Hokies Invite Wake Forest To Their Homecoming (10-11-23)

By: Joey Raymond

Headline Photo Credit: Virginia Tech Athletics

Homecoming in Blacksburg:

The Hokies got stomped in ‘The Doak’ and come back home for homecoming in a matchup that at least on paper, looks to be a close one. The Hokies did drop their first conference road game against the Seminoles, 39-17, last week. They just weren’t able to stop shooting themselves in the foot. From reckless penalties to Drones not going through his reads to find the open receiver, offensively the Hokies were a mess. All the Seminoles had to do was play a clean game, of which for the most part they did, to seal the win in that one. Wake Forest is coming into this matchup off of a 17-12 loss against Clemson. Wake Forest is a 3-2 football team, having only lost to Georgia Tech and Clemson, who are really good squads.

What Will It Take to Win:

​There are a plethora of things to be hopeful for this week for the Hokies. Bayshul Tuten is showing flashes of a very good running back and Drones is finally settling in at quarterback. The offensive line is still a work in progress, but they have done a pretty good job, especially recently, opening holes for Tuten, Drones, and Thomas. The offensive line did a pretty good job against what a lot of people are calling the best defensive line in the country at Florida State. The Hokies will need to continue to lean on that offensive line, open some holes in the running game, and protect Drones passing, to come away with the win in this one. Wake is really good statistically at stopping the run this season, so they’ll have their work cut out for them.

Wake Forest on the other side has to be successful in the passing game. Wake Forest averages around 230 passing yards a game. Mitch Griffs will need to be on his A game in a once again sold-out Lane Stadium. Griffis has waited a while for his time at Wake Forest. This is his 4th season but his first season starts full-time, and in a game like this is where he could make use of that time spent watching from the bench. He’s had some accuracy issues but he’s also been under pressure a lot so if he can remain upright there’s potential for him to get the ball to some real weapons at receiver and create big plays.

Our Prediction:

​This is going to be a big matchup for the Hokies. They come into this game at 2-4, and the goal coming into this season was to get to a bowl game. The Hokies are feeling the pressure to come out with a win and from a statistical standpoint they have about a 50-50 shot of doing so. That hasn’t been good odds for the Hokies in the past. Regardless of what the stats say, the Hokies have looked promising in a lot of aspects this season. Drones looks like he’s getting more comfortable and Tuten has shown to be a massive key player. I said that in the Pitt game, they would have a tough challenge offensively, and I feel the same way coming into this one. Wake has shown they can pressure the quarterback, but with Drones’ ability to escape the pocket and run, I don’t know how much that’ll be a factor. Look for the Hokies to come out with a win, in what could turn into a barn burner.