Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Kentucky Wildcats: News, Predictions, and Poll

News bits:

The Band is Ready

Take a look at the hype video for the Marching Virginians.... It’s their last big event for the school year, so they are ready.

Gotta Love Belk’s Twitter presence... These guys have been fun, we are going to miss them.

This is Bud Foster’s Last Game Old Players are telling us how important it is to win this one because of what he’s meant to them and to Virginia Tech.

Hendon Hooker is awarded the Hokies’ MVP Award. He turned the season around. There are lots of great performers including Caleb Farley, Rayshard Ashby, and Chamarri Conner, but NOBODY affected this team like Hendon Hooker did. Congratulations young man. The maximum respect from your teammates is the best that anyone can say about someone.

The there was that Lean Mean Interception Machine in the defensive line. Dashawn Crawford made is presence felt.

Then there is the Leg from Down Under... And the Legs from the Beach:

And another North Carolina talent, the very returning (Yay!!!!) Caleb Farley gets DB of the year, along with the very consequential Damon Hazelton getting the Wide Receiver of the Year. In other awards we have: Dax Hollifield, Dalton Keene, Reggie Floyd, and Rayshard Ashby

Christian Darrisaw nabs the respect of his team for O-Line and Rayshard Ashby gets another big nod for outstanding linebacker.

AND Place Kicker Brian Johnson gets the #25 for the first time and the final game of the season.

Predictions

Nathan Reynolds

First of all, it’s a bowl game. You want to play well, win, and represent your school, but at the end of the day it’s end of year celebration, unless you are one of four teams competing for the national championship. If you look across the web, most expect a close game, with predictions falling within a seven point range for either school. As you’ll know by now Kentucky has found success with a run-first quarterback (and run-second, and run-third). (Side game: Will the Wildcats throw the ball more than 10 times the entire game?) Bud Foster has plenty of experience stopping a run dominated offense, i.e. Georgia Tech, but struggled against UVA’s Perkins - however, he had the threat of connecting on the deep pass. Hendon Hooker and the offense should be able to move the ball with relative ease, in what will turn into a high scoring game. The questions comes down to can Bud, in his last game with the Hokies, draw up a plan to stop Kentucky’s QB?

Virginia Tech 35 Kentucky 24

John Schneider

There is just no telling on this one. The defensive structure and reactions to running quarterbacks is iffy at best. We finally stopped Bryce Perkins but not before he killed us for the winning margin against UVA. The difference is that there is almost no passing game for Kentucky. Stop the run and it’s all over for them. But that’s easier said than done. The Hokie Offense also needs to put the hammer down and score points as fast and as often as possible. That means moving the ball in chunks, getting quality series starts with a reasonable 5+ yard first down schedule. The Wildcat defense is pretty good, but if it throws away the timidity this Tech offense is more than a match for them.

35-24 Hokies