Husker Opponent Review: Hokie Hoedown

Recaps

The big news this week was Virginia Tech (3-1) handling Miami (FL) easily on a wet day in Blacksburg, 31-7. The Canes came in with the reputation as the hottest team in the country, and while that was clearly a bit overblown, Miami is still a legitimate Top 20 team with a lot of speed on offense. Tech played the same game they always do: power running, stingy pass defense, and excellent special teams. The Huskers didn't have to deal with poor weather along with a tough defense, but they did look a lot better than the Canes did. Virginia Tech, after playing one of the toughest schedules in the country through four games, looks like a legitimate Top 10 team and has to be considered the early ACC favorite. All this should help increase the confidence of a Nebraska team that knows they outplayed the Hokies. The only question mark so far is the suspect Hokie run defense; was Nebraska just the first of many teams to exploit a weak unit, or are the numbers still skewed by the Bama game? Tech did shut down a rugged Miami ground attack.

Florida Atlantic fell to 0-3 with a close conference loss to Louisiana-Monroe. It's tough to tell how good either team is: FAU's other two losses are to NU and South Carolina, while ULM's lost to Texas and Arizona State and got their only win against an awful FCS team. Offense wasn't a problem for the Owls as QB Rusty Smith continues to put up big numbers, but they gave up 8.3 yards per pass attempt and couldn't get many stops. More importantly, Florida Atlantic looks like a team that will always rack up the yardage, which is a good sign for the Blackshirts.

The other Sun Belt opponent also suffered a close loss, as Troy used a late touchdown to edge Arkansas State (1-2) in an offensive show. It was also another reason to take Zac Lee's early performance this season with a grain of salt. Troy shredded the Red Wolves' pass defense for 373 yards (although no play went longer than 29 yards), and we're talking about a team that scored only 14 points against Bowling Green. ASU's offense peformed poorly by its standards, and it'll need to bounce back if the Wolves are going to be any good this year. On a brighter note, the run defense has been very good thus far, which seems to explain Roy Helu's mediocre outing against it.

Offensive Stats

Florida Atlantic: 48th total, 28th passing, 83rd rushing

Arkansas State: 72nd total, 100th passing, 37th rushing

Virginia Tech: 79th total,115th passing, 16th rushing

Louisiana-Lafayette: 91st total, 74th passing, 74th rushing

Defensive Stats

Virginia Tech: 38th total, 22nd passing, 91st rushing

Arkansas State: 68th total, 102nd passing, 25th rushing

Louisiana-Lafayette: 84th total, 78th passing, 78th rushing

Florida Atlantic: 111th total, 73rd passing, 116th rushing

Next Week

Florida Atlantic vs. Wyoming: Both teams seem quite awful, so this one's a toss-up.

Arkansas State @ (13) Iowa: Don't think Iowa has to worry about a letdown here.

(6) Virginia Tech @ Duke: Why is Duke in a BCS conference again? Mark down a win for Tech.

Louisiana-Lafeyette is idle: Probably for the best.