Miami football coach Mario Cristobal is extremely praiseful of struggling Virginia Tech

Miami football coach Mario Cristobal has seen this play out before. The head coach of the No. 7 ranked team in the country kicks off ACC play at home Friday night against Virginia Tech in a primetime game. The Hurricanes come into the game showing that their preseason hype is real. The Hokies, not so much.

While Miami has looked good in taking care of business against Florida, Florida A&M, Ball State, and South Florida, Virginia Tech has struggled losing to Vanderbilt and Rutgers, while beating Marshall and Old Dominion. It could be easy for the Hurricanes to overlook the Hokies, but the veteran coach is not going to let his team do that.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal speaks very highly of Virginia Tech

With a Friday night, things for both teams are being pushed up a day. Instead of Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry holding his weekly media availability on Tuesday, he held it on Monday. Cristobal also met with the media Monday and despite his opponent’s record this week, he sounds like he’s still buying into the preseason hype surrounding the Hokies.

"Very talented upfront, very powerful, explosive, twitchy top 10 in sacks in the country for a reason. They are deep. They play their base stuff they also have a significant amount of exotic pressures in our high-pressure organization, They're very organized, and really good tacklers. One defense they are long. A lot of athletic ability, a lot of speed and they do a good job on the back ends," Cristobal said about Virginia Tech’s defense.

As far as the offensive of the ball goes for Virginia Tech, Cristobal knows that they can put up points and put them up quickly.

"They are a loaded football team and their quarterback is an extremely explosive dangerous accurate player. A great leader. They're big massive upfront, great running game, explosive receivers, and looking forward to a great matchup."

He’s correct in his assessment, but their “massive” offensive line has struggled this season and they have some of their top offensive players, Kyron Drones, Bhayshul Tuten, and Ali Jennings, nursing injuries that have hampered the output at times. Regardless of who plays and who doesn’t, Cristobal knows what Virginia Tech is capable of on both sides of the ball and will be ready for everything the Hokies throw at them.