Kevin Jennings has thrown 19 touchdown passes in seven games. SMU has 145 sacks since the start of the 2023 season, the most in FBS.

Virginia Tech gets both on Friday, Nov. 6, when it visits No. 19 SMU in Dallas.

The Hokies (6–2, 3–2 ACC) are bowl-eligible in coach James Franklin’s first season after beating Clemson 20–16, their first win over the Tigers since 2007. A bye can get a few banged-up linemen healthy. It can’t produce a new left tackle or a new secondary.

The problem units are no secret: the offensive line, the pass defense and a third quarter in which Virginia Tech has been outscored 44–10 in ACC play. Units don’t block, cover or catch, though. Players do, and three of them will decide whether two weeks off show up in Dallas.

Layth Ghannam, left tackle

Ghannam started the season at left guard. He’s played left tackle since the Cal game, after Justin Terry suffered a lower-leg injury at Maryland on Sept. 19. In those three games, Virginia Tech allowed three sacks at Cal, five against Georgia Tech, and six at Clemson.

Not all 14 belong to Ghannam on a line that has been a rotating cast. But left tackle is the one spot a line can’t hide, and Clemson went after it. Ghannam graded 51.3 on Pro Football Focus, the lowest of any Virginia Tech offensive lineman, and drew a fourth-quarter holding call with the Hokies trailing 16–13.

Ghannam is playing out of position. He’s a guard by trade, moved outside because it puts Virginia Tech’s best five linemen on the field, and Franklin has been upfront about the trade-off.

“It may not be at their best positions long-term, but it may be our best five on the field short-term,” Franklin said Oct. 7.

Unless Terry is cleared, Ghannam draws SMU’s edge rushers on third-and-long, where the Mustangs live: opponents are 27-of-99 on third down, fourth-best in the country.

Jaquez White, cornerback

White arrived from Troy as a Second Team All-Sun Belt pick, and PFF had him as the ninth-highest-graded cornerback in college football in 2025. He was supposed to anchor the secondary.

Four Virginia Tech defensive backs have played 250 or more snaps. White has played the most, 418, and graded the lowest, at 63.6. He still doesn’t have an interception.

That’s been the story of a pass defense that let Maryland, Cal and Georgia Tech all throw for 300-plus. Georgia Tech’s Alberto Mendoza went 18-of-20 for 217 yards after halftime on the way to a career-high 335.

Then came Clemson. White led the team with 11 tackles, added a sack, and graded 70.8, the third-best on the defense. That’s the player Virginia Tech went to Troy for.

But Clemson isn’t SMU. Jennings is averaging 9.6 yards per attempt, and the Mustangs throw for 313.1 yards per game, seventh nationally.

Ayden Greene, wide receiver

Greene isn’t having a bad season. He’s averaging 17.3 yards per catch with two touchdowns. The problem is how rarely the ball finds him.

He led Virginia Tech with 31 catches last season. Seven games into this one, he has 17. Tight end Luke Reynolds has 50.

Greene scored against Pitt and at Cal after missing Boston College with an injury. Since then, he has had three catches for 19 yards on four targets.

Que’Sean Brown was the only Virginia Tech wide receiver to top 15 yards, and quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer averaged 4.9 yards per attempt.

This is where Greene and Ghannam meet. With Grunkemeyer sacked 14 times in three games, Virginia Tech has leaned on quick throws, mostly to Reynolds and Brown. Reynolds averages 9.9 yards per catch. Greene averages 17.3, and his routes take time to develop. He doesn’t need more targets as much as he needs a pocket that holds up long enough to throw to him. If the line gives him that in Dallas, Greene is the receiver who can make SMU pay for crowding the short game.