2011 Virginia Tech Hokies Football: Va. Tech @ Marshall

On paper, the Virginia Tech Hokies should drill the Marshall Thundering Herd when the two teams meet this Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. However, when paper turns to reality, the unsettling truth for the heavy favorites is that they can’t take anything for granted.

Virginia Tech would like to feel comfortable as it prepares for this contest against an inconsistent Conference USA foe. However, the Hokies’ performance on offense does not merit very much optimism. Not at all.

Through three games in the young season, Virginia Tech is unbeaten, but the Hokies have so many more miles to travel before they can feel they’ve achieved something of distinction. This team is a work in progress, and that was to have been expected when one realizes that the Hokies lost quarterback Tyrod Taylor to graduation. Taylor was a raw and unpolished product in his freshman and sophomore seasons, but he ripened into a first-rate leader and a brilliant field general in his senior season. Taylor showed that he could master the quarterback spot and strike the right balance between pocket passing and improvisational playmaking with his legs whenever his first options were taken away. Virginia Tech’s recent football history has shown that its quarterbacks need time to settle into their careers. This is why sophomore Logan Thomas, for all his enormous potential, is currently going through a period of pronounced difficulty.

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Thomas is the owner and operator of a body that has been likened by many talent evaluators to that of Cam Newton. Thomas is fast and thickly muscled, the kind of physical specimen who could very well play in the NFL one day. However, Thomas is taking a lot more time to grow into the role of a premier college quarterback. Whereas Newton needed only a few games to understand the position in his one phenomenal season at Auburn in 2010, Thomas – being younger than Newton – is understandably requiring more time to learn the finer points of quarterbacking.

In three contests against lower-tier opponents – Appalachian State, East Carolina, and Arkansas State – Thomas has thrown for just four touchdowns while tossing three interceptions. More alarming is the fact that Thomas has completed just 38 of 72 passes against undersized defenses. A 53-percent completion rate against those defenses represents a mediocre level of performance. It’s true that Marshall got whacked by Ohio University a week ago, but the Thundering Herd also sprang an upset against Southern Mississippi. Given the fact that Virginia Tech struggled on the road against one Conference USA team ( East Carolina), the prospect of a second road trip to a C-USA lair could also pose problems for the Hokies.

Say this much: If Logan Thomas struggles against Marshall, there are no guarantees for Virginia Tech in this contest. The Hokies need a mature game from their quarterback before they embark upon the ACC portion of their schedule.

Virginia Tech Hokies @ Marshall Thundering Herd Football Preview