The Team

• Don't let Alabama beat us twice. That games over and there's still plenty of goals we can accomplish.
• I would really appreciate it if this game was out of reach by halftime. Then I can watch OSU-Houston on FSN and TCU-Virginia on ESPNUVA.

Virginia Tech Offense vs. Marshall Defense

• SIU racked up plenty of yards rushing against Marshall. Look for Oglesby and Williams to exploit the middle of their defensive line.
• I'm interested to see how many touches David Wilson gets in this game and how the carries are distributed.
• The pass blocking is the No. 1 thing to watch in this game. Was it s--tty because we were playing Alabama or is it just a giant pile of FAIL?
• The quality of our receivers will also be revealed in this game. They couldn't get open downfield against Alabama's secondary. How much have they improved from 2008?
• Our receivers were excellent at run blocking in 2008 and awful against Alabama. Hopefully this isn't a trend.
• Can we run a reverse to anyone other than Danny Coale? Is he really the best option on reverses from our group of receivers?
• Finally, will Tyrod will unleashed? I thought it was kind of funny that after the first game Alabama fans were complaining their QB tucked and ran too much and our fans were complaining Tyrod didn't tuck and run enough.
• PS - Does anyone know if Marshall CB T.J. Drakeford is related to Tyronne Drakeford? I spent five minutes on The Google and couldn't find out.

Virginia Tech Defense vs. Marshall Offense

• Darius Marshall had a good season last year, but predictably his worst games came against the three BCS teams Marshall faced: Wisconsin, West Virginia and Cincinnati. I expect less than 3.0 ypc from him in this game.
• The Herd had to have seen how bad the Hokies are covering the middle of the field against Alabama. Will they be able to throw over the middle as well as the Tide? If so, we're in for a long season.
• In order to keep Marshall from throwing deep over the middle, the defensive line needs to get pressure on Marshall QB Brian Anderson. I really don't see this being a problem. Worilds, Brown and The Deathbacker should have a field day.
• If Anderson goes down, Marshall's next option is Press Taylor, who played his high school football less than 200 yards from my house.
• Marshall has a solid tight end in Cody Slate, who was the Mackey Award's TE of the week last week. He is a good test for Jake Johnson's coverage skills.

Outcome

• The Hokies will show improvement on offense, but will hardly blow out the Thundering Herd. This game will be similar in score to last year's game against Western Kentucky. The outcome will never be in doubt, but Marshall will not be completely overmatched.

Watch the Box Score For:

• Virginia Tech Red Zone Pct
• Virginia Tech 3rd Down Pct
• Darius Marshall Rush Avg
• Marshall Ypp on 1st Down

Virginia Tech Players to Watch:

• 4 - David Wilson, Fr., RB
• 77 - Ed Wang, Sr., OL
• 26 - Cody Grimm, Sr., LB
• 17 - Kam Chancellor, Sr., FS

Marshall Players to Watch:

• 5 - Darius Marshall, Jr., RB
• 85 - Cody Slate, Sr., TE
• 30 - Mario Harvey, Jr., LB
• 96 - Albert McClellan, Sr., DE

Final Score

Virginia Tech 28, Marshall 13