Stanford football takes on Virginia Tech at The Farm on Saturday at 12:30pm PT on the ACC Network. Stanford is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, while Virginia Tech is 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
Video: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference: Virginia Tech
Last matchup: Stanford lost 40-14 on the road to No. 15 Clemson. Emmett Mosley V and Eric Ayomanar both found the end zone for Stanford. Clemson moved up from 17th to 15th in the AP Top 25.
Review: Stanford falls to No. 17 Clemson in Death Valley
About Virginia Tech: The Hokies suffered a 38-34 loss to No. 7 Miami last week. Miami will be in the Bay Area again this weekend, playing Cal on Saturday night in Berkeley. Miami remains undefeated at 5-0 after that nail-biting game. In addition to the loss at Miami, Virginia Tech lost on the road to Vanderbilt and at home to Rutgers. As for the two wins, they defeated Marshall 31-14 and Old Dominion 37-17. As a team, the Hokies are averaging 30.4 points and 382.8 yards per game. Opponents are averaging 25.8 points and 374.4 yards per game.
I don’t usually lead with defense in my previews, but the Hokies have a great defense led by Antoine Powell-Ryland, who leads the nation in sacks with 7.0. He totaled 21 tackles on the season and is a real asset on the defensive line. The Hokies’ leader in tackles was sophomore safety Mose Phillips III with 34 total tackles (15 solo). He was great in the secondary. The Hokies’ main ball hawk is junior cornerback Mansour Delaine, who has two interceptions and 18 total tackles (12 solo) on the season. In short, the Hokies showed talent on defense.
On offense, the top rusher is senior running back Beishul Tuten, who has run for 552 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Per game, he’s really moving the chains as he rushes for 106.4 yards. The primary receivers are redshirt senior Jaylin Lane and graduate student Stephen Gosnell. Lane has 21 receptions for 296 yards and one touchdown, while Gosnell has 12 receptions for 223 yards. Gosnell’s 18.6 yards per reception leads the team, while Lane’s 14.1 yards per reception is second on the team.
At quarterback, redshirt junior Kyron Drones went 83-140 with 954 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. He is averaging 190.8 passing yards per game and completing 59.3 percent of his passes. Drones also rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns on 61 attempts, averaging a solid 4.3 yards per carry.
We’ll touch on the kicking game soon, with redshirt sophomore kicker John Love making it 8-9 with a long kick of 57 yards. His only mistake was thwarted.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing to do is protect the quarterback. Justin Lamson is expected to start under center at Stanford, and the team will need to do everything possible to give him the time he needs to pitch. Especially if Powell-Ryland comes at him. If Stanford’s offensive line can protect the quarterback well, it should be in a good position to win.
Next, Stanford needs to take care of the ball. They moved the ball well against Clemson, but had too many drives with turnovers. If Stanford can move the chains like they did last week without any turnovers, they should be sitting pretty. If you don’t, it’s going to be another rough day.
Third, Stanford’s defense must not allow big plays. They played well for the majority of the game, but occasionally they allowed big plays that really hurt them. If they don’t give up big plays and play well throughout the game, I think they have a good chance of winning.
Finally, Stanford needs to get the ball to wide receiver Eric Ayomanolu. He is the team’s top player and a great weapon. If we can get big outs from him, we’ll have a good chance to win.
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