Emmett Laws' dominating South Carolina performance should terrify the rest of the ACC

Of the many things that did in fact look promising for the Virginia Tech Hokies in their Labor Day Weekend loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, it might be impossible to top the big guy wreaking havoc in the middle of Sam Siefkies' defense. Redshirt freshman Emmett Laws made one big play after another for the Hokies. He was constantly in LaNorris Sellers' face all afternoon down in Atlanta.

Although it has been a trying last few years for the Hokies, Laws gives off the vibes of the type of player who will turn the tide in Blacksburg for the positive. The former DeMatha Catholic standout showed up in a big way vs. South Carolina. He had at least three tackles on the day, including a safety of Sellers for Virginia Tech's first points of the year. Laws also had a powerful sack in the third quarter.

While he did speak to the media after the game, Laws would rather let his elite play do the talking first.

Emmett Laws reflects on what will be the first of many great showings

Laws touched on how important it was to keep contain on Sellers throughout the Week 1 matchup.

"Basically, I just got off the ball and just contained. You got to keep Sellers contained and that's what the whole D-line [did]. We were working on that the whole week, so that's definitely what I did right there."

Here is the biggest play of Laws' Virginia Tech career so far. His safety got the crowd rocking big time.

When asked about factoring on defense in multiple ways, Laws answered with brimming confidence.

"I feel like I'm just getting started. Yeah, for sure."

He later gave credit to Siefkies coming in and designing smart plays to get the most out of his guys.

"He's just smart. He just knows when to call a play and he's nice. He's really, really good. For sure."

Laws gave off the vibes of what made Grady Jarrett special at Clemson and for the Atlanta Falcons.

Emmett Laws' growth Sam Siefkies defense could save Brent Pry's job

Brent Pry was hired a few years back to be the difference maker in recruitment to help get the Hokies back on track. Admittedly, the results have not been anywhere close to what Virginia Tech fans were hoping for. However, even in defeat vs. South Carolina, there were positive signs that this year could be better than the last for the Hokies. Laws' emergence seems to be chief among them this season.

Because defense is Pry's side of the ball, it might need to be the position group to help bring Kyron Drones and the rest of the Philip Montgomery offense along. Drones has to play better. Everyone knows that. That being said, many of the great Virginia Tech teams from yesteryear were defined by great play on defense and special teams. The college football world calls it Beamer Ball for a reason.

In the end, for as impactful as Laws was in his season debut for the Hokies, it just goes to show how games are won and lost by quarterback play. The guy who touches the ball the most often is the one who will dictate who a game will largely go. What is important to understand is that Laws is a player seemingly everyone in the country would like to have. Virginia Tech needs to win more to keep him.

For now, Hokies fans should be more than thrilled that they have a bona-fide blue-chipper in Laws.

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