What I'm Watching when Tech plays Miami

Jacory Harris might love to run his mouth more than anyone I've ever seen. Seriously the kid LOVES to talk himself up. To quote the ever eloquent T.O., "I love me some me." Saturday afternoon Harris and the rest of "The U" come rolling into Blacksburg looking to continue their winning ways and ride out of town on their way to a top 5 ranking next week. The media has been slurping up and dishing out all of the talk about how "The U" is back as a national football power. But as much focus is going to be on Jacory Harris and his swagger and then as much focus is going to be on Tyrod and if he can recapture the magic from last week's miracle win over Nebraska, there's only 1 place that I'm watching on the field tomorrow, and that 1 place will dictate who's going to win the game:

VT Offensive Line vs. Miami Defensive Line/Miami Offensive Line vs. VT Defensive Line

VT O-line vs. Miami D-line
Whichever unit up front wins the battles play in and play out will dictate who wins this game. There has been more than enough talk since the Nebraska game about our offensive woes. Playcalling, QB play, the ability of our WR's to get open have all come into question. But where the success of our offense lives and dies is in the execution of the offensive line. If our O-line has another performance similar to the Bama or Nebraska game, we will not win this game. On the other hand, if our offensive line is able to play cohesively as a unit and knock some people off of the ball, we actually stand a very good chance against a very fast and talented Miami team.

I remember last year the week leading up to the Maryland game thinking about how our offensive line hadn't dominated anyone up front all season long. Even against teams like Duke and Furman our O-line didn't win the battle in the trenches. Wouldn't you know it that when we suited up against Maryland a light bulb finally clicked in the heads of our O-line and Darren Evans had the night of his life running the ball. This is exactly the type of performance from the offensive line that we are going to need against Miami tomorrow. Establishing a running game early will lead to an effective play-action game. An effective play-action game will then cause the defense to sit back on their heels guessing and Tyrod will be able to pick apart the defense on crossing routes underneath and maybe once or twice hit for a big play over top of Miami's always over-aggressive safeties.

VT D-line vs. Miami O-line
Believe it or not, Miami's offensive line might be the best O-line we will face all year. Man to man other schools might have more talent, but as a unit we might not face a line that is better at protecting their QB and giving him time to see downfield and find open receivers. It is absolutely critical that we get pressure on Jacory Harris early and often. Doing this will keep Harris' ego in check and cause the Sophomore QB to begin to question himself just enough. The numbers our defensive secondary have put up so far this year have been impressive, but if Jacory Harris has plenty of time to sit back in the pocket and wait for receivers to get open he will make the throws that will put points on the board.

Look for a breakout night for Jason Worilds as he has to know that VT's chances of winning might fall on his shoulders more than anyone else on our entire defensive unit. If we don't get pressure often and early on Harris, watch the Miami passing game, supplemented by a very efficient running attack start to wear away at the vaunted VT defense. Bud's "bend-don't-break" defensive philosophy ended up successful last week against a poor Nebraska offense. Miami is quite a bit more explosive and won't settle for 5 field goals believe me.

So my eyes will be glued to the big-uglies tomorrow because that is where the fate of a VT victory lies.

Go Hokies!