Barnhart Talks Coastal, Tide Fans Talk Tech

Tony Barnhart, a/k/a Mr. College Football, posted his "What we know and don't know" about the ACC Coastal this morning on his blog. Barnhart has forgotten more about college football than I know, so I was looking forward to this.

Here's what he said about the Hokies:

VIRGINIA TECH (10-4, practice starts April 1, ends April 25)

What we know: Bud Foster’s defense will be very good again. The Hokies’ defense was supposed to be in a rebuilding mode in 2008 but when the season ended Virginia Tech was second in the league in total defense (279.4 ypg) and first in scoring defense (16.7 ppg). Seven starters return but the losses were significant. Victor “Macho” Harris started 40 games at cornerback. Foster also has to find a couple of inside linebackers. According the figures recently released by the school, in the last five seasons combined, Virginia Tech has had the nation’s best defense (263.06 ypg). There is no reason to think that will change in 2009.

What we don’t know: Can QB Tyrod Taylor and RB Darren Evans keep it going? If so, the Hokies are going to be hard to handle on offense. Taylor, a rising junior, was dinged up a lot last season but still managed to record 1,774 yards of total offense (1,036 passing, 738 running) in 12 games. Evans set an ACC record for the most yards rushing by a freshman (1,265) last season. Virginia Tech has won the ACC championship in three of the five years (2004, 2007, 2008) it has been a member and played for the ACC championship (losing to Florida State) in 2005. The Hokies may be the closest thing the ACC has to a Top 10 team in 2009. Do they have a chance to upset Alabama in the Georgia Dome on Sept. 5?

Pretty simple and straight forward. Also, the same thing could have been said in 2006, 2007 and 2008 about Hokie football.

Naturally, Barnhart's suggestion that Tech might beat Alabama brought out the best and brightest the state has to offer in the comments section.

"Roll fuckin' tahde":

From MtnBama: "VT like everyone else will be lucky to score ten points against Bama this year."

From Saint Nick: "Yeah VT will have a decent defense, BUT, Bama will have a GREAT defense!!!! VT or anyone for that matter run on this defense. Scott moving to DB will help sure up the secondary, the front seven will be the best in the country. RTR!!!!!!"

From Got 12? (ed. note - you don't have 12, either): "Once again, by scheduling the marquee matchup of college football’s opening weekend, Bama has already won. This game is about national exposure, branding, and recruiting. One a side note, we will beat Virgina Tech."

From Bob: "Virginia Tech does not fare well in games like this. Their record against top 25 teams from OOC is less than impressive, and that’s being generous. I think they are one of the most overrated programs in the nation."

That is some inspirational shit right there. For those of you who don't speak Crazy Fanatic Internet Shorthand, RTR means "Roll Tide Roll". Of course, there was no mention from Bama fans about how they were actually going to move the ball this year or how this game being on opening weekend might hurt the team that's having to replace its QB, RB and best offensive lineman.

Looks like we're going to have five months of smack talk between Bama and Tech fans leading up to this soiree.