2009 Review: The Defense

By: Chris Coleman | Lead Analyst and Columnist

Bud Foster’s defense took some heat for part of the season, particularly
following back-to-back October losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina.
However, the defense played much better down the stretch, and now it’s time to
take a look at their season as a whole.

The Hokies finished the regular season 14th in total defense. That’s pretty
good, but it’s the first time since 2003 that Tech hasn’t finished in the Top 10
nationally in total defense. Here’s a look at how the Hokies have done
defensively since joining the ACC.

VT
Defense, ACC Era
Year Rush
Rank		 Pass
Rank		 Total
Rank		 Pass
Eff.		 Scoring
Rank
2004 21 4 4 7 2
2005 8 3 1 2 2
2006 11 1 2 1 1
2007 5 31 4 5 3
2008 14 16 7 28 9
2009 52 6 14 6 11
Average 18.5 10.2 5.3 8.2 4.7

After those great defenses early in the ACC era, particularly in 2005 and 2006,
there was nowhere to go but down in the statistics. The Hokies were about as
perfect defensively as a team can be in their first few years in their new
league, and it’s really tough to improve on that. In fact, it’s really tough to
maintain that.

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