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Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams should run wild against Virginia Tech

By Daniel Morrison

BLACKSBURG, VA - NOVEMBER 23: Linebacker Dax Hollifield #4 of the Virginia Tech Hokies is surrounded by teammates as he celebrates the victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Lane Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA - NOVEMBER 23: Linebacker Dax Hollifield #4 of the Virginia Tech Hokies is surrounded by teammates as he celebrates the victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Lane Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – NOVEMBER 02: Chase Claypool #83 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs with the football in the first half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Notre Dame Stadium on November 02, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams should run wild against Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech’s Defense

It was a difficult season for Virginia Tech. They gave up more than 30 points five different times, twice giving up more than 40. Only twice did they hold opponents under 20 points all season. This meant they had a tendency to get dragged into shootouts.

Whether it was a 38-35 disaster to Liberty or a 56-45 barn burner to North Carolina, Virginia Tech struggled to win these games. Now, they need their defense to step up and help make things easier on the offense.

Their defensive line retains Amare Barno, which is a good thing as he led the team in sacks with 6.5 last season. The issue is that Barno is basically all they retain from a defensive line that wasn’t very good, to begin with. They’re looking to the transfer portal for help, but that’s not a reliable source.

To make up for a bad defensive line, the Hokies turn to a veteran linebacking group. The issue is that these linebackers are good but not great, making the front seven below average on the whole.

From their secondary, Virginia Tech is losing a bunch of talent. Again, they’ll look to the portal to make up the loss of multiple All-American talents on the back end. Still, even before the transfers, this is a deep unit with lots of talent. It’s just not proven the way they had been going into last season.

Unfortunately for Virginia Tech, while it’s clear they have talent on defense, it doesn’t seem to click together properly. It will be Justin Hamilton’s second season as the defensive coordinator, and maybe he can get the team’s chemistry where it needs to be after being thrown into the fire of a disastrous season.

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