When Virginia was 4-0 back in September, Virginia Tech was limping to a 2-2 start, getting waxed by Duke, struggling to even get past Furman.
Then it was UVA’s turn to struggle, losing three of four, and All-America corner Bryce Hall to injury, putting the Cavaliers’ season on the brink.
Tech’s season turned on what has maybe been the college football game of the year to this point, a 43-41, six-OT win over North Carolina in Blacksburg on Oct. 19 that maybe wasn’t pretty, but got the Hokies to 5-2 heading into a bye.
Since the bye, Virginia Tech has been … pretty good.
Three wins – an obliteration of then-ranked Wake Forest, back-to-back whitewashes of Georgia Tech and Pitt – and one loss, a 21-20 defeat at Notre Dame that the Hokies led inside of a minute to go.
Virginia, on its side, has also turned things around of late, winning three straight – 38-31 at UNC, a tougher-than-it-shoulda-been 33-28 win over Georgia Tech, a 55-27 coast over Liberty.
Neither looks like you thought they would when the season started.
For Tech, Ryan Willis is out as starting QB, and Hendon Hooker is 5-0 as the starter.
The Tech defense, which wasn’t even all that good in Hokies’ wins, giving up 563 yards in the 42-35 win at Miami and 491 yards in the win over UNC, has been stout of late, giving up 204 yards a game over its last three, and not even surrendering a point since the 8:52 mark of the third quarter of the win over Wake three weeks ago.
Virginia got out to its hot start on the strength of what was, for the first half of the season, the second-best defense in the ACC, but with the secondary decimated from the losses to injury of Hall and safety Brenton Nelson, it’s been the offense that has carried the day, averaging 42 points and 476.3 yards per game.
So, in sum, you have UVA playing at close to optimum on offense, Virginia Tech probably closer to optimum on defense.
The Virginia Tech offense: pretty good, over 460 yards in four of its last six.
The Virginia defense: pretty good. Only UNC gone past 400 yards total offense against the ‘Hoos all season.
There are guys hurt on both sides, guys playing different roles, et cetera, but by and large, we’re talking two teams as close to the height of their powers as you can get heading into a regular-season finale.
This one happens to be the biggest game in the series’ history. A winner-take-all for the Coastal Division championship.
Winner gets Clemson, loser … finishes 8-4, which a few weeks ago, honestly, either would have settled for, but not now.
Oh, and there’s the part about how Virginia Tech hasn’t lost this game since 2003.
Time to get it on.
Story by Chris Graham
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