After picking up their second-straight ACC win of this season by three or more scores against Boston College, Virginia Tech returns back to the field at Lane Stadium against a Georgia Tech team on the brink of reaching a bowl for the second-straight season. The Hokies are around 10-point favorites, but can't get caught looking ahead to Syracuse or especially Clemson, because Georgia Tech is plenty capable of pulling off the upset.
So with that said, let's dive into the top storylines and the Hokies to watch for VT against Georgia Tech.
Top Storylines
Is Virginia Tech's Passing Attack Kicking Into Gear?
Outside of the second half against Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech's passing attack struggled during non-conference play. Since ACC play has started though, the Hokies have started to find something with their passing game including arguably their best half through the air of the season against BC, with Drones going 12-13 for 144 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
The third quarter of that game wasn't great (with no pass attempts happening in the fourth), but this continued a trend of improved pass play that started against Miami and continued at Stanford.
Given all the talent at wide receiver, it was frustrating to see Tech a little off in their passing game early on. However, Tech has started working through some of those issues with Drones starting to find his rhythm through the air. Additionally, we've seen Tyler Bowen give Drones more designed rollouts along with more crossing patterns for the mid-range passing game, both of which are strengths for Drones as a passer.
If Tech's passing attack is truly kicking into gear, then this game could be the game that blows the doors open.
Georgia Tech has a mediocre pass defense which ranks 77th in the country in passing yards allowed per game, with opposing quarterbacks completing 63.8% of their passes. A big reason for that is a lack of pass rush that is giving quarterbacks plenty of time to pick apart the defense, something that Drones has been good at when given the time.
See Georgia Tech is averaging only 1.12 sacks per game which ranks tied for 126th in the nation. On the season, Virginia Tech star DE Antwaun Powell-Ryland has two more sacks (11) than Georgia Tech has collectively. When Kyron Drones has gotten clean pockets, he's been able to shine in the passing game. There's no reason to believe that Georgia Tech is suddenly going to fix their pass rush issues, which could give Tech a chance to put on more of an aerial show in this matchup.
