Nebraska Preview

How will the Offensive Line hold up against a very experienced, extremely talented Nebraska Defensive line? How will Tyrod follow up his dominating performance against Nebraska last year? Will Williams and Wilson light up the scoreboard on the national stage? Will our defense (possibly sans Stephan Virgil) limit the big plays? Can Beamerball keep the streak alive with another touchdown?

These questions all hang over the heads of the Hokies when they hit the field against the Nebraska Cornhuskers tomorrow at 3:30pm. Lane Stadium will be electric, two of the nation’s best Defensive Coordinators will go toe to toe and we will get closer to knowing exactly how good the 2009 Hokies can really be.

I won’t bore you with my thoughts on every one of the questions above, but here are a few things I’m going to be looking for during the game tomorrow:

1) Does our Offensive Line learn from the first 2 weeks and make the necessary adjustments to give Tyrod enough time to be successful?

I stated in my analysis of the team before the season even started that the success of the Hokie offense lies in the hands of the performance of the O-line. Tyrod will have success against a young Nebraska linebacker corps and an over-aggressive secondary IF AND ONLY IF the O-line consistently gives him time in the pocket.

2) Will our Defensive line finally get some pressure on the Quarterback?

I have been sufficiently underwhelmed by our defensive line so far this season. If we are unable to get consistent pressure on Cornshucker QB Zac Lee, he will pick our defense apart. Our linebackers have shown that pass coverage is not exactly their strong-suit. Kam Chancellor has yet to put together a complete game, and worst of all, we might be without shut-down corner Stephan Virgil. The key to shutting down the Nebraska offense will be consistent and successful pressure on the quarterback.

3) Can Beamerball hit on all cylinders yet again and put 6 on the board to help out our offense?

The return game has been quite a hit so far this season for the Hokies. Dyrell Roberts and Jayron Hosley have lit it up with the ball in their hands, but can we complete the Beamerball trifecta (or quad-fecta if that’s even close to a real word) by blocking a punt or field goal? A special teams touchdown in Lane Stadium in front of 66,000-plus screaming Hokie fans just might be an insurmountable momentum killer for Nebraska. Plus our offense can always use the help.


For all of you lucky dogs who get to go to the game tomorrow, scream your head off and show the Nebraska fans that the Commonwealth of Virginia knows a little about how to play football (this of course excludes our
horse-falling-off friends from Charlottesville).


Go Hokies!!