First up for the 2024 Commodores is Virginia Tech. The Hokies, under head coach Brent Pry, have improved from 2-10 to 7-6. Pat McAfee also picked them to win the ACC and the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff. Why would a team that played one game above .500 during the season be picked to win the ACC? The Hokies are scoring 91% of their offense and 77% of their defense. Those percentages rank 1st.^st and 13^th in the country. So much continuity in the portal world means that players are involved in the process.

attack

Virginia Tech has the scariest thing that can happen to a defense: a dual-threat QB who won’t lose the ball. Kyron Drones played limited snaps at Baylor in 2022. He completed 14/23 passes for 1 TD and 1 INT while carrying the ball 8 times for 49 yards and 2 more TDs. The decision to transfer to Blacksburg didn’t immediately put him in a starting position, but Drones took it over in the third game. He completed 153/264 passes for 1,993 yards, 15 TDs and just 3 INTs. The defense sacked him 20 times, which makes his 146 carries for 642 yards all the more impressive since in college football, sack yards are subtracted from rushing totals.

Drones in the backfield is again joined by the rest of VT’s top three runners. Bhayshul Tuten carried the ball 173 times for 863 yards and 10 touchdowns. Malachi Thomas managed 381 yards on 83 carries with 2 TDs.

On the outside, Da’Quan Felton and Jaylin Lane were the main targets. Together they made 79 catches for 1,205 yards. Option 3, TE Dae’quan Wright, is gone, but the 4^th The best receiver is also back. Stephen Gosnell contributed 347 yards on 22 catches. Tuten increased his running contribution by catching 27 passes for 239 yards. In total, 2,106 of VT’s 2,621 receiving yards are back, which will test the obvious weak spot of Vanderbilt’s defense in the secondary.

The offensive line also has all 5 of its regular players back. The group allowed 24 sacks this season and brought the running game to an average of 5.0 yards per run.

defense

This is the side of the ball with less return production, but 16 of the 20 defensemen who recorded 15+ tackles on the season are back. The only potential weakness on defense is the secondary, which only intercepted 7 passes. Still, 6 of those 7 recoveries were made by a returner.

Last season, the Hokies only allowed 34.7% of 3-point shots.^rd Downs, ranked 31st^st in FBS. They allowed the 19^th least 1^st Downs. VT allowed the 50^th most points per game with 23.9. And almost the entire defense is back for more. The only area I can find that Virginia Tech was weak on defense was the Red Zone point percentage. They ranked 106th^th in the FBS because they allowed opponents to score on 31 of 35 trips to the red zone. However, those 35 trips to the red zone would put them in the top 20 for fewest trips allowed. They accomplished this by allowing just 5.15 yards per play, which is 26^th preferably.

Special teams

One of the few areas where Vanderbilt outperformed Virginia Tech last season was net punting, but the Hokies were still 26^th in FBS at 40.8 yards per punt. John Love’s 22/24 FGs were also rated 6h in FBS, while he^th most field goals. The longest number of 46 brings him to 94^thbut it’s hard to say if the 0 attempts from 50 or more is because the coaches knew he didn’t have the leg for it or if it was just a fluke. The only video I found of him kicking was a 44-yard field goal against Louisville that he perfected. It probably would have been good from 50-52 yards, so maybe his range is a little limited, but the accuracy numbers suggest he’s much more reliable than most college kickers.

In total

Virginia Tech is a team that the experts want to position as a potential ACC underdog behind FSU and Clemson. That makes sense. In a world where the portal constantly causes turmoil in the squad, the Hokies have remarkable consistency. Continuity can be a big advantage, especially in Week 1. Drones is the undisputed starter. He has almost all of the same weapons back. The head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator are all in their 3^rd Season with the program.

VT is really a worst-case scenario for Vanderbilt to start the season. The defense will have to force Drones to rely on his arm by stopping the run, while the offense will have to find some weak spots in a defense that seems to be resilient at every level. If Game 1 remains competitive, it will be a good sign of progress made starting in 2023. If the Commodores open 1-0, Vanderbilt fans could start looking at when the lower-tier SEC bowl games are.