At first glance, Tennessee is built very similarly to VT. Both are run first teams with good, but not great, QBs who are good at keeping the ball safe. Both teams have great defenses and are especially good against the pass (both in the top 15 nationally). And both teams have an outspoken coach who are constantly under investigation for one reason or another and seem to make enemies everywhere they go. Oh wait, Beamer is sort of the opposite of that isn’t he?
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We’ll start this with a breakdown of coaching. The Hokies are led by the same group that has led them for 10 years or so now (just learned Billie Hite is the longest serving assistant coach in the country at 32 years). At head coach we have Mr. Class, Mr. Old School, Mr. Good Ole Boy Frank Beamer vs. Mr. Pro, Mr. Cocky, Mr. Pain in Everyone’s Ass Lane Kiffin. Beamer is a proven college head coach at this point obviously. We’ve won 10 games or more the last 5 years (6 with a win tomorrow), been to a bowl game 17 straight years, and all sorts of other stats that say, Frank Beamer has a decent idea what he’s doing. Lane Kiffin is a proven pro coach (sucked at the only time he was a head coach for 4 games with the Raiders, but I’m not convinced any coach will be able to save the Raiders). Kiffin is also a proven recruiter. His only 2 recruiting classes have been amazing. He’s getting kids from everywhere. Lane Kiffin is also a proven shit talker. He hasn’t done too much to back it up though.
The defensive coordinators are the strengths of both staffs. Bud Foster and Monte Kiffin should both have the upper hand against their offensive competition. Monte pretty much invented the Tampa 2 and has been a great defensive coordinator at the pro level for decades. Bud Foster implements a little Tampa 2 and has dominated the college level. Both offensive coordinators should be outmatched. I’m worried how Steiny will perform against Monte. But the Hokies do have one huge advantage. VT has been amazing on special teams, and Tennessee just lost their special teams coach. This could mean they pay more attention to it, or it could mean we take advantage of every return, kick, or punt.
As I said before, the strength of both teams is their run game and pass defense. Both offenses live and die by the running backs. Both teams will try and establish a ground game (until Steiny says “screw it let’s throw it deep every play for a quarter”) and both will try to grind out a victory. The Hokies will rely heavily on Ryan Williams as they have all year. Not a bad person to rely on. He’s something like 110 yards from being the single season leading rusher at VT (over Kevin Jones in 2003), he’s 1 TD from tying and 2 TDs from scoring the most TDs in a season the ACC ever. I think he’s close to getting the most rushing yards in a season in the ACC, but this is a half ass effort and I’m not going to look it up. The Hokies will need a huge game from Williams to win this one. Luckily Williams ended the season really hot with 600+ yards in the last 4 games and scoring 4 TDs both of the last two.
Tennessee is lead on offense by Montario Hardesty. Hardesty has 1300 yards and 12 TDs, and has been most of the Vols offense. He has also been great of late and has dominated to close the season. The QB Crompton has been some help (26 TD, 12 INT), but mostly this will be which RB (and line) will have the better day. And unfortunately, the Vols have the better line. They’re bigger, better pro prospects, and only gave up 12 sacks all year. That’s incredible against SEC defenses!
Tennessee’s defense is the reason they are even in a bowl game this year. They are one of the strongest units in the country, and the secondary is possibly the best in the nation. They are led by junior Eric Berry who just won the Thorpe award which goes to the best defensive back in the country. So for those of you counting at home, the Hokies will have played against the best defensive back (Berry), linebacker (McClain from Alabama), and lineman (Suh from Nebraska). When was the last time this happened? You’ll need to find a better journalist for the answer to that question. But yeah, dude is nasty, probably a top 5 pick this year (top 10 at least). The weakness of both defenses is the run defense, especially Tennessee. Their D-line might be their weakest unit on offense or defense. They don’t help stop the run and they don’t get to the QB that often. This is something the Hokies will need to capitalize on in order to win this game.
Blocking a punt wouldn’t hurt either…
Beamerball!
Prediction: 27-21 VT. I bet Ryan Williams gets the VT rushing record and ACC TD record going for 140 yards and 2 TDs. Taylor will need to protect the ball, and special teams and turnovers will probably decide the game.
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