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Notre Dame football at Virginia Tech: 3 Hokies who must be stopped

By Toby Brown

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Justin Fuente of the Virginia Tech Hokies watches his team warm up before the start of a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Justin Fuente of the Virginia Tech Hokies watches his team warm up before the start of a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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BLACKSBURG, VA – NOVEMBER 23: Linebacker Dax Hollifield #4 of the Virginia Tech Hokies celebrates following 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 celebrates following the victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Lane Stadium on November 23, 2019, in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football at Virginia Tech: 3 Hokies who must be stopped

Dax Hollifield, Linebacker

As we take a deeper look into this Virginia Tech team we switch sides of the ball and head to the core of the Linebackers, Dax Hollifield. The junior has easily been their best defensive player in the 2021 campaign.

He sits at 6-foot-1 and 239 pounds and has caused absolute havoc on the offenses opposing him. He is second on the team in tackles coming in with 12 solo and 18 assisted tackles. He is a really good run-stopping linebacker that can diagnose plays very well.

However, his biggest struggle is definitely in coverage.

Notre Dame football needs to take advantage of his inability to cover running backs out of the backfield. I’m sure the offensive game plan will have to throws to both Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree out of the backfield, or even some seam routes for Michael Mayer over the middle of the field.

Hollifield may be a force to deal with in the run game or even if he comes on a blitz to get to the quarterback but Notre Dame should be able to handle his skill set with ease. Look to see Tyree or Williams have a big game this weekend with this matchup.

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