hendon hooker – treadmillhorse

September 10, 2020

2020 Virginia Tech Season Preview

Who knew when the final whistle blew at the end 2019 Belk Bowl what we were in for this offseason? This college football season is almost unrecognizable from all previous college football seasons. Dating back all the way to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. I commend the ACC for trying to put college football on the field this season. Even outside of players, coaches and staff, a lot of people depend on college football. The university presidents, commissioners and ADs owe it to those people to least attempt to have a season this year. Even if it looks completely unrecognizable from previous seasons.

The Hokies had an up-and-down season in 2019. Starting 2-2 with losses to Boston College and Duke before going 6-3 with losses to Notre Dame, UVA and Kentucky. And offensively, looking much better down the stretch. The Hokies look to build on that success going into the 2020 season.

Offense

The Hokies return Hendon Hooker under center. With him under center, they averaged 34 points per game. The offense turned the corner when he started taking snaps in the Miami game. With some new playmakers around him along with a more experienced offensive line, this is a offense that could take off this season.

One thing this team has at wide receiver is SPEED. Expect Tre Turner, Tayvion Robinson and Raheem Blackshear to get a lot of snaps. The Hokies will continue with jet sweeps and misdirection from the wide receiver spot to keep defenses guessing. Also expect more plays over the top as the Hokies have the speed to exploit teams downfield.

There is experience at the running back position. Joining Keyshawn King will be Khalil Herbert, a graduate transfer from Kansas, and Raheem Blackshear, an honorable mention All-Big Ten player from Rutgers. This will give Justin Fuente more options to get more out of a position than in recent seasons. An effective running game will help open up the passing game. That has been an aspect of the offense that has been lacking in recent years.

This offensive line should be one of the better lines in the ACC. Seriously. This is a deep and talented group. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen smash-mouth football from the Hokies on offense. This looks like a sneaky good group that will be able to line and run the ball on almost anyone they line up against. With the lack of spring ball and limited contact in Fall practices, it may take a couple of games before they get going.

Expect the Hokies to have one of the better offenses in the ACC. The only thing holding this group back is introducing many new additions to the offense. By the end of the year, this group should be humming but in the beginning, it might be a little rocky. It would be surprising if they weren’t averaging 30+ points per game by the end of the season.

Defense

This will be a good defense. They have all the pieces in place for success. A couple of things that give me pause are 1) how does this defense respond to Justin Hamilton running the show? 2) how do they bounce back from not having Caleb Farley shutting down one entire side of the field?

The talent is there and the experience is there but the loss of Caleb Farley and a new defensive coordinator could cause some unexpected issues. This is a defense that returns 9 starters, even with the losses of Caleb Farley and Tyjuan Garbutt, this should still be a stout group.

Defensive end depth is thin. The Hokies will rely on Emmanuel Belmar, Justus Reed, and Jaylen Griffin. Behind them, the group will need to rely on freshmen or transfers for production. If other players don’t step up and produce, this looks like a concerningly thin group. Especially when a positive COVID test could keep a couple of guys off the field on any given week.

Linebackers should be an area of strength for the Hokies. At Backer, the group returns Dax Hollifield and Keshon Artis. At Mike, the Hokies bring back Rayshard Ashby who should be the leader of this defense. He is a tackling machine and one of the most productive defensive players in the ACC. This should be a good group and they have depth to be able to rotate players in and out.

The Hokies have options at cornerback but many are unproven. Jermaine Waller was one of the best corners in the nations last season. The Hokies are hoping guys like Armani Chatman, Brion Murray and Devin Taylor can cover the other side of the field. When Caleb Farley went down in the last two games of the season, it exposed the defense. Let’s hope we don’t get a repeat of that in 2020.

Normally, when you see a Virginia Tech defense bring back this many upperclassmen, you’d expect a top notch Bud Foster group. This year, with a new defensive coordinator and replacing key pieces like Caleb Farley and Tyjuan Garbutt, you don’t know what to expect. The group should be good, but how good? And can they stay healthy and/or COVID-free?

Special Teams

Oscar Bradburn is one of the best in the nation. Period. He should be a candidate for the Ray Guy Award — the best punter in the nation.

The Hokies also return Brian Johnson who went 19-23 on field goals last year. You would expect another solid campaign from him. If there is an area to watch is his accuracy beyond 40 yards where he was only 4 for 8. Inside of 40, he was a perfect 15 for 15.

Tough games (<40% chance to win)

Clemson. It’s no surprise to anyone that Clemson is the class of the ACC. In normal years, the Hokies’ homefield advantage would give Virginia Tech a nice boost. This year, all games are essentially neutral site games. I don’t like the Hokies chances on a neutral site against Clemson. Even if it is the last game of the regular season.

Toss-up games (50% chance to win)

North Carolina. Louisville. Pitt. These are all tough games. Talented and well-coached teams. The Hokies can win any of these games. But these are all games where I see the opponent at least an even match with the Hokies. These are games where the Virginia Tech will need to make a couple of plays down-the-stretch to get the win. These should all be nail-biters.

Should win games (>60% to win)

Virginia. NC State. Duke. Wake Forest. Miami. The modified 10-game ACC schedule is littered with these games. I’d rather see the Hokies play these kind of games rather than cupcake games. These are far from guaranteed wins. The Hokies drop games like these every year — look no further than Boston College and Duke last year. All things being equal, the Hokies should win these games.

Better win games (>70% to win)

Boston College. Liberty. If the Hokies hope to have a good season and finish above .500, these are must-haves. They can’t afford to stub their toe here. If they do, an appearance in a bowl game may be in jeopardy this year.

Key games for the Hokies: at North Carolina, at Louisville, at Pittsburgh

Upset Alert: at Pitt

Game-by-Game Predictions

Game	Prediction
NC State
Virginia
at Duke
at North Carolina
Boston College
at Wake Forest
At Louisville
Liberty
Miami
at Pittsburgh
Clemson

Game-by-game predictions

Final Regular Season Record: 7-4 (6-4 in the ACC)
Expected finish: Tied for 5th in the ACC

October 14, 2019October 15, 2019

Midseason Awards and Outlook

Offensive MVP: Hendon Hooker

Hooker is the straw that stirs the drink. A dual-threat quarterback brings a new dynamic to this offense. Having a quarterback that can run allows the coaching staff to mix up their play calls. Having a running game has also opened up space in the passing game. Hooker’s presence on the field has given this offense more options and more space to work.

Honorable mention: Dalton Keene, Deshawn McClease

Defensive MVP: Chamarri Conner

The light has come on for Conner. He is all over the field. He leads the defense with 4 sacks, 6 passes defended, 1 forced fumble and 22 solo tackles. It’s great to have a versatile player like him at the whip position. Having him there gives Bud Foster more options on defense.

Honorable mention: Rayshard Ashby, Caleb Farley

Special Teams MVP: Oscar Bradburn

This one isn’t even close. Bradburn would be the team MVP if I had to pick one. He’s fourth in the nation in yards per punt with a 48.0 yard average. He booms the ball every time he puts his foot on the ball. He’s a field position weapon that the team needs this year. He may end up as a finalist for the Ray Guy Award. He’s almost a lock for first team All-ACC.

Honorable mention: Brian Johnson, John Parker Romo

2nd half Outlook:

The Hokies didn’t have a great start to the season. They lost two games most expected them to win, and won a game that few expected them to win. I expected the Hokies to be 5-1 at this point in the season, but 4-2 isn’t terrible. The problem is that the Hokies are 90th in total offense and 59th in total defense. That’s not going to get it done in conference play.

The offense has the potential to look better in the 2nd half due to the emergence of Hendon Hooker. It operates more smoothly with him behind center. The coaches can also open up the playbook a bit more with his threat to run. We’ve already seen the last two weeks that the running game has emerged. This has made the Hokies offense more balanced and less one-dimensional.

The defense appears to have the pieces to be effective but the output is less than the sum of their parts. There is individual talent on this defense but they haven’t played well as a unit thus far. There are still far too many mental mistakes. Tackling has improved since last season, which is good to see. But there are still too many breakdowns from a defense that returned a lot of starters from last year.

The challenge for this team will be to get to seven wins to become bowl eligible. That will mean that they need to split wins and losses the rest of the way to get there. It’s possible. All the conference games look winnable. That Notre Dame game looks tough so I’m not expecting a win there. The remaining games represent opportunities to pick up wins. To make a bowl, this team will need to make strides on offense and defense. If we see the same team we saw in the first half, I’m afraid to say this team will not be bowling this season.

October 9, 2019

Rhode Island Preview and Prediction

The Hokies were able to get off the mat down in South Florida. It was a great response to bad Friday night at home against Duke. This team hasn’t had a lot of moments to feel good about over the last 12 months. It was nice to see them get a feel-good win against a conference opponent. A game like that can give confidence to a young team. The offense got a spark with Hendon Hooker behind center. The Hokies were able to run for 153 yards with a dual-threat option at quarterback.

SP+ Rankings

Rhode Island

Overall: 46th in the FCS (out of 127 teams)

Virginia Tech

Overall: 75th
Offense: 68th
Defense: 72nd
Special Teams: 76th

Rhode Island features a prolific passing offense. They rank 4th in the FCS in passing offense. But rank 118th in rushing. This is a team that relies on the passing game to move the ball. This is a good test for the Hokies secondary. This is also an opportunity for the Hokies defensive line to get after the quarterback. A week after they sacked Miami’s quarterbacks seven times.

Rhode Island has a bad defense, even at the FCS level. This is a team that has struggled to stop the run and the pass. This is a chance for Hendon Hooker and the Hokies offense to get into a rhythm before the North Carolina game. The Miami game showed what this offense could do with Hendon Hooker behind center. The Hokies should spend a lot of the day running the ball. Set up the run first, then go downfield to your deep threats on the outside.

The Hokies need a convincing win. The Hokies had opportunities against Old Dominion and Furman. Those games ended up much closer than most expected. In this game, the Hokies need to use their new run-based offense to run all over Rhode Island. Based on how this offense ran against Miami’s defense, you would expect that to happen. They need to put this game away in the first half. The Hokies shouldn’t show too much on offense ahead of the North Carolina game.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 45, Rhode Island 13

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019

Miami Preview and Prediction

This is about as low as I can remember this program as long as I have been following them. Sometimes you’ll have a team that’s struggling but there is always something they do well that they can lean on. There isn’t a whole lot this team is doing well. There have been some individual players who have been bright spots but this team is struggling on both sides of the ball. That’s a tough combo going into conference play.

SP+ Rankings

Miami

Overall: 31st
Offense: 65th
Defense: 21st
Special Teams: 86th

Virginia Tech

Overall: 72nd
Offense: 88th
Defense: 52nd
Special Teams: 70th

The Hokies aren’t the only team struggling on the offensive side of the ball, Miami is in the same situation. Miami starts a young offensive line but, as usual, still have a lot of talent at the skill positions. Expect Jarren Williams and DeeJay Dallas to have big games on the ground. I’m not too worried about their passing game but Jeff Thomas can do some damage getting open downfield. The Hokies need to watch for him when the run opens up the play action pass downfield. There should be some opportunities for big plays against the Hokies’ defense.

The Hurricanes have a talented and experienced defense. This could be one of the best defensive units the Hokies face all season. This team is great at stuffing the run and forcing teams to pass to beat them. The Hokies need to be able to block Miami’s talented trio of senior linebackers. If they can’t, it’ll be a long night for Hendon Hooker and the Hokies offense. Virginia Tech needs to focus on misdirection in the run game to hope to give them a chance to move the ball downfield. Hendon Hooker will need to effectively run the read option. That might slow down Miami’s defense a bit.

If the Hokies hope to stay in this game, the Virginia Tech defense needs to keep Miami’s offense off the board. If Miami is able to put up points in a hurry, this game can get out of hand quickly. Virginia Tech’s best chance to win is to keep this a low scoring game and have Hendon Hooker hit on some plays in the passing game. That will become easier if the Hokies can establish a running game. Completing passes will be challenging considering how well Miami keeps teams one-dimensional. What I am looking for is for effort and want-to from the Hokies. This past week fans and the media have been burying this team. It’d be great to see this team get off the mat and let everyone know this season isn’t over yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Prediction: Miami 31, Virginia Tech 7

November 15, 2018November 17, 2018

Miami Preview and Prediction

The Hokies had a historically bad performance against Pitt. Don’t believe me? Read this. Or don’t. Either way, after a series of dismissals and injuries on defense, the Hokies are fielding a lot of 3rd and 4th options on defense. That’s not ideal on a defense that was young to begin with going into the season. You can see the results of all that youth and attrition.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ Rank: 75th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 49th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 93rd
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 57th

Miami

Overall S&P+ Rank: 30th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 69th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 10th
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 117th

Miami doesn’t have a quarterback that is playing at a high level but they have a couple of running backs that can make the Hokies pay without having to put the ball in the air. Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas are both averaging over 5.5 yards per carry and have the ability to break big plays if the Hokies can’t fill their gaps and wrap up the ball carrier. Miami doesn’t have a particularly strong passing game but it might not matter against the Hokies.

Miami’s defense is very talented. This might be the best defense the Hokies will see all season. If the Hokies hope to win this game, they will need to be able to move the ball against this stingy defense. This year, Virginia Tech has not been able to run the ball consistently and if there is one area of Miami’s defense where they are more susceptible it’s on the ground. Unfortunately for the Hokies, Miami’s pass defense is one of the best in the nation. The Hokies will need to look to RPOs and read option to try to move the ball against this defense. This might be a good game to get either Quincy Patterson or Hendon Hooker involved in. Watch out for Miami’s talented linebackers Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney.

After the Boston College game, I had some optimism that this team was close to putting a complete performance together on offense and defense. That could still happen against Miami or UVA, but after the Pitt performance, they look like a team that is closer to packing it in for the season than putting together a complete performance. This team just looks overmatched. The biggest key for this team right now is to not quit. Not to give up on the season. Keep fighting and try to keep getting better week-to-week and even play-to-play. If you’re looking for some positives, it’s possible that the Hokies get Jerrod Hewitt, Rayshard Ashby and Deshawn McClease back this week. Ultimately, I think the Hokies will once again be overmatched on defense. I do believe the Hokies will play better on defense than they did last week. But I don’t think the offense will be able to put up points on Miami’s defense.

Prediction: Miami 31, Virginia Tech 17

April 22, 2017April 22, 2017

Spring Game Wrap Up

Spring Game Highlights

Spring Game attendance: 16,025

Stars of the Spring Game

Caleb Farley

Caleb started Spring practice as a CB and it sounded like he was doing pretty well there. Too bad for Bud Foster, he started getting reps at WR. He took to it \ well and had a big Spring Game with 2 catches for 61 yards. Doesn’t look like he’s headed back to that side of the ball. Expect him to get a reps in the Fall. He might be one of your starting WRs for the WVU game.

Hendon Hooker

The QB race was wide open going into the Spring. Hendon Hooker added his name to the list with a solid Spring and a big performance in the Spring Game. Hooker was 10-11 for 113 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. It was a big performance for him on a day where the other QBs didn’t do much. His ability to run the ball also gives him another dimension that coaches will look at this Fall.

Dalton Keene

Dalton had 4 catches for 38 yards and 1 touchdown. Looks like Dalton might be the new Sam Rogers in the H-back role. Looks like he will get playing time as a true freshman.

Terrius Wheatley

Terrius had a good showing in the Spring Game getting 32 yards on 5 carries (6.4 ypc avg). His performance through his hat into the ring for carries in the running back rotation this Fall. Expect him to get carries with Travon McMillian and Steven Peoples this Fall.

Tevante Beckett

Tevante looks like he is off to a good start to his career. Laying some big hits in the Spring Game. The Hokies will have an option behind Andrew Motuapuaka this year. And looks like they have their future at the Mike position.

Tremaine Edmunds

It looks like Tremaine is ready to take the next step in his development. He looked a step faster than last year and was reacting to the play in front of him. Looks like he is ready for a big season.

Can’t wait for September 2nd to get here!

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