Today marks the start of the blog’s look at Virginia Tech’s opponents in 2012. I’ll take a two-day look at each team, doing an overview first before asking a beat writer for the other team five questions on the second day.

Up first, naturally, is the Hokies’ Labor Day opponent, Georgia Tech.

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Coach: Paul Johnson (33-19, 21-11 ACC, entering fifth season; 140-58 in 15 years at Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech)

2011 record: 8-5 (5-3 ACC, t-2nd Coastal), lost 30-27 to Utah in Sun Bowl

Looking back: The Yellow Jackets started fast and finished slow, racing to a 6-0 start before losing five of their last seven. Georgia Tech hammered early-season patsies like Western Carolina, Middle Tennessee and Kansas before putting together league wins against North Carolina, N.C. State and Maryland to get as high as 12th in the national polls. Virginia ended Georgia Tech’s run in Charlottesville with a 24-21 win. Miami beat the Jackets the following week before they pulled off their signature win, building a 24-3 first-half lead and holding on late to beat No. 5 Clemson in Atlanta. They couldn’t sustain the success, though. Virginia Tech won a Thursday night game at Bobby Dodd Stadium 37-26, dashing the Jackets’ ACC title game hopes. The Jackets beat Duke but lost their final two games to rival Georgia and in the Sun Bowl against Utah, Georgia Tech’s fourth straight loss in a bowl game under Johnson.

2011 stats/rankings: 

• Rushing offense: 316.46 ypg (2nd nationally, 1st ACC)
• Passing offense: 142.31 ypg (112th nationally, 12th ACC)
• Total offense: 458.77 ypg (18th nationally, 1st ACC)
• Scoring offense: 34.31 ppg (21st nationally, 1st ACC)
• Rushing defense: 161.46 ypg (66th nationally, 7th ACC)
• Passing defense: 197.85 ypg (28th nationally, 2nd ACC)
• Total defense: 359.31 ypg (44th nationally, 5th ACC)
• Scoring defense: 26.08 ypg (60th nationally, 8th ACC)
• Turnover margin: .15 (44th nationally, 6th ACC)

Offensive starters returning/lost: 7/4

Defensive starters returning/lost: 6/5

Losses: RB Embry Peeples (491 yards, 2 TD), RB Roddy Jones (458 yards, 3 TD), WR Stephen Hill (28 catches, 820 yards, 5 TD), WR Tyler Melton (17 catches, 263 yards), OT Phil Smith, DT Logan Walls (39 tackles, 2 sacks), DE Jason Peters (41 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 sacks), LB Julian Burnett (2nd All-ACC, 120 tackles, 9.5 TFL), OLB Steven Sylvester (43 tackles, 5 TFL), S Rashaad Reid (51 tackles)

Returnees: QB Tevin Washington (986 rushing, 14 TD, 1,652 passing, 11 TD), RB Orwin Smith (615 rushing, 11TD, 306 receiving, TD), RB David Sims (698 yards, 7 TD), G Omoregie Uzzi (1st All-ACC, 2nd All-American SI), C Jay Finch, G Will Jackson, OT Ray Beno, DE Izaan Cross (32 tackles), DT T.J. Barnes (1.5 TFL), OLB Jeremiah Attaochu (11.5 TFL, 6 sacks), ILB Daniel Drummond (44 tackles), ILB Quayshawn Nealy (52 tackles, 2 INT), CB Rod Sweeting (HM All-ACC, 56 tackles, 3 INT), CB Louis Young (52 tackles, INT), S Isaiah Johnson (78 tackles, 3 INT), S Jemea Thomas (50 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 INT), K Justin Moore (11-17 FG), P Sean Poole (39.7 avg.).

2012 schedule: 

• Sept. 3: at Virginia Tech
• Sept. 8: vs. Presbyterian
• Sept. 15: vs. Virginia
• Sept. 22: vs. Miami
• Sept. 29: vs. Middle Tennessee
• Oct. 6: at Clemson
• Oct. 20: vs. Boston College
• Oct. 27: vs. Brigham Young
• Nov. 3: at Maryland
• Nov. 10: at North Carolina
• Nov. 17: vs. Duke
• Nov. 24: at Georgia

Strengths: The heart of Georgia Tech’s spread option returns, with Washington directing things at quarterback for a second season and Smith and Sims running behind a solid offensive line, led by All-ACC pick Uzzi. The Jackets’ spread option offense is always a bear to prepare for, and with this many returning parts in the running game, it should again be something that gives opposing teams fits. The secondary should be the strength of the defense, led by returning starters Sweeting, Young and Johnson and a play-maker in Thomas. Attaochu, an outside linebacker, is the kind who can thrive in Al Groh‘s 3-4 defense. That group struggled some last year, but this is the third year in the scheme, which should help.

Weaknesses: Georgia Tech doesn’t have much of a passing game, but whatever it had is gone from last season. Hill, who wowed scouts in the NFL Combine and was taken in the second round by the New York Jets, is gone, as is No. 2 receiver Melton. The fear for Georgia Tech fans is that their offense can become too one-dimensional at times. With those two out of the equation, teams will be able to load up against the run even more. Defensively, the Jackets lost five starters in the front seven, including Burnett, who suffered a career-ending neck injury in the Sun Bowl. He was the heart and soul of the defense, in addition to being the leading tackler. Replacing him won’t be easy.\

Fun fact: (Via Wikipedia) ”The University of Georgia’s literary magazine proclaimed UGA’s colors to be ‘old gold, black, and crimson.’ Dr. Charles H. Herty, the first UGA football coach, felt that old gold was too similar to yellow and that it ‘symbolized cowardice.’ After the 1893 football game against Tech, Herty removed old gold as an official color. Tech would first use old gold for their uniforms, as a proverbial slap in the face to UGA, in their first unofficial football game against Auburn in 1891. Georgia Tech’s school colors would henceforth be old gold and white.”

Series with VT: Virginia Tech leads 6-3

In the last 10 years:

• 2011: No. 10 Virginia Tech 37, No. 20 Georgia Tech 26, in Atlanta
• 2010: No. 20 Virginia Tech 28, Georgia Tech 21, in Blacksburg
• 2009: No. 19 Georgia Tech 28, No. 4 Virginia Tech 23, in Atlanta
• 2008: Virginia Tech 20, Georgia Tech 17, in Blacksburg
• 2007: No. 11 Virginia Tech 27, Georgia Tech 3, in Atlanta
• 2006: No. 24 Georgia Tech 38, No. 11 Virginia Tech 27, in Blacksburg
• 2005: No. 4 Virginia Tech 51, No. 15 Georgia Tech 7, in Blacksburg
• 2004: No. 22 Virginia Tech 34, Georgia Tech 20, in Atlanta

The Virginia Tech athletic department’s revenue neared $67 million in 2010-11, the fourth-highest of the ACC schools who reported figures in a USA Today report published Monday night.

The Hokies had $66.9 million in revenue in the most recent year NCAA filings are available. That’s over $18 million more than Virginia Tech generated in 2005-06, the first year of data listed, although the numbers are not adjusted for inflation.

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The athletic department’s total expenses were $62.6 million, meaning it covered costs by $4.3 million. But that net gain is in part due to a $7.5 million subsidy, nearly all of which is through student fees (something my predecessor wrote about last year). That number accounted for 11.3 percent of Tech’s total revenue.

Only 22 Division I athletic departments operated in the black, generating enough revenue to cover athletics expenses without the aid of subsidies.

The report broke down each school’s revenues and expenses further. The Hokies earned $19.5 million in rights/licensing, $18.9 million in ticket sales, $15.8 million in contributions, $7.2 million in student fees, $354,000 in school funds and $4.9 million in “other revenues” that includes some TV income, tournament/bowl revenues and food/concessions, among other things.

Virginia Tech’s costs were $19.8 million in coaching salaries, $16 million in facilities, $9.4 million in scholarships and $17.3 million in “other expenses.” That includes guarantees paid to other schools, severance payments to former coaches. recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, game day costs, fundraising/marketing costs and medical expense/insurance, among other things.

The report shows how much the cost of college athletics is rising these days. The Hokies earned $48.7 million in 2005-06 and had expenses totaling $45.3 million that year.

The figures come with this disclaimer on the USA Today site: The school’s president or chancellor reviews the data before it’s submitted to the NCAA, which also does a general audit of the data. In an effort to standardize reporting, NCAA staff members have worked with the National Association of College and University Business Officers for formulate definitions for each category. Still, some schools interpret the reporting rules slightly differently.

Here’s how Virginia Tech stacks up in the ACC. Remember, only public universities are required to release data. That exempts Boston College, Duke, Wake Forest and Miami.

ACC schools by revenue (rounded off, figures in millions):

• Florida State — $78.6
• Virginia — $78.4
• North Carolina — $75.6
• Virginia Tech — $66.9
• Clemson — $61.2
• Georgia Tech — $54.3
• Maryland — $61.6
• N.C. State — $51.1

ACC schools by expenses (rounded off, figures in millions):

• Florida State — $86.9
• North Carolina — $74.3
• Virginia — $72.4
• Virginia Tech — $62.6
• Maryland — $61.6
• Clemson — $58.4
• Georgia Tech — $55.1
• N.C. State — $50.6

Comparing those figures to those in the SEC and around the country, you can understand why the idea that Florida State would look to depart the ACC might make sense (even though that talk cooled Monday, particularly after the school president shot down many of the board of trustees member’s arguments in a well-reasoned memo).

The numbers are hard to ignore, though. Florida State was the ACC’s top revenue generator, but it still trailed nine SEC schools, not counting Texas A&M, which will play in the league this season. Some of the revenue totals are staggering. Here are the top 10 (rounded off, figures in millions):

1. Texas — $150.3
2. Ohio State — $131.8
3. Alabama — $124.5
4. Florida — $123.5
5. Michigan — $122.7
6. Penn State — $116.1
7. LSU — $107.3
8. Tennessee — $104.4
9. Oklahoma — $104.3
10. Auburn — $104.0

Florida State makes an appearance at No. 24. Virginia Tech is No. 32, right behind Washington ($70.2 million) and Kansas State ($69.9 million) and ahead of Purdue ($66.2 million) and UCLA ($66.0 million).

For the Hokies-should-go-to-the-SEC crowd, keep in mind that Virginia Tech would have ranked 10th in total revenue of the SEC teams last year and would drop to 11th once Texas A&M joins the league. That’s in a virtual tie with Missouri ($64.1 million in revenues) and only higher than Mississippi State ($58.9 million) and Ole Miss ($49.2 million), two schools that struggle to compete on and off the field with the SEC’s big boys on a regular basis.

Yes, additional TV money would make up some of the difference, but certainly not anywhere close to the $57.6 million gap between the Hokies and SEC-revenue leader Alabama. It wouldn’t even approach a pair of the league’s middle-tier revenue producers like Georgia ($92.3 million) and Arkansas ($91.8 million).

It’s one thing to add to your revenue pot, but you also want to be a place where you can compete with teams that are in the same ballpark financially. I’d say the ACC suits Virginia Tech quite well in that regard, despite the desire of some fans to look elsewhere. Over the long haul, that’s an important thing to keep in mind.

Finally, we’ve reached the last of the spring recaps. I’m going to lump the specialists all into one post. Once these are done, I plan to jump into some opponent previews for 2012 over the next month, getting a few thoughts from opposing team beat writers.

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If you missed any of the previous spring recaps, here they are:

* Quarterbacks
* Running backs
* Wide receivers
* Offensive line
* Tight ends
* Defensive line
* Linebackers
* Defensive backs

PROJECTED DEPTH CHART (Kicker)

• Michael Branthover, 5-8, 198, So.
• Conor Goulding, 5-9, 183, So.
• Ethan Keyserling, 6-2, 205, So.
• Brooks Abbott, 6-3, 185, Fr.
• Cody Journell, 5-11, 178, Jr. (indefinitely suspended)

OTHERS

• K/P Skyler Hutcheson, 6-0, 200, rFr.
• LS Jimmy Fitch, 6-1, 186, So.
• LS Sebastian Keppler, 6-0, 205, Fr.

GOOD THINGS

There weren’t a ton of positive things in the kicking game. Branthover got off a couple of booming punts in the scrimmages, getting good hangtime and distance (getting both seems like a rarity at Tech lately). Goulding was probably the most accurate of the field goal kickers. Keyserling showed a powerful leg, making him the frontrunner to be the kickoff specialist replacing Justin Myer. In the return game, Roberts knocked off some of the rust he’s accumulated over the last two years because of injuries. Jarrett showed some burst on a punt return, taking it back 80-plus yards for a touchdown in one scrimmage. There are plenty of athletes who could potentially play a role in the return game (Tech didn’t do much kick return this spring), including Knowles, the fastest guy on the team. Fuller showed a definite knack for blocking kicks. He blocked two field goals in scrimmages, something that has been missing Tech’s game recently.

BAD THINGS

For every positive with the kickers, there seems to be a negative. Branthover and Demler still aren’t consistent. Goulding doesn’t have the strongest leg. Keyserling doesn’t have the most accurate one. Put them all together and you have a decent kicker, but it doesn’t work like that. Virginia Tech came out of the spring about as unsure of its kicking game as when it went in. Complicating issues is Journell, who remains indefinitely suspended after being charged with breaking and entering following a December incident. As long as that felony charge remains, there’s nothing Virginia Tech can do. If it gets dropped to a lesser charge or altogether, it could pave the way for him to rejoin the team. Frank Beamer hasn’t commented on it either way, so it’s hard to gauge his thought process on the subject.

ARRIVING SOON

Tech has two preferred walk-on freshmen who might enter the equation immediately. Abbott, from The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., is a kicker who was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American game. Hughes, from Terre Haute, Ind., will enter the fray at punter. Both are highly-ranked by various kicker/punter recruiting websites (Rivals, 247, etc. don’t usually rank the specialists). That doesn’t mean they’ll achieve instant success, but in a situation as dicey as Tech’s, anyone who’s good enough will get the opportunity, regardless of experience.

POTENTIAL BREAKOUT

Because the kicking game is so uncertain, I’ll go the return route on this one. Roberts is obviously a proven commodity as a return man, but Jarrett looked mighty good returning punts in the few scrimmages that we saw. Beamer liked how he set up the return he took back for a touchdown, letting his blockers set up before he made his move. That’s the sort of patience you’re looking for from a returner.

BATTLE TO WATCH

Take your pick: kicker or punter. It’s going to be an August filled with competition in the kicking spots. The depth charts listed above are pretty much going by what Beamer’s website has to say (although I don’t know how long ago that was updated). But things are so uncertain at all of those spots that I could see any one of the players listed rising to the top with a strong showing in fall practice.

THEY SAID IT

“I think a lot of our kicking game is still in high school.” — Beamer

NUMBERS GAME

4 – Times since 1999 that the Hokies didn’t have a punt or kick return for a touchdown during the season. It happened in 2004, ’05, ’08 and last year.

THE END OF THE DAY

That quote by Beamer shortly after the spring game was canceled pretty much says it all. It’s certainly not an endorsement of the players currently on the roster. The Hokies seemed to be set up with their kicking game last year when Journell assumed the starting job, the first scholarship kicker the team has had since Shayne Graham. Obviously, all of that is in disarray with his pending court proceedings. The punting situation, meanwhile, is as up in the air as it was when Beamer decided to let do-it-all receiver Danny Coale handle it for the final three games of the season. Neither situation is in any better shape than it was at the start of last fall, which should be concerning for Hokies fans. You’d figure the return of Roberts, the school’s all-time kick return leader, would be a big boost. He has been talked into at least giving it a try again this fall after initial reluctance because of his injury history there. Tech has some athletes in the return game, but that’s never been the issue (find me a more athletic duo than David Wilson and Jayron Hosley last year). The Hokies’ blocking will need to be better if they want to start getting big plays in the return game again and pull Beamerball out of its recent decline.

Are we bound for another round of college football realignment? It seems like there’s plenty of smoke right now. Here’s what went down yesterday:

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** The Florida State Rivals site, Warchant.com, published an article in which FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Andy Haggard blasted the ACC for its new TV deal, saying the Seminoles should explore leaving for the Big 12 if it’s an option. What’s his beef? The ACC’s TV deal pays schools on average for the life of the contract about $3 million less per year than the new deal the Big 12 will soon have. And just wait until the SEC renegotiates. He doesn’t like that money gap, especially when it comes to rival Florida.

** Haggard was incorrect about one point: He said the ACC gave up third-tier TV rights to football but not basketball. The ACC office, according to crack Greensboro reporter David Morrison, says that’s not true. That ESPN owns all TV rights for all conference-controlled games for both sports.

** FSU coach Jimbo Fisher didn’t exactly shoot down the idea, although his quote in this Orlando Sentinel article seems more like coachspeak than a ringing endorsement for realignment. “There have been no official talks, but I think you always have to look out there to see what’s best for Florida State,” Fisher said. “If that [jumping to the Big 12] is what’s best for Florida State, then that’s what we need to do.”

** The latest kerfuffle at FSU is interesting, since athletic director Randy Spetman said Friday that the Seminoles were “committed to the ACC” with all their sports programs. Rumors began to run rampant yesterday, so Florida State president Eric Barron released a statement that the school “is not seeking an alternative to the ACC nor are we considering alternatives.” Case closed? Hardly. Who do you think is the AD and president’s boss? The Board of Trustees, of course.

** The Orlando Sentinel’s Coley Harvey wraps up the situation well here.

** As usual, Yahoo! Sports reporter Dan Wetzel has a fantastic take on the story. In it, he writes that the ACC’s TV deal is backloaded, with the schools receiving only a $1 million bump next year, with a $4 million per year increase later in the contract, as late as 2021.

** CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd goes all in on expansion, foreseeing the consolidation of power into four conferences (I feel like we’ve heard this before). In it, he mentions Virginia Tech as a possible partner to join FSU in joining the Big 12. That seems far-fetched at the moment, considering how little clout the Hokies-to-the-SEC rumors had last year, but I would never rule anything out in this expansion hysteria. That said, if you thought the SEC, a league not too far from Tech’s natural geographic footprint and one that’s practically printing money, was a hard sell to the Virginia Tech brass, imagine selling the idea of playing in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. I still feel like there are too many political hurdles for the Hokies to switch conferences even if they wanted to, but money often speaks louder than anything else.

So what does all of this mean? Who knows, exactly. If FSU feels it’s being shorted on money, then yeah, it should look at all of its options, as should any school.

The irony is that the ACC’s TV contract is what it is in part because Florida State hasn’t been as good as it was when Bobby Bowden was reeling off 10-win seasons in the 90′s. Do you realize the Seminoles’ last conference title came in 2005? If it was still competing for national championships — or at the very least, a division championship – on a regular basis then the league would be fetching  a far larger price on the open market. As it is, the league is just not as marketable as a football conference as the SEC, Pac-12, Big Ten and Big 12. The TV deals don’t lie.

Will this go anywhere? I can’t say exactly. I think that the FSU trustee who started all t his will get a rude awakening when he finds out Texas football calls the shots in the Big 12 just as much as he thinks Duke and North Carolina do in the ACC, one of his gripes. Remember, this was a league that was on its deathbed not too long ago because of Texas’ stubborn refusal to give up the Longhorn Network.

And who knows how long this faucet of TV money is going to continue pouring in with these TV deals? At some point it has to level off, doesn’t it? I’m curious to see if FSU joining the Big 12 and opening up a renegotiation of the TV contract will fetch a whole lot more than the $20 million the league’s members will be getting per year soon. You can’t just expand for the sake of expanding. You have to add value in the schools you’re getting. FSU, obviously, would do that, but would bringing a school like, say, Louisville along to balance the league fetch another big payday?

And does all of this posturing make the ACC redouble its efforts to get Notre Dame to join the league? That would be a school that would move the needle in TV contract talks.

However it plays out, it seems like there will be plenty to talk about at the league’s annual meetings this week. Thoughts?

This was from a couple days ago, but I figured it’d be a good weekend post. The Sporting News did its annual ranking of all of the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches. Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer came in ninth overall and was the top coach in the ACC.

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Here’s the blurb it had about Beamer, who is 209-98-2 with the Hokies:

The man has won four ACC championships since claiming three in the Big East. Which is to say, no one in either league has done better. The phrase “Beamer Ball” is a bit of an insult to the Hokies coach, because his program is so much more than surprises and special-teams tricks. This is the best “old” coach without a national title.

Who is in the top 10? (My thoughts are after each one):

• 1. Nick Saban, Alabama — With three national titles to his credit, no doubt about this choice.
• 2. Chris Petersen, Boise State — Seems awfully high for someone with six years of head coaching experience.
• 3. Urban Meyer, Ohio State — Success at every stop is inarguable. Kind of a jerk, though.
• 4. Les Miles, LSU — Played up as a fool in the media, but the man can coach football.
• 5. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma — Sustained success in a major conference, plus he has a national title.
• 6. Chip Kelly, Oregon — Ducks never achieved this kind of success until Kelly brought his up-tempo offense to Eugene.
• 7. Gary Patterson, TCU — I’m OK with this ranking for Patterson, who turned the Horned Frogs into a power.
• 8. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina — Maybe at the height of his power he’d be this high, but seems kind of generous.
• 9. Beamer — Only thing lacking is a national title, which he’s still gunning for.
• 10. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State — Known for the “I’m a man! I’m 40!” rant, but he knows how to coach an offense.

Interestingly, half of the top 10 does not have an FBS national title to its credit. Some that do that are outside the top-10 include Texas’ Mack Brown (16th), Auburn’s Gene Chizik (36th — ooh, that’s going to make Auburn folks mad) and from a previous stop at Miami, now-UT-San Antonio head coach Larry Coker (78th).

Just for kicks, here’s where the rest of the ACC coaches ended up on the list:

• 9. Beamer, Virginia Tech
• 19. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
• 27. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• 31. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest
• 34. Al Golden, Miami
• 38. Jimbo Fisher, FSU
• 45. Mike London, Virginia
• 49. Tom O’Brien, NC State
• 53. Larry Fedora, UNC
• 65. Randy Edsall, Maryland
• 67. David Cutcliffe, Duke
• 110. Frank Spaziani, BC