I thought I'd take a look at our upcoming schedule to see how our opponents stack up, defensively against Virginia Tech's ground assault. Is it going to be the proverbial clash of unstoppable forces meeting immovable objects?
I put together two sets of data. For the upcoming opponents, how did they do defending the run relative to their FBS opponents' outputs in their other games. For example, how well did GT do in stopping FSU relative to how well FSU has run against other FBS opponents? Then I averaged out all of that data.
The second set of data is how well Virginia Tech ran against their opponents, relative to their opponents ability to stop the run against teams not named Virginia Tech. For example, how well did the Hokies do on the ground against Vanderbilt, compared to what Vanderbilt has given up on the ground to everybody else? Then I averaged out all of that data.
Georgia Tech seems to hold their opponents to about 3.7% fewer yards on the ground than their opponents are used to getting, for about 17 yards per game less.
Likewise, Syracuse has held their opponents to 8% fewer yards on the ground, or about 26 yards per game.
Clemson allows about 8.2% more than their opponents, or about 4.4 yards per game.
Duke also gets pummeled on the ground, allowing 37 yards per game more, or about 60% more than what their opponents are used to getting.
Virginia is the stingiest so far, holding their opponents to 17% fewer yards, or about 34 yards per game less.
Now for the Hokies.
Hokies are getting it done on the ground.
Virginia Tech has been putting up 80 yards per game more than their opponents are used to allowing or about 76% more. Taking out Vanderbilt, the Hokies are almost doubling their opponents YTD rushing defense numbers. Not having the time (or want) to look at every other team in the FBS, that has to be one of the highest in the league, especially for a team that doesn't rely exclusively on the triple option.
In ACC play, the only team to hold the Hokies under 182% more than average was Stanford, and the Hokies still managed 17.2 per game more than Stanford was allowing at this point.
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