Virginia Tech Football: Final thoughts on massive Louisville showdown

What an opportunity the Virginia Tech football team is facing this afternoon when they play Louisville in an ACC showdown. The Hokies come into the game at 3-1 in conference play, a half-game behind the Cardinals and the winner of this game will have the inside track for the second berth in the ACC Championship game on Dec. 2 in Charlotte against most likely Florida State.

After starting the season 1-3 in their four non-conference games, things looked grim for the Hokies, but conference play has brought out a different team.

Virginia Tech must carry efforts from Lane Stadium on the road

The Hokies have been very good on both sides of the ball in three of their four conference games. Their offense has found a different gear since offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen committed to the run and quarterback Kyron Drones has become a big dual-threat.

Defensively, Virginia Tech has shut down Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, and Syracuse, however, all of those games were at Lane Stadium. Their one non-conference game on the road at Florida State was one where they fell behind 22-0 in the first quarter, rallied to cut the deficit to 22-17 early in the third quarter, but the Seminoles wore them down and pulled away late for the win.

This week, the Hokies are going to face who many believe is the second-best team behind Florida State in the Cardinals. Running back Jawhar Jordan is one of the best backs in the ACC and quarterback Jack Plummer has several talented skilled position players that can make plays.

Brent Pry’s defense is going to have to avoid allowing big plays on the road, something that haunted them against Rutgers, Marshall, and FSU. The defense has been getting big performances from the front seven as well as the secondary. Creating turnovers is going to be huge for Virginia Tech as well as getting off the field on third down.

In the overall big picture, the gut feeling here is that Louisville is the better team and will be very difficult to slow down at home. Regardless of the outcome, there is very meaningful football being played by Virginia Tech in November.