How Tyrod Taylor could have helped prepare Hokies for Sugar Bowl

It's certainly going to be an offensive display in this Sugar Bowl Tuesday night, which is good for the fans, but it can be a nightmare for a defensive coordinator and a team's defense, having to figure out how to contain the opponent.

That's exactly what Tech has been dealing with to prepare for this contest.    


He's been the most frequently mentioned player on Michigan's team this season. Denard Robinson is the main threat the Wolverines have on offense, and he's certainly going to keep Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster and his crew on their toes in Tuesday night's Sugar Bowl.

"You got to stop him really," Virginia Tech linebacker Jack Tyler said. "He's what makes their offense go. He's a really unique quarterback. He's good at everything but he's great at running and when a quarterback is good at running, they get another blocker. He's what makes them go and if your stop him first and foremost, you're going to do fine."

But this isn't the first bowl game where the Hokies have had to face a stand-out quarterback. Last season in the Orange Bowl, Tech faced Andrew Luck, who gave them all they could handle and then some.

"You know Andrew was a guy who had tremendous throwing abilities, but he was also a big dynamic athlete with the ball in his hand running the football," Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. "But Denard, I don't know. He reminds me a lot of Michael in a lot of ways when he's carrying the football. I'm talking Michael Vick. And so that scares me."

One of the ways to prepare for such a explosive player is to compare him to someone else you've gone up against, and for the Hokies, they liken him to one of their own, who the defense had gone up against in practice plenty in the past years.

"I would compare him to Tyrod Taylor from last year. Because he's fast and quick and can throw the ball as well. He's a pretty good player," said Derrick Hopkins, a defensive tackle for the Hokies.

Tech Cornerback Kyle Fuller said: "I think one of the first guys I'd compare him to is he's similar to Tyrod Taylor from last year and we got to go against him a lot. And just playing in this game, I think we just have to go in and try to contain him and even when he want to throw, we have to be ready when he wants to throw.

It will be interesting to see how both defenses handle things and if comparing Robinson to Tyrod prepared the Hokies defense for what lies ahead of them.