Special Preview
(#22) West Virginia Mountaineers at (#21) Virginia Tech Hokies
West Virginia: They aren’t like most college football teams if you really sit down and watch them play. They play the game with an old school approach and that’s my style of football which is driving the ball down the field, running it, then using the play action to take a vertical shot down the football field in the passing game. When you think of the Big-12, of course, the first two teams that will come to mind are the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys. They are the top two teams in the conference by far and everything else after those two is somewhat up for grabs. The West Virginia Mountaineers are the third best team in the conference without question. They run a 3-3-5 defense which could create a lot of havoc for a quarterback and it’s an extremely confusing scheme because you never know who’s going to come and at what angle. It’s a brand new year for coach Dana Holgorsen and his football team and they’ll face a rival in the Virginia Tech Hokies tonight in DC.
Virginia Tech: The first chapter of life after Frank Beamer was a successful one. Justin Fuente was hired and won ten games in his inaugural season as the head coach of the Hokies. There maybe some concerns about his team’s lack of depth and experience, but they should be good to go to make another run in 2017 toward a winning season. Josh Jackson will be the team’s starting quarterback this year and it always takes time for a new quarterback to get comfortable within his offensive system. Let’s give some credit to Justin Fuente because after losing some guys from last year’s offense, he found a way to fill those holes up and now, they’re ready to go. One thing people don’t talk much about with them is the defense that has become one of the best units in all of college football and if Jackson does have those early game jitters (which I’m sure he will), he has a defense that he can lean on to help him out. Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster has done a great job putting together this defense. Game one is set to begin against the Mountaineers of West Virginia.
West Virginia Player To Watch: Will Grier- This is a name we haven’t seen or heard in a while. He’s a transfer from Florida and he had the Gators in great shape, then, he got suspended for PED’s. How will he adapt to the Big-12? Especially with the way they run the spread offenses. It’ll be good to see him back on the field.
Virginia Tech Player To Watch: Tremaine Edmunds– I think he has the potential to be a first-round draft pick if he decides to declare himself eligible. He had a breakout year in 2016 and I look for him to play with that same energy again this year. He can create a lot of havoc for Will Grier tonight.
Final Analysis: Virginia Tech enters this game with a 22 game winless streak in neutral sites. I see this game being a very physical and hard hitting battle all the way throughout. This is also a match up of two first time quarterbacks making their debuts for their teams. This will be a close one all the way throughout.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 28 West Virginia 23
