Virginia Tech Hokies 2016 NCAA Football Preview
VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES
Atlantic Coast Conference – Coastal Division
2015 Record – 7-6
ATS – 6-7
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
Coastal Division #4
Conference #7
2015 Recap
The Hokies dug deep late in the season to get legendary coach Frank Beamer a shot at going out a winner in a bowl game. They scraped by Georgia Tech and Virginia to make their way to a 23rd straight post-season appearance. In the Independence Bowl against Tulsa – where defense was not only optional, but openly discouraged – the Hokies won Beamer’s final game in a 55-52 shootout. It will be really strange to not see him on the sidelines in 2016. Virginia Tech grabbed rising star HC Justin Fuente from Memphis and a new era begins in Blacksburg.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
First things first. The QB situation is still undecided but the early favorite is transfer Jerod Evans who is loaded with potential. In fact, MEGALOCKS INSIDERS know that Evans was recruited by Fuente while he was at Memphis. The Hokies have Brandon Motley as a backup plan and he had his moments in 2015. HC Fuente should get a lot more production out of the QB position.
The RB depth looks very good and Travon McMillian is coming off a 1000-yard season. The offensive line is experienced and has some nice size. There are also excellent targets available when the Hokies decide to MATRICULATE in the passing game. 1st Team ACC WR Isaiah Ford is back to terrorize DBs and TE Bucky Hodges caught 40 balls for 530 yards and 6 TDs last year. Granted, the QB situation is still a bit of an unknown, but we really like the potential for this offense.
DEFENSE
The Virginia Tech defense was a big disappointment last season giving up over 26 points and 180 rushing yards per game. Even when you consider that one game was a 4-OT bruiser with Duke, and another was the football version of the NBA All-Star Game where nobody plays defense, they still did not play the kind of football we are used to seeing from a unit coached by Bud Foster.
We do not have a ton of optimism regarding this year’s defense. The front 7 returns only three starters and we are not sure they have the talent to improve significantly compared to their 2015 performance. The Hokies recorded only 26 sacks last season and are going to struggle to return to their typical standards (averaged 39 sacks per season six years previous to 2015). The secondary looks to be in very good shape with CB Brandon Facyson and leading tackler FS Chuck Clark returning in 2016. Virginia Tech has allowed under 50% completions for three straight seasons and will likely continue that trend this year.
SPECIAL TEAMS
This feels like an average group on the whole. PK Joey Slye nailed almost everything inside of 50 yards and the return game was average in 2015. Mitchell Ludwig takes over the punting duties.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 5.0
MEGALOCKS says:
Virginia Tech needs to get their dancing shoes on right away as they face a really good Tennessee team early on in The Battle at Bristol. It feels like this team will be a lot better later in the season because they are introducing a new offense and probably need time to gel on defense.
Overall, we give the HOKIES a 5.0 ATS Value Rating (Average) this season. This is going to be a fun team to watch. Now if there was ever a time to reset the ATS trends, it is now. The Hokies were 24-40-2 (38%) over the past five seasons against the number but now dramatically change things up on offense. We see a team that can be considered most weeks for a play ATS but would probably be more interested when they are catching points as opposed to laying double digits.
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