future NFL players like Quinton Coples, Tydreke Powell, Zach Brown and Kevin Riddick. Their defensive line also weighs an average of 293 pounds compared to Virginia’s 275 pounds with no player over 280 pounds and no major NFL prospects other than end Cam Johnson, who is rated as the seventh-best prospect at the position by ESPN.
The other big problem was North Carolina’s offensive line which opened up large holes for the running backs. The Cavaliers have a great line of their own but it was not enough to beat the two teams they played with rush defenses in the top fourth in the country—Tech ranks 13th against the rush out of those 120 teams.
Virginia also has Chase Minnifield at cornerback but he can’t cover both Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale. Other than that, North Carolina is either equal or better than Virginia at every other position and proved it earlier in the season with a 28-17 win.
Crazy things happen in rivalry games but on paper, Virginia Tech should have an easier time with Virginia than it did with North Carolina.
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