Coming off a bye, the Virginia Tech football team heads to Florida State at 3-6 to begin the final stretch of three games to close out the 2025 season. Like the Hokies, the Seminoles are in the same boat at 4-5 and not having the season they thought they were going to have.
The last time we saw the Hokies' offense, they were struggling against Louisville on Nov. 1 in a loss where they held a halftime lead and were shut out in the second half. Going up against a stout and talented FSU defense is not going to be an easy task. They opened the season with a win over Alabama at home.
One huge obstacle for the Virginia Tech offense is going to be defensive lineman Darrell Jackson, Jr., who lines up at nose tackle. The 6-foot-5, 337-pound senior from Florida poses a daunting task for Hokies center Kyle Altuner.
Virginia Tech OL coach Matt Moore explains task ahead of Hokies OL with Darrell Jackson, Jr.
This season for FSU, Jackson, Jr. has 28 tackles and one sack. He's three tackles shy of his career-high of 31 he had last season, but he'll present a big challenge for Matt Moore's offensive line on Saturday night.
"Oh, it's a challenge. It's a challenge,'' said Moore. "Altuner is going to have to play with great technique and strain and just be able to get leverage on him. When you go against a big guy like that, you got to be able to leverage and you got to double team him when you can.''
Virginia Tech's offensive line was a disaster to begin the year, and Moore had to rebuild it from scratch in his first season in Blacksburg, but over the last couple of games, they have been dependable as some of the players have recovered from injuries. However, it's been a flaw, and FSU could expose it early and often on Saturday night.
"I'm finally getting to play with the same group for the last three or four weeks, which has been really nice,'' added Moore. "Because we were just shuffling people around the first six or seven games, it was a different lineup every week. At one point, I had a true freshman and three redshirt freshmen starting out there. And it was difficult, not able to do things the way we want to. But I feel like we're coming together and they're communicating well. And they're playing well together right now.''
They are going to get one of their biggest tests against the Seminoles, whether it's protecting Kyron Drones and the passing game or running the ball. The key to success will be containing Jackson, Jr. Easier said than done.