Bourbon Shots: Hokies vs. Boise State Edition

Links and links and links, most of them previews of Monday's game:

The National View

Week 1 College Football Buffet (SB Nation)
Sean Keeley of TNIAAM previews the weekend in college football and ranks the Hokies and Broncos at the top of his viewing list. Go here for times and TV listings as well as pertinent reading for every game worth viewing.

VT, BSU Meet In Top 10 Battle At Fedex Field (SB Nation DC)
SB Nation DC has the StoryStream for Monday's game, which will be updated as news breaks surrounding it. It looks like we're getting closer and closer to a sellout for the game, which would benefit the Hokies. Be loud, guys.

Seventh Day Adventure: It Begins (Football Outsiders)
The guys at FO crunch the numbers and pick the Hokies to come out on top Monday. Both defenses were great in passing situations last year, meaning the key for both offenses will be getting positive yards on first down and staying out of long-yardage situations. Bonus: OBNUG and I on the FO podcast.

The Fearless Friday Forecast (Mr. College Football)
Tony Barnhart picks us to beat Boise State by a point.

Eve of the season ACC primer: Virginia Tech (D1scourse)
Patrick believes despite their flaws, the Hokies do have a chance at the national title because every other team is flawed as well. However, he thinks in the end we'll live up to expectations: "The national consensus is the Hokies are a borderline top-10 team. Virginia Tech --- whether as a function of impressive consistency or boring predictability --- can be counted upon to land in that neighborhood."

The Rise Of Virginia Tech And Boise State (Lost Lettermen)
LL looks at the similarities, differences and the men behind the rise of both Virginia Tech and Boise State from the dregs of college football to their current standing.

Virginia Tech Beat Writers

Boise State’s Petersen doesn’t expect long trip to affect his players (Nathan Warters)
Boise State is making its third trip to the East Coast since jumping up to FBS. It lost both of those previous two games, but this Bronco squad is much different than those two -- and has a much different, more prepared coach.

Offensive line chemistry fundamental to success (Collegiate Times)
The Hokies will be rotating left tackles during Monday's game against Boise State. The CT looks at how that could affect their run and pass blocking against the Broncos.

David Wilson looking forward to fresh start (Darryl Slater)
David Wilson was impressive enough in the preseason to earn carries that would otherwise go to Ryan Williams or Darren Evans. But how many carries will keep him happy and what will he be able to do with them against the likes of Boise State and the ACC?

Poor tackling worries Bud Foster (Randy King)
We've seen poor tackling doom the Hokies in season openers before. If this is a problem again (and it could be with the newbies on D), it could spell doom for us against the speedy Boise State receivers.

Hokies CB Jayron Hosley will start vs. Boise State (Mark Giannotto)
Hosley missed much of training camp with injured hamstrings, but will get the start against BSU. He'll split time with Cris Hill at field corner, but he'll still get most of the snaps.

Hokies linebacker learns to move past actions of ex-NFL father (Kyle Tucker)
A feature on Tech's whip linebacker, Jeron Gouveia-Winslow, and his renewed relationship with his former Redskin father, Kurt Gouveia. JGW and his dad went over his performance in scrimmages this summer and have he said his dad has helped him with the game's mental aspect.

Kicking could present interesting scenarios (Norm Wood)
Wood breaks down the Hokies' and Broncos' special teams. Boise State has a veteran in Kyle Brotzman who's a pretty good punter. The Hokies are relying on senior Chris Hazley, who will be making his first appearance in a Tech uniform. Hazley discusses his Tech career in Wood's post.

Virginia Tech Bloggers

Playing the Game (The A-Line)
Jim discusses the hype surrounding the Boise State game, Nike's marketing effort surrounding it and the other neutral site ACC openers, including what UNC players might actually make it to Atlanta and the chances for Navy to Maryland.

W.I.N. - Boise State (The Key Play)
BCO breaks it down and says the winner will be the team that makes the best adjustments to what the other team is doing during the game. Expect BSU to attack JGW, Hosley and Davon Morgan and for the Hokies to take the leash off Tyrod Taylor.

The Showdown – VT vs. BSU Preview (VT Campus Correspondent)
Josh Parcell breaks down the game for ACC Represent. He looks for Bruce Taylor to have a big game at mike linebacker and for Tyrod Taylor, not the running backs, to be the key on offense for the Hokies. He predicts a 10-point VT win.

#5 Boise State vs. #6 Virginia Tech (Tech Sideline)
TSL looks at a lot of keys for the game, including the health of Boise State offensive lineman Joe Kellogg. They say there's a big difference between the Broncos O-line with Kellogg and without him. They also look at BSU cornerback Brandyn Thompson as a possible difference maker, just like he was in the Fiesta Bowl last year.

The Boise State Game aka Shutting Down the Hype Machine (We Bleed Bourbon)
WBB is definitely the yin to my yang when it comes to game previews. They break down the Broncos' offense, defense and special teams and come away very confident the Hokies will take care of business in DC: "Anyone reading this that thinks Boise State is going to win can go dry hump a cactus." Ouch.