Hokies bring more than heavy ‘D’ to Orange Bowl
By TIM ROBERTS - Writer January 2, 2008 6 comments
The Sugar Bowl blowout by the Bayou serves as a reference point for Thursday’s Orange Bowl from Miami, where the Virginia Tech Hokies are 3 ½-point favorites over the Kansas Jayhawks.
For the sake of argument, I’m casting Virginia Tech in the role of the Georgia Bulldogs – the betting favorite known for its smash-mouth style, playing far closer to home than its opponent.
That leaves the Jayhawks to play the role of the Hawaii Warriors – the upstart with gaudy offensive numbers and suspicious strength-of-schedule.
The mainstream media’s Sugar Bowl focus was Hawaii’s high-octane offense. Would the Warriors’ run-and-shoot light up another opponent or would the Dawgs’ defense do the SEC proud?
It’s a similar storyline for the Orange Bowl. Who will win the battle of wills between offensive Kansas and defensive Virginia Tech? Hell, I’ve heard so much about the battle between KU’s offense and VT’s defense that I was almost sucked into writing about it myself.
The Sugar Bowl, however, reminded us that there was more than one offense in the Superdome. Georgia scored at will as the regular season drew to a close and did the same against Hawaii. The game ended 41-10 in favor of the Bulldogs. It is a necessary reminder as the Jayhawks and Hokies get ready for Thursday.
Virginia Tech’s offense gets no love despite putting up points when it mattered. It averaged 34.8 points per post-September game. That’s five points fewer than Kansas averaged over the same span, but a noteworthy number nonetheless.
The offense hit its stride after the Hokies’ last-minute loss to Boston College at the end of October. Virginia Tech played perfect ball-control football with its dual-quarterback approach, laying double-digit beatings on its five final opponents.
Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring credits the resurgence to his O-line’s regained health. VT’s early-season embarrassment in Baton Rouge featured its offensive line getting pushed around by LSU’s front four. The Hokies’ line hasn’t suffered like that since. It shouldn’t be overly threatened by Kansas’ pass rush, which KU defensive coordinator Bill Young calls his team’s Achilles’ heel.
Hokies quarterbacks should have time to set up in pass situations. That’s a factor that can’t be overlooked in betting the Orange Bowl. Sean Glennon has been targeted for plenty of criticism in his career, but he’s been fantastic in the pocket since riding the pine against Clemson in late September.
Glennon hit 64.5 percent of his passes for 10 touchdowns and only one interception over the final seven games. The key number proving Glennon’s efficiency over that span is his 8.6 yards per attempt. Only six quarterbacks in the nation topped 8.5 yards per attempt this season. Glennon’s increased comfort after the loss to Boston College resulted in production spikes for his four senior receivers.
Despite playing in what is commonly viewed as a run-first offense, Justin Harper, Josh Morgan, Eddie Royal and Josh Hyman each totaled at least 194 receiving yards over the Hokies’ final five games. The group combined for 204.8 yards and 1.8 touchdowns per game as the Hokies went 5-0 straight-up and against the spread to close their schedule.
True freshman Tyrod Taylor developed a better feel for the Hokies’ offense as the season progressed. The month-long layoff can only help his feel for the passing game to complement his scampering ability when he enters the game as a change-of-pace quarterback.
So I’m siding with the favorite for the Orange Bowl like I did with the Sugar Bowl. And I’m doing so largely due to the favorite’s overshadowed offensive potency. I don’t expect the blowout we saw in Miami, though. Kansas’ offense is balanced and has too many clever people involved in calling plays to be totally shut down.
But I think the Virginia Tech defense will do a better job disrupting the Jayhawks’ offense than the Kansas ‘D’ can do against the Hokies. VT allowed only 13.9 points per game over its final 10 contests, shutting down some quality offenses in the meantime. Considering how Virginia Tech holds the special teams edge as well, I’m feeling downright sugary about laying points with the Hokies.
