Virginia Tech Football: 4 Things the Hokies Must Do Saturday to Avoid the Upset

The stakes are always high when the Virginia Tech Hokies and Virginia Cavaliers meet in the annual battle for the Commonwealth Cup. This year, the stakes are as high as they've ever been, with the winner going to Charlotte to face Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

The ACC Championship is nothing new for Frank Beamer and his squad, but for second-year coach Mike London and his Cavaliers, a chance to play for a conference title would be a giant leap for the Virginia program.

UVA is riding an emotional high off an exciting one point victory at Florida State, and will be brimming with confidence Saturday afternoon.

Virginia Tech may have been in situations like this before, but they need to ensure focus overrides complacence because the Wahoos will be ready to play.

Here are four things Tech's staff and players need to accomplish if they want to get another shot at Clemson:

1. Score in the Red Zone

This is an area in which the Hokies have struggled a bit this season and, unfortunately for them, an area in which the Virginia defense has excelled.

The Wahoos' defense is ranked fourth in the country in red zone efficiency at 69 percent, while the Hokies' red zone offense checks in at 100th in the nation.

Scoring in the red zone is always important, but on Saturday the Hokies will need to convert their opportunities and reverse the trend to relieve some pressure off Bud Foster's defense.

Even if some opportunities are only converted to field goals, three points is better than no points at all. Besides, the offense is not expected to win this game.

It will, however, be expected to carry its share of the load, and that starts with converting what opportunities they are fortunate enough to have.

2. Convert Third Downs

Here's another category that you don't need to be Bill Walsh to know is important to winning football games. But yet again, this is a category in which Virginia Tech will be hard pressed to find success.

Mike London's defense only allows a 30 percent conversion rate on third downs, good for best in the ACC. Unlike red zone efficiency, the Hokies are very good on third downs, converting 47 percent on the year.

Star Cavalier defensive back Chase Minnifield will look to get the Hokies' offense off the field on third downs. However, Logan Thomas, Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale—who turned down a lacrosse scholarship at UVA—have been doing an unbelievable job cashing in on third downs lately in the passing game, and look to have a weather-friendly day ahead of them in Charlottesville.

3. Pressure Michael Rocco

Coming into this season, nobody in Charlottesville knew who Mike London's starting quarterback would be. Michael Rocco and David Watford competed for the job and shared snaps at the beginning of the year but, as Rocco proved to make less mistakes, he emerged as the full-time starter.

Rocco does not possess an overwhelming amount of talent in his arm and is not exceptionally mobile, but has gotten the job done; making key throws to beat Miami and FSU on the road.

Rocco may not be your prototypical quarterback, but when you get great protection, all those flaws seem to disappear. UVA has only allowed 11 sacks in as many games this season, a huge reason for Rocco's success.

The mentality of a quarterback is, as everyone knows, key to being successful on offense. Rocco has been able to keep a very calm, confident mentality in the pocket because he's rarely been pressured.

If Virginia Tech wants Rocco to make any mistakes, they need to get penetration and land some hits on him.

The Hokies have done a very good job of that so far this year, averaging three sacks per game despite being banged up in the front seven. They need to continue that trend and make Rocco uncomfortable early to prevent the Wahoo offense from finding a rhythm

4. Stop the Run

Virginia isn't overly-explosive running the football, averaging 178 yards per game on the ground. That's good enough for 40th in the country, while the Hokies are 13th in the nation allowing only 105 yards per game rushing.

On paper, this matchup favors Tech as they have faced some potent rushing attacks this year and, with the exception of Miami, performed admirably.

However, this could be the key to a game that's expected to be pretty low scoring (Sportsbook o/u: 45.5) because UVA relies on the run with their three-headed monster attack at running back. The Wahoos get very uncomfortable when forced into passing situations, and are not built to convert third and long.

Look for Tech to send safeties Eddie Whitley and Antone Exum up in run support, and rely on their corners in man coverage against UVA's pedestrian receivers.

The lunch pail mentality the Hokie defense carries takes pride in stopping the run. Hokies everywhere take pride in consistently beating Virginia every year. This year, more than ever, the two will go hand-in-hand.

If the Hokies can get the Wahoo offense into a position where Bud Foster knows they have to pass, the scales tip heavily in Virginia Tech's favor.