Virginia Tech Football 2025: Defensive Preview
Can a Bear get a Turkey leg?
There’s a lot of history and a lot of worry in Blacksburg, Virginia right now. A program that has been nationally dominant in somewhat recent memory has fallen victim to the recent twists and turns of the sport. Keeping up with spending is a concern. Geography is a concern. They have already fired their coach in-season, getting a jump on what is becoming one of the wildest rounds on the carousel in some time. As such, their coverage is interspersed with potential names and question marks, but their interim coach is offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery. The defense is still led by Sam Siefkes, formerly a D line coach for the Arizona Cardinals, their DC has experience at every college level and on Sundays. He’s 34.
DEFENSE 2024
PFF defensive grade of 81.4, which was 61st in FBS
Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Aeneas Peebles anchored the defensive line, they are now on the Eagles and Ravens, respectively
The defense struggled, ranking 108th in FBS in EPA, but got home on the QB, boasting an 8.26% sack rate, 21st in the sport.
Defense 2025
According to 247 their defensive success rate as of October 15th was hovering around 40%, which is 16th in the ACC, with only Syracuse behind them
The D line has been a highlight of a struggling defence. Their tendency is to rush four, using stunts to create pressure
The DB unit is having real issues, and you can see it on 3rd downs. This team struggles to get off the field.
ESPN has Tech ranked 124th in defensive stop rating through week 8.
PROVISIONAL STARTERS
DE/EDGE: Ben Bell and James Djonkam
Interior DL: DT – Arias Nash; DT – Kelvin Gilliam Jr.
Linebackers: LB – Jaden Keller; WLB – Caleb Woodson
Hybrid/STAR: Kaleb Spencer (Christian Ellis has declared for the portal)
Secondary: CB – Isaiah Brown-Murphy; S – Tyson Flowers; S – Quentin Reddish; SS: Isaiah Cash
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ben Bell is a senior defensive lineman that plays with passion and intensity. After an impressive year at Texas State with a big showing in the Shrine Bowl, he was offered by schools like Mizzou and Ole Miss before picking VT. Look for him to get physical, but recognize he can get emotional and make mistakes. His rushing partner James Djonkam also means business. The pass rush is the bright spot for the Hokie’s defense this season. In addition, Caleb Woodson is the kind of weak side linebacker ball hawk that Cal fans are familiar with. While not necessarily a star outside of the program, he’s a guy the fans look to as a play maker with potential.
HOW DOES CAL WIN THIS GAME?
Catch passes. This is as depleted a DB unit as you’ll see from Virginia Tech, especially after losing CB Monsoor Delane to LSU in the portal. They’re down bad for the standard they hold themselves to, but they are a bad team capable of capitalizing on stupid mistakes just like everyone else in a talented conference. This could be the highlight reel game that UNC was supposed to be if the receivers can give JKS some field stretching looks, while the tight ends bring it in on the short yardage. Things are looking a bit banged up behind Kendrick Raphael at RB, so it will be on the pass catchers to take on the additional weight. Against this DB unit, that should be a doable task.
VT also lost some members to the transfer portal already this season, post coach firing. E.g. CB Dante Lovett and S Christian Ellis. Their biggest problem is that their secondary tends to take poor angles on runs, turning a lot of short runs into long ones, but I'm not sure if we have the ability to capitalize on that at RB. Someone like a vintage Ott would make them pay.
VT is coming off a bye week and will have studied the Duke films in detail. They will rush 3 or 4 and try to hurry JKS and force him to throw interceptions. They will pound Rafael because they know he's it as far as Cal's running backs go (or maybe there's someone on the bench we will see for the first time, but doubtful), and JKS is going to need a consistent running game threat to give him enough time to throw the long ball that he likes so much. If our OL can hold back the blitzing LB's of VT long enough for JKS to exploit the VT weak secondary, we may have a shot at a happy flight home. But I am really worried that Duke showed how to rattle this team and everyone we play from now on will see the weaknesses in a mediocre run game and what happens when JKS is forced to throw under pressure and becomes a true freshman QB who makes bad decisions.