Defensively, It's pretty simple....Must stop the run. In two weeks, the Hokies have shown they love to run so we have got to stop their running game and force Taylor to throw. The Crimson Tide game showed that if you can force them to throw, you can contain Taylor and get coverage sacks. But they just have to be wary and not let him get away and run off 10 or 15 yards.
Offensively, I think the Hokies going to have their hands full trying to stop Helu. Again, against Alabama they had a tough time stopping the run. I look for him to be motivated and make an impact this week. If he can get it going, then once they respect him, then it opens up our passing game. Make them try to stop 11 different receivers including a dangerous tight end. Nickel and dime them to death. If Zac Lee is the real deal, this is the game to show it. He's confident, he steps into the pocket, and he can throw deep. Hopefully, Saturday he's as cool as ice and play mistake-free football. Don't force any passes. If nothing is there, thrown it out-of-bounds. The offense has got to jump on these guys early and take the crowd out of the game. I also think Wats will dig deep into the playbook and pull out some trickery. Hopefully, no botched trick plays like last year, but don't be surprised if we see at least one trick play. My guess is that it will involve Niles Paul.
On special teams. A punt return for a TD, a recovered fumble on a kick, and pinning them on their heels at the 1 yard can spell the difference.
Finally, no going backwards. False starts will kill us against a team of this caliber. Holding penalties are probably inevitable, but stupid penalities like face masking and false starts have got to be avoided.
I hope I offered something fresh and didn't state the obvious. Hey, I'm just an arm-chair coach.
