NC State enters the second game of its 2020 football season on Saturday, Sept. 26 against No. 20 Virginia Tech in Lane Stadium in Blacksburg (Va.).

The Hokies (0-0, 0-0 ACC) will play in their first game of the 2020 season after having both of their first two originally scheduled contests postponed. This game was originally slated for Sept. 12 in week one of the ACC's schedule, but it was pushed back due to NC State's limited roster availability after a COVID-19 cluster. Virginia Tech also had its own coronavirus-related issues and was forced to postpone its its Sept. 19 rivalry showdown with Virginia.

The Wolfpack (1-0, 1-0 ACC) opened with a 45-42 home win over Wake Forest and will look to keep its unbeaten record intact this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

Here is the full scouting report on Virginia Tech:

Redshirt junior quarterback Hendon Hooker — Hooker will be option No.1 in Virginia Tech's anticipated two-quarterback system. The second option will be Oregon transfer and redshirt junior Braxton Burmeister, who was considered a four-star talent and the No. 7 dual-threat signal-caller nationally in the 2017 class according to Rivals.

A fellow member of the 2017 class, Hooker was highly-regarded nationally as well as the No. 13 ranked dual-threat quarterback.

Hooker has appeared in 17 of the Hokies' last 26 games and started in eight contests last season. He led the team in 2019 with 1,555 passing yards, was responsible for a team-high 18 touchdowns (13 passing, five rushing) and finished second on the team in rushing yards (356).

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder from Dudley High in Greensboro (N.C.) was one of five quarterbacks from the Power Five conferences to have a touchdown-to-interception ratio above 6.5.

Senior middle linebacker Rayshard Ashby — Ashby was named ACC Linebacker of the Week five times in 2019, the most player of the week honors among all defensive players in the conference.

He now enters 2020 as a preseason first-team All-ACC selection in Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine. The official conference preseason media poll had Ashby slated as a second-team selection.

The 5-foot-10, 245-pounder led the ACC with 120 tackles and is the only player in the conference to total 100+ tackles in each of the last two seasons. He also topped Virginia Tech in tackles for loss (17.0), which was good for third in the conference, and was second on the team in sacks (5.0).

Junior left tackle Christian Darrisaw —The 6-foot-5, 314-pound tackle has started in all 25 games in which he's played in his first two collegiate seasons and returns as a preseason first-team All-ACC selection in Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine.

Last season, Darrisaw earned second-team All-ACC honors from Athlon Sports and was a two-time selection on Pro Football Focus (PFF) College's ACC Team of the Week. He also earned PFF National Team of the Week honors once.

Junior corner Jermaine Waller — Aside from the disruptions from COVID-related matters, 2019 first-team All-ACC corner and likely high NFL Draft choice Caleb Farley's decision to opt-out this fall was the biggest story from Virginia Tech's offseason.

While the Hokies will miss Farley's presence in the secondary, they still have an all-conference caliber corner on the roster in Waller. He was an All-ACC honorable mention last season after finishing tied for seventh in the league in interceptions (three) and tied for fifth in passes defended (13).

Waller is a third-team All-ACC selection in Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine.

Sophomore wide receiver Tayvion Robinson— As a true freshman he played in all 13 games and started seven last season. The 5-foot-10, 187-pound speedster finished second on the team in receptions with 31 for 404 yards and one touchdown.

He also led the Hokies in punt returns, good for a 14.2 yards per return average. Robinson was the highest-graded true freshman punt returner in the country with a season score of 83.0, according to PFF.

The second-year receiver was selected to the preseason Paul Hornung Award Watch List, which annually honors the most versatile player in major college football.

1. 4-2-5 defensive scheme

NC State will see a different defensive scheme from Virginia Tech than it did in game one against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons run a 4-3-4 system as opposed to the Hokies' 4-2-5 that fields an extra defensive back and only two linebackers.

From a numbers perspective, the additional defensive back should provide extra protection against the passing game but can be more vulnerable against the run when the DBs are assigned coverage duties.

Considering NC State had 270 rushing yards and ran the ball on 66.7 percent of offensive snaps in the 45-42 win over Wake Forest, look for the Hokies to assign blitz packages including one or more defensive backs often Saturday to slow down the Wolfpack rushing attack.

2. Two viable dual-threat quarterbacks

The NC State defense will have a tall task Saturday keeping Virginia Tech's dual-threat quarterbacks in check. The Hokies' presumed starter, Hooker, finished second on the team in rushing yards in 2019, and back-up Burmeister ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman starter in five contests for Oregon in 2017.

Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman rushed for -21 yards on nine carries in the Pack's opener, but the defense will face a tougher challenge in game two.

3. Strong special teams

Just because iconic Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer is no longer with the program doesn't mean the "Beamer Ball" mentality is lost in Blacksburg.

Along with Robinson returning as one of the nation's top young punt returners, the Hokies bring back all four of their specialists in senior punter Oscar Bradburn, fifth-year senior field goal kicker Brian Johnson, junior long snapper Oscar Shadley and senior kickoff specialist John Parker Romo.

Bradburn earned preseason first-team All-ACC honors according to Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine. Robinson was also selected to the preseason second-team as a punt returner, and Johnson was a four-team All-ACC pick at kicker in the magazine.

1. Set the edge on defense

All in all, NC State's defensive line and linebackers played a strong game and made big plays when they needed to against Wake Forest. The defense would save itself a lot of trouble this coming Saturday if it does a better job of containing the perimeter on rushing attempts.

Setting the edge was the most noticeable consistent issue on defense in the Pack's win over Wake Forest. Demon Deacons running back Kenneth Walker ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. A good chunk of those yards came from Walker bouncing outside on plays seemingly designed for a run up the middle. When the Wolfpack did a good job of filling the gaps at the line of scrimmage, the Deacs were bailed out numerous times from poor positioning on the edge.

Considering Virginia Tech has two dual-threat quarterbacks and two effective transfer running backs it feels confident in using, NC State will be put to the test in its first road game.

2. Keep the running backs involved

There were many great things to take away from NC State's offensive performance in the season opener, but the most obvious strength came from the rush attack.

Junior running back Ricky Person Jr., sophomore Zononvan "Bam" Knight and sophomore Jordan Houston all earned double-digit carries and combined for 306 yards of total offense. All of them hauled in at least two receptions for double-digit yards, and Person even got involved in the passing game with a two-yard jump-pass touchdown in the third quarter.

Virginia Tech will do its best to slow down the rushing attack after the Wolfpack ran for 270 yards as a team against Wake Forest, but even if the Hokies stack the box, look for new offensive coordinator Tim Beck to find ways to get the ball in the hands of his running backs in the passing game.

3. Get off of the field on third and fourth down

Another aspect of the defense the Wolfpack surely worked on in practice this week is finishing on third and fourth down situations to get the opposing offense off of the field.

NC State did a poor job of this in week one, allowing Wake Forest to convert on 7-of-15 third down attempts and 2-of-4 fourth-down situations. Had the Wolfpack defense prevented just a few more late down conversions, the 45-42 final score could have been much more lopsided.

With one game under belt facing a team that has yet to play live game reps in 2020, look for the Pack defense to do a better job of getting the Hokies offense off of the field on third and fourth down.

78.8 Scoring percentage by opposing offenses in red zone visits against the Hokies defense in 2019. Virginia Tech led the ACC and ranked sixth among Power Five teams in red zone defense in 2019. NC State scored in all six of its red zone trips in the season opener.

1 NC State is 13-4 since 2016 when it turns the ball over one time or not at all during a game. It is 3-13 when it has multiple turnovers.

28-2 Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente's record when leading at halftime since his arrival to the program in 2016.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook