By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – Well, gameday is finally upon Hokie Nation.
After nearly three months of training and practices, two game postponements, and an inordinate amount of speculation and uncertainty, No. 20 Virginia Tech is set to kick off its season Saturday night against NC State at Lane Stadium.
The Hokies own a four-game winning streak over the Wolfpack, but that needs to be put into context. The two teams last met in 2015, and the Coastal-Division Hokies rarely see this Atlantic Division foe because of the ACC's complex, rotating schedule. Plus, there will only be 1,000 fans in the stands for this particular game – a by-product of COVID-19.
So toss past history out the window.
NC State went 4-8 last season, but the Wolfpack opened the 2020 campaign with a 45-42 victory over Wake Forest last Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Wolfpack amassed 463 yards of offense under new offensive coordinator Tim Beck, and their point total surpassed their total from any game last season by 19 points.
That stood out to Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente – and more.
"They rushed the ball for 270 yards," Fuente said. "That's the first thing that hits you. They ran the tailback stretch play and the quarterback stretch play pretty much up and down the field. Moved with really good tempo. Continued to mix that in throughout the game. Played hard and found a way to win a long, high-scoring ball game.
"I thought their quarterback [Bailey Hockman] came in and played well. I know they talked a little bit about – it's was kind of a situational circumstance with the other young man [Devin Leary] missing so much time – but I was really impressed with how their quarterback played."
On defense, the Wolfpack gave up 42 points, but Wake scored seven on a pick-six, and the Wolfpack registered six sacks.
At the least, the Hokies know a little about the Wolfpack. But do they know a lot about themselves? There were no spring practices, no spring game, and only a couple of scrimmages throughout August.
"There's always apprehension based on how many guys you've got coming back or guys that have real game experience," Fuente said of season openers. "I'll feel really good about a large portion of our football team and what they can do. It's just getting them all together at the same time has been a bit of an issue. So ultimately, I don't know that I've been this close to a game and felt as uneasy about who we'd actually have in the game as I do feel right now. That's the biggest part of not knowing how it's going to look, just getting it nailed down exactly who's going to do what. You're trying to make sure that guys are ready to cover a lot of bases.
"We are excited. We are anxious to play. We're tired of practicing. It's just from the organizational standpoint of putting it all together creates a little bit of angst."
With that said, here are some things to watch Saturday night:
• Who is available to play? – This figures to be a thing to watch every week. Fuente was cautious earlier in the week, though some interpreted his tone to be pessimistic. But with his team slated for three more days of COVID-19 testing at the time of his weekly press conference on Monday, he wanted to be realistic. After all, a positive test for a key player completely changes the complexion of a coach's preparation – and potentially, the outcome of a game.
"It's certainly been challenging," Fuente said. "It's a little bit like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube, and a new layer of the Rubik's Cube gets added every single day. It's just trying to figure out who is available and who can get work and bring the team together and all the things that come with all this. And I'm certainly not up here to complain about it. I'm just saying it's a part of the situation that a lot of people are in. Some people have dealt with this during the summertime when they weren't playing games, and some people are dealing with it right now like we are. So it's been a heckuva challenge.
"I feel optimistic and hopeful that we'll get our guys back and be ready to go. I can tell you this: our kids handled these hurdles in a positive, energetic manner, and I'm really proud of that."
• The boundary safety position (rover) for the Hokies – Tech's initial depth chart listed true freshman Keonta Jenkins as the No. 1 boundary safety, with another true freshman, Lakeem Rudolph, as the backup. The moves came about because Fuente suspended projected starter Devon Hunter indefinitely last week after an off-field incident.
The Hokies' staff thinks highly of both Jenkins and Rudolph, and especially Jenkins, but is defensive coordinator Justin Hamilton willing to start a true freshman at a critical position in an opening game? Or does he move a more experienced Tyree Rodgers from free safety to boundary safety at the last minute?
Fuente and his staff spent the past several weeks building versatility within the team. That could be on display Saturday night.
"We do still have some young guys on that depth chart that can play multiple positions," Fuente said. "We are a little bit thin [in the secondary], and we'll have to do a good job as we go through the season of hopefully being able to cross train guys in those five defensive back positions to be able to play a couple of different spots."
• Tech's defense – What can fans expect to see from Tech's defense under Hamilton, who took over for retired legend Bud Foster? Tech's players hinted at a lot of different changes earlier this week.
"They're a little bit different, I'm not going to lie," linebacker Dax Hollifield said of the difference between Foster and Hamilton. "With Coach Foster, he was really man [coverage] across the board, lock 'em up, we don't want no catches, no yards allowed. In today's day of football, you've got to switch it up a little more. That's what Coach Ham is doing a little more. He's switching up defenses a little more, playing a little more zone on the back end. I like it a lot. It lets me play in a little more space and just jump the football, play the quarterback's eyes, and do that."
Tech struggled on defense in its losses last season. In all five losses, the Hokies allowed at least 420 yards of offense, and in four of those losses, they allowed more than 150 yards rushing. In the final two games of 2019, Virginia rushed for 181 yards against Tech, while Kentucky ran for 331 against the Hokies
in the Belk Bowl.
It will be fascinating to see what this unit looks like against the Wolfpack.
• The split of reps at quarterback – It's intriguing that Fuente wants to play two quarterbacks in light of Hendon Hooker's work at the end of last season. It also speaks to the potential of Braxton Burmeister, who obviously played well in preseason practices.
Certainly, the effects of the pandemic factor into this. Fuente wants to build depth in the event of players missing games. But the situation just begs the question – how does this work? Does Fuente play Hooker two series and then Burmeister a series? Or does Burmeister come in during certain situations, or for certain plays?
Even Fuente – who hasn't really played two quarterbacks in his career – admitted that he hadn't ironed out the details yet, but he remained committed to it.
"Yes, that's the plan, and yes, that's an ongoing process of how that'll exactly work," he said of playing both Hooker and Burmeister. "It's going to be all hands on deck. We're going to need everybody to find a way to have success. I would say how that looks will change from day to day based on the information we have."
• Dealing with the atmosphere – There won't be a homefield advantage for the Hokies on Saturday, as only 1,000 fans will be in attendance for the game at Lane Stadium because of COVID-related restrictions. A lack of fans at other games has resulted in several road teams pulling off upsets already this season (including South Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Tech, and BC).
Thus, a home team needs to generate its own energy, and Tech's staff knows this. The coaches have been preaching this theme throughout fall practices, knowing that the Hokies won't be able to get that added bump from the crowd – at least, not in Saturday's game.
How the players responded to the atmosphere, or lack thereof, will be a key.
"It's going to be like a scrimmage, to be honest with you," Hollifield said. "We're going to have to bring our own juice. I can't wait. We've been practicing it. We practiced it last year. We practiced it this year. We know how to do it. The sideline that brings the most juice is definitely going to have the edge, and I'm excited for it. I know we can do it."
In closing: the game kicks off at 8 p.m. and can be seen on the ACC Network.