2010 Virginia Tech Hokies: Va. Tech vs Boise State

This isn’t just a very attractive opening-weekend matchup. It’s a game with national championship implications. Buckle up in the Beltway as Boise State and Virginia Tech collide.

In a sport where the last game of the season – played in December – punches tickets to the BCS National Championship Game, it’s this – the first game on the slate – which could wind up being Boise State’s toughest test on the road to Glendale, Arizona. Boise State will be trying to become the first team from a non-automatic-qualifying conference to make the BCS National Championship Game.

From a Virginia Tech perspective, quarterback Tyrod Taylor has already gone on record as saying that a national championship – not just a third ACC crown in four seasons – is a priority for his Hokies. With that in mind, the first game for Tech this season will have a lasting impact on the team’s mood.

A loss to Boise would definitely destroy any national championship dreams harbored in Blacksburg, but what’s just as worrisome in terms of the potential fallout from this contest is that a Tech loss might hijack the Hokies’ mood and prevent the BeamerBall from being at its best in the ACC. Boise State isn’t the only team living on the razor’s edge in this contest. Yes, the Broncos undoubtedly carry the bigger bulls-eye, but there’s plenty of pressure resting on the shoulders of the ACC’s bellwether program over the past five years. Virginia Tech has, in its own right, thrown a lot of political capital into this throwdown. One could debate the merits of speaking so openly about this contest (as opposed to staying mum), but it’s impossible to fault the desire which lies behind Virginia Tech’s explicit proclamations.

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Let's take a look at some of the Xs and Os in this large lid-lifter to the 2010 season. If Boise is to prevail after a cross-country journey to the Atlantic Seaboard, Coach Chris Petersen and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin will need to do what they always do: outflank the opposition with clever situational playcalling. The recipe for a Boise breakthrough will include the ability of the Broncos’ offensive braintrust to create confusion in a Hokie defense that will be missing seven starters from the 2009 unit. Six starters have moved on for Tech, and a seventh starter, linebacker Barquell Rivers, is still recuperating from quadriceps surgery. Defenses are usually a few steps ahead of offenses in early-season collisions, but if ever there was a case in which that conventional wisdom could be overturned, this game could upset the apple cart. A fully intact Boise offense – led by the surgical signal caller Kellen Moore – could gouge the Gobblers as the “WAC Daddy” sets its sights on Bud Foster’s unproven gang of 11.

If Virginia Tech is to win on Labor Day, the Hokies can’t expect to snooker a veteran Bronco defense that returns 10 starters. The formula for a Virginia Tech victory is not built on guile or shrewdness; it instead relies on athletic playmaking, stamina, and pure power. Frank Beamer’s boys want to make this clash a 60-minute slugfest. In the withering heat and humidity of the Mid-Atlantic region, the native Hokies should be able to lean on the Broncos’ front seven if they don’t have to overcome a multi-possession deficit.

Virginia Tech locates its identity in the realm of physical football, whereas the Boise Way is built on the back of X-and-O excellence. Naturally, Boise could very well pull out a white-knuckle win late in the fourth quarter. Similarly, Virginia Tech just might use big-play passing to get an early lead and prevail. All is possible in a season-opening game when teams are rusty, inexperienced, or a combination of the two. (Teams generally don’t settle into their identities until late September.) However, all things being equal, it’s far more likely that these teams will win due to their foremost strengths, and lose due to their most glaring weaknesses.

Boise State wants to be the first team to land a thunderous punch, while Virginia Tech wants to be the last team standing at the end of a 15-rounder.

Let the heavyweight bout begin! It sure feels as though something akin to a world championship is on the line. This game is that big... even though the calendar says September 6.

Virginia Tech Hokies vs Boise State Broncos Preview