A Look Ahead: Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina

By Justin Cates

North Carolina (1-3, 0-1 ACC) was a trendy pick in the preseason to win the ACC's Coastal division while Virginia Tech (4-1, 1-0 ACC) was largely an afterthought.

Those roles have have quickly reversed as the Tarheels limp into Lane Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Hokies surprised many by dominating Georgia Tech on a Thursday night in Atlanta. The 17-10 final score didn't tell the story.

The Hokie defense allowed the vaunted Georgia Tech rushing attack just 129 yards while Logan Thomas played his best game of the season on offense.

My last preview featured only one mildly optimistic note that Hokie QB's often play well in Atlanta and Thomas joined the list by completing 19-of-25 passes (including his first 9) for 221 yards and a touchdown.

He also toted the ball 16 times for 58 yards and a rushing touchdown despite nursing an abdominal strain and a mild ankle sprain late in the game.

It's no secret, the man is a tank but the Hokies will likely try to limit his carries a little more this week. That will of course be somewhat dictated by the defense.     

Outside of Thomas, Tech had absolutely no running game last week. The plan from the start was to throw the ball a lot because defenses are stacking the box and daring them to pass. Assuming that remains the case against a struggling Carolina defense, look for LT to keep throwing.

His receivers are finally stepping up and helping him out too.

Demitri Knowles had his best game of the season snagging five catches for 67 yards. D.J. Coles caught a touchdown pass on Tech's first drive of the game, Josh Stanford made some tough catches in big situations and Willie Byrn continues to be a reliable option as well.

Byrn is listed as probable for this weekend after suffering a knee injury against the Yellow Jackets.

The Hokie defense is playing simply masterful. It was nice to hear ESPN's Thursday night crew fawning over the defensive line, particularly Derrick Hopkins.

The defense stands to get a little better this week with the return of defensive back Antone Exum.

Antone Exum adds depth to an already talented and deep secondary.

Exum had offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL as well as his lateral and medial meniscus and a bone fracture all suffered during a pick-up basketball game.

In his absence, Tech has continued to see veteran Kyle Fuller play well and everyone has been wowed by his brother Kendall and fellow true freshman Brandon Facyson.

Facyson is currently tied for the national lead in interceptions with four and will continue to start at field corner with Exum getting time in spots.

There were rumors during the week about Exum starting and Facyson getting reps on offense (he got a few) but for now at least, it's just an idea.

The defense will look to harass UNC quarterback Bryn Renner who has struggled so far this season, but his top weapon, tight end Eric Ebron is always a match up problem.

Eric Ebron will challenge Tech's stout pass defense.

 At 6-4, 245 he presents a significant challenge for a linebacker but still has the speed to give defensive backs headaches. Tech has used 6-6 quarterback Bucky Hodges to simulate Ebron's size while receiver Austin Jones was used for speed in practice.

It's a must win game for the Tarheels if they have any hope of salvaging the season and it's a massively important recruiting day for the Hokies as a number of valued high school prospects will be in attendance.

The game kicks off Saturday at 12:30 and will be broadcast on the ACC Network—which isn't really a real thing so check you local listings for an affiliate in your area.

Blacksburg Hosts NCAA Baseball Regional For First Time

By Justin Cates

Virginia Tech came up short Sunday losing to North Carolina 4-1 in the ACC Baseball Championship Game, but that didn't prevent Blacksburg from being named a regional host site for the NCAA Tournament.

It marks the first time in school history that Tech will host a regional and it comes on the heels of an amazing run at the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C.

The Hammerin' Hokies took down Virginia, Florida State and Georgia Tech en route to the championship game finalizing a No. 11 RPI ranking in the process.

Shortstop Chad Pinder and designated hitter/utility man Mark Zagunis were both named to the ACC Ball-Tournament Team.

For the record, I can't decide if that's just a terrible pun or a tragic typo on the press release. Sadly, I think it's the former.

The Hokies celebrate Chad Pinder's walk-off homerun against Florida State Thursday night.

Tech finished 38-20 on the year against the third toughest schedule in the nation. They are one of five ACC teams hosting a regional.

The ACC—widely considered to be the premier college baseball conference—has not had a member institution win the national championship in 58 years.

Wake Forest last won the title in 1955.

The road doesn't get any easier as Tech hosts Coastal Carolina, Oklahoma and Big East Champion UConn.

The regionals are a double elimination format and Tech will begin their tournament against Connecticut Friday at 5:30 at English Field.

The winner of the Blacksburg Regional will move on to face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional hosted by No. 1 seed LSU. 

No Seriously, How Will the Hokies Beat Duke?

With an overall record of 3-3, Virginia Tech is officially off to its worst start in football since 1992.

That season, the Hokies finished 2-8-1 and Frank Beamer was forced to fire the majority of his coaching staff in order to retain his job.

Tech's loss to North Carolina also harkened back to the early nineties when the Tar Heels returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

It marked the first instance of  that since 1993, the year Frank Beamer and company began their still intact (for now) run of bowl games.

The Hokies are in a tough spot and I say this with all sincerity, they will have their hands full Saturday against Duke.

The Blue Devils are 5-1 and riding high after a a 42-17 thumping of Virginia.

Redshirt sophomore Anthony Boone threw four touchdown passes in that one, and Duke's outstanding starter Sean Renfree should be back for the trip to Blacksburg. Both may play as Boone is a bit more mobile and gives Tech something extra to prepare for.

Sean Renfree is trying to lead Duke to a bowl game for the first time since 1994.

Renfree is a 6-5 redshirt senior who will most certainly get a shot in the NFL after this season. Both QBs give Duke the ability to stretch the field, which is why they have the No. 30 passing offense in the country.

To be fair Duke has played a weak schedule, but their passers are legitimate and they have the ACC's all-time leading receiver in senior Conner Vernon.

Vernon has 239 career receptions including  41 for 555 yards and five touchdowns this season.

Duke doesn't run much, but they do enough on the ground to keep defenses honest and as stated before they will run a bit more with Boone at quarterback out of the read option.

The Blue Devils aren't a strong defensive team. That pairs well with the bright spot from Tech's loss at Carolina which was a decent passing performance.

Logan Thomas threw for a career-high 354 yards and must be salivating over Duke's 76th ranked pass defense.

The big question is how does the much maligned Tech defense stop Duke's spread passing attack?

Look for a simpler scheme from Bud Foster, more base 4-3 defense and less of the nickel package. That works better in terms of personnel and should allow guys to stay in their natural positions.

The weather for the frigid 2008 game was not Sean Glennon's fault. 

It will still be a challenge, but the defense has played better at home for whatever reason and the Hokies desperately need a win if they hope to salvage what has been thus far a disappointing campaign.

Duke probably should have beaten Tech last year in Durham but the Hokies pulled out a 14-10 win.

Duke has been close to winning this game several times in recent years, including the 2008 match up in Blacksburg when the Hokies ended up winning 14-3—without a doubt the coldest game I've ever attended.

Again, Saturday will be a challenge for the Hokies. They are down in the dumps and Duke is rolling along and just a game shy of bowl eligibility.

That being said, Tech should squeak out a close one at home. I wouldn't be shocked by anything at this point but there is still a significant talent gap between these two teams and Virginia Tech is backed into a corner.

We'll see if that's enough Saturday.

Hokies Lose to Cincinnati at Miserable FedEx Field

The last hour or so weaving around on the beltway between Baltimore and D.C. always gives me a sense of the general lawlessness and mayhem due on arrival in our nation's capital and outlying areas.

It's always a bit unnerving to get passed by a cop going 85—especially when he seems unfazed by the encounter.

Such was the tone set en route to Virginia Tech's 27-24 defeat at the hand of Cincinnati last Saturday in Landover, Maryland.

I had a general sense of foreboding leading up to this game as soon as soon as Eric—one of my numerous attorney's—and I confirmed the trip mid-week.

It wasn't just the previous trip FedEx for the loss against Boise State on our minds either. There were many positives from that excursion and the dreadful 0-2 by Tech start led to a strangely successful season.

Eric later confided that he had a similar feeling to mine during the week. Things were not meant to be.

Mainly, that was due to a junior quarterback from New Orleans named Munchie Legaux.

Munchie Legaux slips past the Hokies' Kyshoen Jarrett (34).

Munchie torched the Hokies for a career-high 376 yards passing with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

For Tech's part, they bungled around much of the first half before a late rushing touchdown by Logan Thomas gave Tech a 7-6 lead and hope of a turnaround.

It wasn't to be however as the Hokie defense turned in another subpar performance, allowing 495 total yards.

Something appears off with this particular group of Tech defenders.

Antone Exum has really been struggling at corner, but there's no one behind him on the depth chart ready to go.

The offense performed at a near acceptable level despite not scoring for much of the game. Tech totaled just over 400 yards as a group and averaged 4.7 yards per carry.

There are probably some things to build on offensively, but it's largely cancelled out by the lack of scoring.

Despite being largely outplayed, Cincinnati scored only two field goals in the first half. Tech could have an should have taken control of the game.

Logan Thomas continues to struggle, the most glaring example coming on an overthrown pass to a wide open Randall Dunn that was intercepted at the goal line.

The one positive for Tech is special teams appears to be much improved.

Freshman punter A.J. Hughes had another nice night against the Bearcats punting 7 times for an average of 45.9 yards. Cody Journell also had a field goal making him 5 of 6 on the season.

FedEx Field was far from capacity Saturday in Landover, Maryland.

The Hokies now have an all-time record of 0-3 at FedEx Field, featuring losses to USC, Boise State and now the Bearcats.

Tech is 3-2, and while technically still 1-0 in ACC play, an 0-2 mark against Big East teams this season would currently place the Hokies in last place in a far weaker conference than the Big East they once excelled in.

The match with North Carolina in Chapel Hill looks like it will be a big challenge for a struggling bunch of Hokies.

Carolina is ineligible for the ACC Championship and a bowl game this year after having been found guilty of academic fraud, impermissible agent benefits, participation by ineligible players and a failure to monitor the football program. 

Despite the sanctions, UNC appears somewhat rejuvenated under first year head coach Larry Fedora and is playing for some measure of pride.

These are usually close scrappy games between Tech and Carolina and expect this one to require a heavy bourbon intake to stay calm throughout.

The Tarheels are passing well with Bryn Renner at quarterback. The junior has completed nearly 64 percent of his passes for 1422 with 14 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions.

The Hokie pass defense is struggling and this might not be the best medicine.

Tech-Cincinnati "Highlight" below for those who care to revisit.