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Bud Foster has established himself as the top defensive coordinator in the nation. The 2005 Virginia Tech defense finished first nationally in total defense following the 35-24 Gator Bowl victory over Louisville. The 2006 defense is first in total defense before the bowl games, and they are so far ahead of the competition that it doesn’t appear anyone can catch up. So which defense is better? Let’s take a look at the stats.
The 2006 defense has better statistical numbers. For example, both defenses are #1 in total defense, but the 2006 unit gave up fewer yards per game, partly because there are fewer plays in a game thanks to the new clock rules.
That’s understandable. The 2005 defense featured second round pick Darryl Tapp, sixth round pick Jonathan Lewis, and free agent practice squad player Tim Sandidge. That’s three NFL players that departed from the defensive line in the offseason. As a result, the Hokies were somewhat shaky up front in 2006 until the middle of the season, but they played great down the stretch. The national ranking of 13th against the run is very good, and excellent for a team that lost three NFL players off the defensive line. Virginia Tech’s pass defense also got better in 2006 by nearly 30 yards per game, and they currently lead the nation in pass defense, this despite losing second round pick Jimmy Williams and seventh round pick Justin Hamilton. Not to mention that Roland Minor, the other starter at cornerback in 2005, was injured in the 2006 preseason and barely played all season. The Hokies broke in two new cornerbacks, both sophomores. Brandon Flowers proved to be arguably the ACC’s top cornerback, while Macho Harris had an excellent second half of the season. Virginia Tech looks to have the top cornerback duo in the ACC for 2007. No stat is more important than scoring defense, and the Hokies have been outstanding in this regard. The 2005 defense allowed 12.9 points per game, good for second nationally. But the 2006 defense outperformed them, allowing only 9.3 points per game, which is first in the nation. For those of you who are wondering, the Tech record in the modern era is 8.3 points per game during the 1983 season, Bruce Smith's junior year.
The defense was amazing during the final six games of the season. They did not allow more than 10 points in a game, and they allowed just two touchdowns over the final six games. One of those touchdowns was the 50 yard fluke run by Tyrone Moss in the Orange Bowl. The other came against Clemson. Over the last three games, Virginia Tech did not allow a touchdown and pitched two shutouts. The defense had four total shutouts during the regular season. So how good can the Hokies be on defense next season? It’s tough to see them getting better statistically, but they have the chance to be outstanding, as they return most of their top players. On the defensive line, defensive end Noland Burchette departs, but the other three D-line starters return, as well as all of the backups. Orion Martin, Nekos Brown or Jason Adjepong should be able to replace Burchette. Defensive tackle will get even deeper when John Graves finishes his redshirt season. The Hokies should have quite a few options up front next year. At linebacker, the Hokies will be fine as long as Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi return for their senior seasons. Tech will have depth at mike linebacker, with Brett Warren returning. Behind Xavier Adibi, Purnell Sturdivant will have another year of experience. The main question at linebacker lies at the whip position. Brenden Hill departs after having a very good senior season. Behind him is Corey Gordon, who hasn’t been able to pick the game up from a mental standpoint. Another option is moving Kam Chancellor from cornerback. The other question mark is rover, where senior co-starters Aaron Rouse and Cary Wade depart. Dorian Porch is an option, as is Kam Chancellor. Cam Martin could potentially move from free safety as well. The Hokies should be loaded at cornerback, with everyone returning with the exception of Chancellor, who is likely moving to another position. Starting free safety D.J. Parker also returns for his senior season. The 2007 Virginia Tech
defense will be very talented, and very deep. How they stack up statistically to
the 2005 and 2006 squads remain to be seen, but they should give them a run for
their money.
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Warren
Central’s (Indianapolis, IN) 35-14 win over Carmel in last week’s
Class 5A State Championship game gave the senior class its fourth
consecutive state championship. For Darren Evans, the 6-1,
212-pound All-American running back, this championship run was sweeter for
a few reasons.
With
the regular season almost completely in the books, Bstreet shifts his
focus this week to the championship games (SEC, Big 12, ACC, Conference
USA) and other high profile games (Army-Navy, UConn-Louisville, Rutgers-WVU).
Virginia
Tech Men’s Basketball Head Coach Seth Greenberg signed what many have
said is one of Virginia Tech’s best recruiting classes in school
history. TechSideline.com called upon the evaluation talents of
Prepstars.com Talent Evaluator Brick Oettinger, Scout.com National
Recruiting Director Dave Telep and TSL’s own basketball
recruiting guru Rev. Zeke Vodka for a further look at Virginia
Tech’s 2007 recruiting class.
VT's
victory over Iowa was a solid win over an Iowa squad that went 25-9 last
year and won the Big Ten Conference tournament. This year's Iowa team
doesn't boast a lot of talent and won't likely repeat that feat, but
nonetheless, a victory over a team from a BCS conference is much more
enjoyable than pummeling a directional school (no Western Michigan
comments here!) or a small school with "state" in its name.
The
Virginia Tech men's basketball team returned to the friendly confines of
Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday night, and knocked off Iowa 69-65 in the
ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It was the Hokies' first ever win in the event, and
the victory takes their record to 4-2. Iowa drops to 2-4.
Virginia
Tech will host a game in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for the first time in
school history when the Iowa Hawkeyes come calling on Wednesday night at 7
pm. The Hokies have a bad taste in their mouth from last weeks' Old Spice
Classic and should be looking to come back with a big win at home against
a struggling Iowa squad.
Even
though it didn't draw much attention on the national level, the
Virginia/Virginia Tech game returned to its rightful place on the schedule
-- at the end of rivalry week on Thanksgiving weekend. For Tech followers,
it was a great way to wrap up the regular season -- a beautiful,
spring-like day in Blacksburg that ended with a shutout against the rivals
from Charlottesville. And it was classic Virginia Tech football. Using the
formula preached by Frank Beamer all season, the Hokies used strong
defense, a strong kicking game, and a ball-control offense that made just
enough plays to secure a 17-0 victory against Virginia.
Monday's
guests on the Hokie Hotline were men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg,
athletics director Jim Weaver and football coach Frank Beamer. Greenberg
discussed the upcoming game against Iowa, Weaver gave his comments on the
bowl situation, and Beamer reflected on the 2006 season.
Virginia
Tech’s entire defensive staff traveled to Varina High School (VA)
yesterday. The staff met with four Varina seniors – all of whom project
on the defensive side of the ball on the next level – in an effort to
get closer and closer to closing out the 2007 recruiting class.
Three
Virginia Tech players earned First Team All-ACC honors on Monday, and four
more were named to the Second Team. The Hokies, Georgia Tech and Clemson
each had seven players named All-ACC, while Atlantic Division Champion
Wake Forest had six players.
Been
a helluva a year in the ACC folks! The team playing the best football at
this moment (our very own Hokies) will not be playing in Jacksonville. But
the former ACC doormats know as the Wake Forest Deacs will travel to JAX,
as they carved out an amazing 10 win season for themselves. Wake will be
playing a team whose QB has tossed 54 completions to the other side, and
only completed 48% of his passes to his own team. That would be Reggie
Ball and the Georgia Tech Yellow-Jackets. How many of you called that ACC
title match-up??? Not me.
On
this week's show, Chris Horne and Mike Harris talked about the effect of
VT’s win over UVa in the world of football recruiting, Tech hoops
recruit Gus Gilchrist and UVa hoops recruit Mustapha Farrakhan, and what
football recruiting decisions could come soon (MP3 format, compatible with
Windows Media Player and MP3 players, 3.0 MB, 21:05)
I
always like to look for something a little different when breaking down
games, but as I watched this game, I found myself thinking the same thing
I thought about the Wake Forest game. Namely, this was a competitive game,
but the Hokies made about three plays that separated them from Virginia.
The Cavaliers didn't respond, and that was that, just like against Wake
Forest.
Another
major conference team fell to a mid-major on Sunday, and for the second
time since Thursday, it was Virginia Tech. The Hokies got themselves into
a hole early, but couldn't quite climb out of it, falling 69-64 to the
Salukis in their final game of the Old Spice Classic. Virginia Tech drops
to 3-2 on the season, while Southern Illinois improves to 4-1.
In
February of 2002 and for a few years afterwards, I was sweating it. Al
Groh had arrived to much fanfare in Charlottesville in 2001, had inked one
of the nation's top recruiting classes in 2002 (much of it at VT's
expense), and for a while, was making a run at a VT program that had
started to take control of the rivalry. Things looked shaky there in the
early part of the new millennium, but the Hokies have now won seven out of
eight in this rivalry and are clearly in the driver's seat.