Offseason Opponent Watch: Pittsburgh and Miami

A couple weeks ago, I was mowing the grass outside my church when I planted my left foot, slipped, and watched as said foot went right into the lawnmower. Fortunately, I turned out to be one of the luckiest human beings alive, as the blade only cut my big toe, slicing off a chunk of the nail and giving me a nice gash underneath it, with all of the atual appendage still there. Three stitches later, and I'm on the mend, although it still doesn't feel great to walk on. Why did I tell you this?

I feel the same level of anxiety and am hit with the same dose of adrenalin when Virginia Tech and Miami play. It's always intense, it's always fun, and the 'Canes are just one of those teams that are exciting to see the Hokies match up against — great athletes and great tradition vs. the Lunchpail. Bring it on.

One of the greatest aspects of college football is the rivalries between hated opponents, and there is certainly no love lost between the Hokies and the Hurricanes. Additionally, this stretch of games — UNC, Pittsburgh, and Miami — promises to provide one of the most exciting and most crucial Octobers in recent memory. Not only do we have back-to-back Thursday night games (can I get a #Whitness?), but these will be three of the Hokies' toughest conference games in 2014. As we walk out of Lane on the night of October 23rd, we should have a pretty good idea of whether or not we should be booking trips to Charlotte. Personally, I couldn't be more excited, so let's get down to it and take a gander at the Panthers and the 'Canes.

Pittsburgh

Looking Back

The Hokies are smack dab in the meat of ACC play. Tech will follow their road contest against UNC with a trip up to Pittsburgh for the first of two consecutive Thursday night games. The Pitt Panthers seemingly had Tech's number for the past decade or so, until a 4-game winning streak was brought to a screeching halt this past fall in Lane Stadium, courtesy of Bud Foster, Dadi "Who's Your Daddy?" Nicolas, and the swarming Lunchpail D. 2013 was nothing special for the Panthers, who struggled along to a 6-6 record before squeaking out a 30-27 victory over Bowling Green in the Little Caesar's Bowl. Despite beating eventual Coastal champion Duke 58-55 (are we sure Cutcliffe and Chryst weren't holding XBox controllers the whole game?), losses to VT, Miami, UNC and Georgia Tech doomed the Panthers to the lower tier of the division. It's really hard to be a power rushing team when rushing yardage ranking is in the triple digits — amiright, Hokies? Pitt finished the year in the lower half of every major offensive category, and was only able to salvage a bowl game by fielding a solid defense — ranked 21st, — playing a less-than-brutal schedule, and pulling a nice little upset against Notre Dame.

Looking Forward

While a total of 13 starters return (7 offense, 6 defense) for Pitt, three of their four best players from last year are now in the NFL. Aaron Donald, who single-handedly made life nightmarish for all the interior linemen he faced, was off the draft board after just 13 picks. Tom Savage turned out to be a decent QB when he wasn't on his back, as he was taken in the 4th round, after our own Logan Thomas. Finally, Devin Street was picked up by the Cowboys in round 5 after hauling in 51 passes for 851 yards and 6 scores. Street made an appearance on Kyshoen Jarrett's 2013 highlight reel.

All is not lost, however, as leading receiver Tyler Boyd returns after an incredible freshman campaign which saw him catch 85 balls for 1,174 yards and 7 TDs. Yeah, that kid was 19/20 when he did that. What've you done with your life? James Connor returns as the feature back after turning in a freshman season that saw him run for 799 yards and 8 scores. Chad Voytik is the heir apparent to Savage. He stepped in during the bowl game and played well to lead the Panthers to a narrow victory. He completed 5-of-9 passes for 108 yards and rushed twice for 24 yards and score. By all accounts had a solid spring as well. In all likelihood, he'll make his first career start against Delaware and will thank his lucky stars that he'll have a full season of experience before he has to face Bud's defense in Lane in 2015. Additionally, only time will tell whether or not the decision by Paul Chryst to cancel the spring game was a good one, with so little game experience in some key spots. There are plenty of question marks on this team, including along the offensive line and all throughout the defense. Still, this is a program that has historically given the Hokies all they can handle, and it's sure to be one heck of a game when the two teams clash on a Thursday night.

Miami

Looking Back

Miami started out as one of the "hottest" programs in 2013. The 'Canes roared out of the gate with seven straight victories (over mediocre teams). Well, that all came crashing down on November 2nd, when, as a top-10 team, they were whipped by FSU (14-41)... and then again the next week when they were whipped by the Hokies (24-42)... and then again the following week when they were whipped by Duke (30-48). The 'Canes righted the ship with victories against UVa ('cause, I mean, who didn't?) and Pitt before finally being whipped yet again by Louisville (9-36) in the Russell Athletic Bowl. When the dust settled, Da U had lost four of its last six games by a combined score of 167-77. To be fair, things went downhill pretty quickly when Duke Johnson got hurt against FSU, as Miami was without one of its biggest playmakers. The defense didn't help matters too much either. While they were an opportunistic bunch, averaging 1.9 takeaways per game (tied with the Hokies, as a matter of fact), they ranked 91st in defensive F/+ in 2013. For a program that routinely pulls in the level of talent that the Hurricanes do (top-17 classes per 247sports every year since 2009 except for a 34th-ranked class in 2011), that can't be considered anything but unacceptable.

Looking Forward

This spring has been an eventful one for the Hurricanes. First and foremost, the 'Canes have been having all kinds of trouble trying to sort out their quarterback situation. Ryan Williams, the heir apparent to Stephen Morris, tore his ACL during spring practice, leaving the job open to a host of underclassmen led by r-freshman Kevin Olsen. To supplement said quarterback stable, Miami accepted transfer Jake Heaps from Kansas. Heaps signed with BYU out of high school, rated as the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the country and a 4-star player. After starting as a freshman and having a decent season (2,316 yards and 15 TDs), things went downhill for Heaps and he lost the starting job halfway through his sophomore year. He transferred to Kansas and had a rough 2013, completing 49% of his passes with 8 TDs and 10 picks. After losing the starting job in the spring, he decided to transfer yet again, this time to the QB-light Hurricanes. After graduating from Kansas in May, he'll be eligible to play immediately for Al Golden.

The most interesting move for the 'Canes came from tailback Dallas Crawford switching to defensive back in an effort to bolster a group that struggled throughout last year and the spring with both productivity and injuries. The running back stable is anything but depleted however, as Johnson is back at full speed along with early enrollee Joseph Yearby. Add in bruiser Gus Edwards, who had a very productive spring, capped by a 19 carry, 70 yard performance in the Hurricanes' final scrimmage, and Miami should be as loaded as ever in the backfield.
The good news for the defense is that things can't get much worse. That group is led by linebacker Denzel Perryman and his 241 career tackles and will look to improve from front to back in 2014.

The defense looked fast and athletic during spring ball and the unit had a rowdiness to it. In the spring game, the line got plenty of pressure on Miami quarterbacks, while also getting gashed several times on the ground. If the Hurricanes can't plug up their run defense, it'll be a long year in Coral Gables. If they can, and get things figured out under center, they could have a solid year. The Coastal is wide-open, but opening the season at Louisville (too soon?), playing FSU late in the season and visiting Lane Stadium on a Thursday night likely won't help Miami's division championship hopes. As it seems every year, the biggest question for the Hurricanes in 2014 will be whether or not they can translate talented individuals into a disciplined, determined, winning team.