In the most anticipated opening game in Virginia Tech football history, the
seventh-ranked Hokies travel to Atlanta to face the fifth-ranked Alabama Crimson
Tide on Saturday night. Tech will be on the main stage in college football's
opening weekend with high expectations throughout the Hokie Nation. Can Tyrod
Taylor lead VT to a big win against one of college football's most storied
programs? Can Bud Foster's defense contain dynamic playmaker Julio Jones?
These questions and more will soon be answered in Atlanta.
In most opening games, mistakes and mental errors will dictate the outcome,
but I anticipate a well-played game for one simple reason - the two teams are
almost mirror images of each other. The offensive and defensive units that each
team has been practicing against all spring and summer will be very similar to
the squads each will be facing Saturday. Obviously, key personnel will be
different, but schematically the two programs have many similarities.