2010 Virginia Tech Hokies: Va. Tech @ NC State

Who would have thunk it? Virginia Tech's used to playing in ACC game-of-the-year environments, but North Carolina State? Is this real?

We'll find out this Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

For several years, the NC State program has languished in mediocrity. Not since the days of Philip Rivers has this program managed to create a great deal of excitement throughout the college football community. NCSU has never sniffed an Atlantic Division championship, and the Wolfpack weren't picked to do much before the 2010 season began. Yet, after a spotless September, here comes coach Tom O'Brien's club, fresh off a win at Georgia Tech, the defending ACC champion. Suddenly yet undeniably, a considerable amount of discussion needs to be devoted to the team that's storming the gates of the ACC.

NCSU quarterback Russell Wilson is a dazzling playmaker under center for O'Brien's bunch. Wilson combines open-field speed with a rifle arm, and that 1-2 punch was far more than Georgia Tech's defense could handle last week in Atlanta. Wilson torched the Yellow Jackets, as State racked up an attention-getting 45-28 win. Wilson is certainly reason number one that the Wolfpack could protect their home field at Carter-Finley Stadium and vault to the top of the Atlantic Division this Saturday. It will be up to Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster to devise a scheme that will keep Wilson in the pocket while also denying the Pack the downfield pass plays that came so easily against Georgia Tech.

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A point of concern for Virginia Tech is that the Hokies are coming off an easy win at Boston College. Foster didn't have to do much to stop a Boston College offense whose quarterback, Dave Shinskie, performed as poorly as possible. Why is this a bad thing for the Hokies? Very simply, Wilson offers a decidedly different skill set, plus a far better level of competence. Virginia Tech was easily able to stop a poor quarterback on September 25, but if Wilson plays at his best on October 2, all the game planning in the world might not prepare the Hokies' secondary for what Wilson may bring. In competitive athletics, bad opponents (Shinskie and BC) can drag you down and prevent you from being supremely sharp. Therefore, when a much better foe appears soon afterward, it's hard to make that substantial adjustment. Playing a really good quarterback one week after staring down a really bad quarterback can often be difficult for even the most accomplished defenses. Bud Foster will call the right plays, but will Virginia Tech's athletes be able to handle the well-rounded abilities of Wilson?

Beyond the chess match between Wilson and Foster, the other question mark hanging over this game is the identity of NC State itself. It's true that Georgia Tech is playing abysmal football this year and is trying to find itself on both sides of the ball. It's also true that NC State beat a Cincinnati club that got pounded earlier in 2010 by Fresno State, a team that just got roughed up by Ole Miss... yeah, the same Ole Miss team that lost at home to both Vanderbilt and Jacksonville State. There's a lot of flux and fluidity surrounding the teams NC State has beaten this season, and since the ACC is a conference which has regularly been very balanced yet murky over the past several years - especially since Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech jumped from the Big East in 2004 - we don't yet know where NCSU stands.

Will this be the breakthrough team that will give O'Brien his first conference title as a major-college head coach, or will this September surge be remembered as a cruel tease? Is NC State ready to outclass a Bud Foster defense while also clamping down on Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor?

The answers await in a game that has unexpectedly become a must-see event.

Virginia Tech Hokies @ NC State Wolfpack Football Preview