The Virginia Tech Hokies at The Vanderbilt Commodores Week 1 Preview | The New SEC Podcast

[Music] another ACC team that is playing a outof conference game week one uh is going to be the Virginia Tech hokeys they are going to be playing the Vanderbilt commodor um not a lot of hype around Vanderbilt Vanderbilt every year kind of the bottom dog of the SEC I hate to say it but they're going to get a big opportunity in week one here with Virginia Tech yeah they'll get a really big opportunity and you know this is an SEC podcast I can't help but but be positive about Vanderbilt I think they've made some some some bigger changes that could Bode to new results right if if something's not working you change the coaches you change the players and they made a ton of moves both in the coaching staff in the portal on the offensive side bringing in Tim Beck from New Mexico State who has SEC winning experience beating Auburn last year they also brought in Diego Pavia at quarterback uh they're going to bring kind of a quirky you know run pass option offense from what I've you know I've heard and read and so that could bode well for a team that finished about 109th in yards last year um I think per play or or actually per pass attempt if you will and then on the defensive side you know they have they have a you know senior safety returning in CJ Taylor he had a ton of you know great stops he led the team in in tackles and so it's really going to be key for them to improve the amount of yards per play they gave up um and you know Byron Byron drones is not gonna make it easy for them or Kiran drones is not gonna make it easy for them and I'll let you kind of touch on the Virginia Tech uh opposition yeah no it's uh it's good that you bring up the things about Vanderbilt because they do have that revamped offense they're going with that New Mexico State offense probably the only reason that I I wanted to see Nate Johnson get get a nod there but I think Diego Pavia is gonna be the guy he knows the offense he knows what to do you mentioned kir and drones in this matchup we have two quarterbacks who are great improvisers they both can make things happen extend plays out of the pocket uh finding receivers on the Run getting hitting the ground on their own and getting some rush yards we saw it when pavio played Auburn last year sorry to all the Tigers fans but he has what it takes to play some some big games and um it's gonna come down to The Supporting Cast right Kiren Jones is is an All-Star already people are looking at him is back of the pack but who knows if he could become a dark horse Heisman favorite later in this year but it's about The Supporting Cast so with Virginia Tech he has a couple more weapons to throw to Pavia gets out of the pocket he's going to be scrambling a little bit looking for who to pass to um Virginia Tech has a lot of seniority in returning receivers they also picked up oi Jennings from um Old Dominion so they have weapons for him to throw to so that's going to be the biggest thing here is is which quarterback can keep consistency um for uh I think the game will be close early on I think Vanderbilt's going to have some things up their sleeve like you mentioned a quirky offense they're going to put some stuff together to stay will they be able to stay the distance through halftime and and extend it into the game I'm not sure yeah and and like I said it's really gonna come down to how vanderbelt comes out and that sounds so cliche like you know how they come out like who scores more points by the end of the game is going to win right but I you know when you think about Virginia Tech they're playing for an ACC championship appearance not that Vanderbilt is not playing for that but Virginia Tech made this leap last year from two to 10 two and10 to seven- six um they return uh you know biosel tutin at running back he's a junior he was a North Carolina &t transfer so HBCU to power for transfer um and he had about 863 yards and 10 touchdowns so he's goingon to pair well with Kiren Jones as you mentioned who he didn't play the full season but when he did come in he had 15 tutes and three picks so so the expectations are are warranted given those numbers and given that production and I think they return I want to say you know the highest amount of players from the the the 22 offense and defense it's a top five amount in the country um what does that all mean I mean there's a reason why we line we line the games up between the lines and play uh but I think for Vanderbilt it's a good opportunity to show what this new offense looks like they have a lot of returning veteran on defense um and I think just new energy and new players could bode well for a good start you know I ultimately have Virginia Tech winning 35- 17 but this is a game worth watching uh you may see Virginia Tech again in the playoffs it will not be the last time you hear about them and and for Vanderbilt they could show you something you've never seen um and anything's possible yeah it's tough to talk about prior struggles teams are new every year we can only look at at what we know with the players coming in you know Vanderbilt had a tough third down defense last year they they they let up a lot of conversions if they can change that in this game maybe get one of their linebackers uh you know like Langston Patterson to put some eyes on Kiren drones when he tries to get out of there who knows what can happen things shake up you build some momentum anything can go uh fun fact here before I make my pick uh Virginia Tech is 0 and five against the spread on road openers in their last five games but I don't care they're covering here give me Virginia Tech they're 620 hammer it hammer it yeah I don't think it's free money but we'll we'll see we'll see final advice it should be a fun one regardless just excited to see games excited to see the SEC you know going toe-to-toe with other conferences and um a lot to look forward to so uh yeah yeah nope [Music]