College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Virginia Tech Hokies season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Virginia Tech Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 8-5 overall, 5-3 in ACC
Head Coach: Justin Fuente, 5th year, 33-20
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 27
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 44
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 37
Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Offense 3 Things To Know
– Before getting going, few teams are going to be more fluid than Virginia Tech. Almost no one has dealt with the transfer portal more, and no one has had crazier things happen to its receiving corps.
The Hokies finished 86th in the nation in total offense and averaged just under 31 points per game, but there are plenty of reasons for hope for a huge seasons, despite all the wild changes.
Start with that receiving corps. Leading touchdown guy Damon Hazelton – coming up with eight scores – is now a Missouri Tiger, and the 16 combined 2019 catches from Hezekiah Grimsley and Phil Patterson are leaving the building. However, most of the other transfers leaving were reserves who hadn’t done much, and 6-3, 205-pound Evan Fairs is coming in from Kansas after making 28 career grabs.
Leading receiver Tre Turner is back after making 34 grabs for 553 yards and four scores, and speedy Tayvion Robinson will do more after a good freshman season. Tight end Dalton Keene was taken in the third round by New England, but junior James Mitchell is back – he’s a solid deep threat.
And all of the receivers have a rising star throwing their way.
CFN in 60 Video: Virginia Tech Hokies Preview
– Hendon Hooker flirted with the transfer portal before last year, came back, and took over the starting gig after the first month of the season. The 6-4, 228-pounder hit 61% of his passes for 1,555 yards and 13 touchdowns, but his big claim to fame was being careful with the ball – the two interceptions he threw in the loss to Virginia were his only two picks of the year. He also ran for five scores – he’s the franchise star.
6-4, 245-pound sophomore Quincy Patterson is a decent prospect battling former Oregon transfer Braxton Burmeister to be the main backup.
– The transfer portal took away plenty of receivers, but it also brought the Hokies some terrific running backs – a must with leading rusher Deshawn McClease leaving early. 5-9, 205-pound grad transfer Khalil Herbert comes in from Kansas where he ran for 1,735 career yards and 14 scores. He’s ready to roll right away, but the instant eligibility of speedy Rutgers star Raheem Blackshear is still in question.
Devastating as a runner or a receiver, Blackshear will eventually fill a variety of roles – he ran for 912 yards and six scores and caught 80 passes for 810 yards and six touchdowns in just over two seasons. Combine these two with 5-11, 182-pound sophomore Keshawn King – he was third on the team with 340 yards and two scores – and the Hokies have a nice backfield.
They’ll all have a great-looking line to work behind. Three reserve options left through the transfer portal, but all five starters – all underclassmen last year – are expected to return including All-ACC performers tackle Christian Darrisaw and guard Lecitus Smith on the left side. It’s a big, good line that should become a big plus.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense wasn’t always a rock, but it was a force at times allowing 17 points or fewer six times. If all goes according to plan, ten starters are back with 16 of the top 18 tacklers likely to return. Best of all, just about all of the pass rushers are back after a solid year.
The transfer portal is taking away a few prospects from the defensive front, but all four starters are back around 288-pound senior Jarrod Hewitt on the nose. There isn’t a ton of bulk – there aren’t any 300-pound Coke machines – but everyone can move.
– Start with 120-tackle Rayshard Ashby in the middle of the linebacking corps, and everything else works around him. 6-1, 232-pound junior Dax Hollifield can work inside or out – he finished fifth on the team 68 tackles – and Alan Tisdale is an all-around playmaker who made 52 stops and can get behind the line. This group is good.
– The secondary had a few clunkers – who gives up 469 passing yards to last year’s Miami offense? – but it also picked off a whole lot of passes, including four against the Hurricanes.
In all, everyone who came up with an interception last year is back, with corner Caleb Farley leading the way with four. He earned All-ACC honors, safety Divine Deablo is back after finishing second on the team with 84 stops, and in all, four of the five starters are expected back.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Virginia Tech Hokies Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Virginia Tech Hokies Players
Best Virginia Tech Hokies Offensive Player
QB Hendon Hooker, Jr.
Before last season, he was a promising talent who’d have to push for time with Ryan Willis settled in at the starting spot. But he took over early on, was careful with the ball – at least throwing it – and the offense, ran well, and he turned into the type of star to build the team around for the next few years.
An athletic 6-4, 228-pounder, he was second on the team in rushing to go along with the 13 touchdowns and just two picks. Now that he knows what he’s doing, and now that he’s working with an attack loaded with good veterans, he should be in for a special season.
2. OT Christian Darrisaw, Jr.
3. RB Khalil Herbert, Sr.
4. OG Lecitus Smith, Jr.
5. RB Raheem Blackshear, Jr.
Best Virginia Tech Hokies Defensive Player
LB Rayshard Ashby, Sr.
The 5-10, 237-pound veteran followed up his 105-tackle sophomore season with another team-leading run with 120 stops from his spot on the inside. He might not look the part of a pass rusher, but he was great behind the line, coming up with five sacks and 17 tackles for loss with three forced fumbles. More than just a stat-sheet filler, he’s the leader of a veteran D – and he just so happens to be available at getting around everything.
2. CB Caleb Farley, Jr.
3. DT Jarrod Hewitt, Sr.
4. CB Jermaine Waller, Jr.
5. S Divine Deablo, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Virginia Tech Hokies Offense
Stop fumbling. The offense will have a good balance, the pass protection should be okay, and there’s enough depth to play around with the various options.
The O led the ACC in red zone production, but it could be a bit better on third downs – it led the conference on fourth downs, though.
Now the attack just has to avoid turnovers.
The crazy part about the giveaway issue? QB Hendon Hooker was almost flawless when it came to not taking chances with the passing game – he only threw two picks all year – but the team was last in the ACC in fumbles.
However, those two interceptions came in the loss to Virginia. The Hokies turned the ball over four times against the Cavaliers, gave it up five times in the season-opening loss to Boston College, and turned it over two times or more seven times on the season.
The bowl loss to Kentucky was the only time they failed to win when the offense turned it over once or not at all. The 23 giveaways were the most in the last three years – the four close losses of last year go the other way if the O was tighter.
Biggest Key To The Virginia Tech Hokies Defense
Keep up the defensive pressure. The Hokies are loaded with good pass rushers from the D that cranked up 38 sacks last season. When the D didn’t generate enough sacks, there were occasional issues.
The defense came up with two sacks or fewer six times on the season, and went 1-5 in those games – only beating Pitt. More than two sacks? 7-0.
Under Justin Fuente, the Hokies are 18-3 over the last four years when the defense comes up with three sacks or more.
Okay, fine – that seems like a bit of a random, arbitrary number – but a consistent and effective pass rush is going to be a big deal when Penn State comes to town in Week 2 and with trips to deal with North Carolina’s Sam Howell, and the downfield passing game of Louisville’s.
Key Virginia Tech Hokies Player To A Successful Season
WR Tre Turner, Jr.
It’s not like the Hokies don’t have receivers. They might have lost six targets to the transfer portal, but the 6-2, 190-pound Turner is back after leading the team with 34 catches for 553 yards and four scores. Ultra-quick, he’s able to run, too – had was good for a few carries a game – but it’ll be his job to increase his role as the No. 1 target.
He only had one 100-yard day – coming up with a huge day in the loss to Virginia – if he can blossom into more of a volume catcher, the offense should take off.
Key Game To The Virginia Tech Hokies Season
at North Carolina, Oct. 10
Beating Virginia after the long winning streak stopped last season is important, but that’s in Blacksburg. Miami will be better, but that’s a home game, too.
The road game at North Carolina in the middle of the season will be the big early test, going against what should be a jacked up team looking to make a statement in the Coastal race. Pull off the victory in Chapel Hill, and the Hokies will be the ones to beat the rest of the way in the division.
– Virginia Tech Hokies Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Virginia Tech Fun Stats
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Virginia Tech 112 – Opponents 50
– 4th Down Conversions: Virginia Tech 9-of-13 (69%) – Opponents 17-of-30 (57%)
– Penalties: Opponents 93 for 740 yards – Virginia Tech 69 for 606 yards
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Virginia Tech Hokies Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Virginia Tech pulled up out of the nosedive after a losing 2018 season, but brutal-close losses to Virginia and Kentucky to close things out kept it from being a great campaign.
But it was a good run for a team that had to go through a few growing pains for the second straight season.
And now is when the payoff should come.
Even with a ton of transfers, almost every starter is back on both sides of the ball. Losing a few good receivers and the team’s leading rusher won’t really matter – there are replacements – and having a quarterback like Hendon Hooker to conduct it all should make this the O go.
Throw in the loaded defense with a ton of all-star candidates, and what should be the ACC’s best kicking game, and this might be really, really low …
Set The Virginia Tech Hokies Regular Season Win Total At … 8.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 8
Never underestimate Virginia Tech’s ability to gack away a game against an inferior opponent – really, 45-10 to Duke? – but the two other likely stars in the Coastal – Virginia and Miami have to come to Blacksburg.
There’s no Clemson or Florida State to face from the Atlantic, and when our toughest road games are North Carolina, Louisville and Pitt, and when you have this much experience returning, anything less than a double-digit win season and a trip to the ACC Championship will be a disappointment.
