Who's got the edge? (Part 3)

By Neal Turnage
January 1, 2008

As the Orange Bowl draws near we take an in-depth look at how Virginia Tech and Cincinnati stack up against each other, position by position.  Today we look at the defensive units for both teams.  Hokie defensive coordinator Bud Foster continues to turn out top-ten defenses every year and this year was no exception, despite losing seven starters to the NFL. Defensive end Connor Barwin, a converted tight end that leads the Big East in sacks (10) commands the Bearcat defense along with All-American (1^st team KR, 3^rd team CB) Mike Mickens. 

The Hokies will likely not bring anything Cincinnati hasn't seen to the table.  The Bearcats handled highly mobile quarterback Pat White when they beat West Virginia in overtime and they survived a 183-yard ground assault from South Florida in a nationally televised Thursday night game.   Cincinnati will not be an unfamiliar animal to the Hokies, either.  Tech weathered the storm of ACC defensive player of the year Mark Herzlich and the pick-happy defense of Boston College to win the conference championship game.

Linebackers

At linebacker for Cincinnati are  seniors Ryan Manalac and Corey Smith. Smith has played in 44 games over his career and is riding a string of 22 consecutive starts. While Manalac has started 23 straight.  The Bearcat's aren't flashy at the position but they get the job done, letting their star corner and defensive end take all the glory. 

Virginia Tech's linebacking corps lacks the star power of last year's tandem of Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi, but hasn't been any less effective.  Purnell Sturdivant, a 5'10" senior, plays much bigger at inside linebacker than he looks, with a team-high 91 tackles so far. Cam Martin and Cody Grimm share outside linebacker duties, bringing consistency, depth and five forced fumbles to the position.  The middle linebacker spot will see another untested freshman be thrown into the mix.  Senior Brett Warren is out with a knee injury so redshirt freshman Barquell Rivers will get the starting nod.  At any given time there could be as many as three linebackers on the field who are less than 6' tall.  Cincinnati will try to take advantage of this by running a lot of underneath routes.  If the Tech linebackers don't punish them for coming over the middle it could be a long night.

Edge: Virginia Tech

Defensive Backs

Backing up Barwin are two exceptional corners in DeAngelo Smith and Mike Mickens.  The pair combined for 16 interceptions this season and have the ability to match up one on one with the Hokie wideouts, allowing more resources to be allocated to run defense. Mickens was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe award and holds the school record for career interceptions (14).  He is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for the last three games but claims to be at 100 percent.  Another presence in the Cincinnati defensive backfield is Brandon Underwood.  A starter at both corner and safety, Underwood has notched 60 tackles, picked off three passes and recovered three fumbles.

The biggest stars of the Hokie defense can be found in the secondary.  Victor "Macho" Harris gets most of the attention, and while deservedly so, it doesn't hurt to have Stephan Virgil on the other sideline making it nearly impossible to pick on one side of the field or the other.  They total 11 interceptions, four forced fumbles and three of the Hokies five defensive touchdowns on the year.  Providing insurance over the top is safety Kam Chancellor.  A natural leader on the field and a physical specimen, the 6'4" junior patterns his game after big hitters like the Ravens' Ed Reed and late Redskins safety Sean Taylor.  There is serious talk of Chancellor jumping to the NFL so look for him to treat what may be his final game as an audition for the big time.

EDGE: Virginia Tech

Defensive Line

While the Tech secondary provides the flash, the D-line establishes the foundation.  With Orion Martin and Jason Worilds on the ends and John Graves and Cordarrow "Taco" Thompson plugging up the middle, few teams have been able to run the ball successfully agains the Hokies.  Worilds, however, will not play in the Orange Bowl due to a shoulder injury.  A game-changer this year with 8 sacks on the season.  In his place will be Nekos Brown, a junior with plenty of experience.  Martin is a soft-spoken, lead-by-example player who never takes a down off and should get more than a few looks on draft day.

Cincinnati's defensive line is particularly active and when Barwin is in the game he is one of the smartest players on the field.  He may be the only player in the country this year to block a kick, record a sack and catch a touchdown pass.  His presence on the end will be key if the Bearcats have any shot at slowing down Tech's running game.  Barwin will bring a lot of heat on Tyrod Taylor, especially now that left guard Nick Marshman has been declared academically ineligible for the game.  Cincy will test the left side of the Hokie line, which could potentially now be manned by two freshmen in Blake DeChristopher and Jaymes Brooks.  Often overshadowed by Barwin in the media is Terrill Byrd.  The defensive tackle is tackle for loss away (55.5) from owning the career record at Cincy.

With Worilds out of the lineup this one is just about a push.  But unless the Bearcats decide to become a running team all of a sudden, the Hokies should still be able to execute their defensive gameplan.

EDGE: Virginia Tech