The State of the Program, 2010: The Defense

The ACC era has been the Golden Age of Virginia Tech defense. The Hokies have
finished in the top 10 in total defense in five of those six years, including
back-to-back years as the #1 defensive team in the country. There’s not much to
complain about on this side of the ball, and today we’ll take a closer look at
Bud Foster’s defense.

Before taking an inside look, let’s go over the numbers. In most cases, they
are quite impressive. Note that rankings for sacks and third down percentage
were not available for the 2004 season.

Defensive
Ranks 2004-Present
Year Rush
Rank
Pass
Rank
Total
Rank
Scoring
Rank
Pass
Eff.
Third
Down
Rank
Sacks
Rank
2004 21 4 4 2 7 N/A N/A
2005 8 3 1 2 2 15 22
2006 11 1 1 1 2 1 43
2007 5 31 4 3 5 4 5
2008 14 16 7 9 28 9 26
2009 40 11 12 9 8 24 14
Average 16.5 11 4.83 4.33 8.67 10.6 22

It doesn’t get much better or more consistent than that. The Hokies average top
10 finishes in total defense, scoring defense, pass efficiency defense, and
nearly average a top 10 ranking in third down defense. Those numbers are tough
to top, and they are the main reason that Virginia Tech has had so much success
since joining the ACC in the 2004 season.

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