HokieNation Blog

Recruiting Update: Sleeper DE Commits to VT

2010-07-20T12:47:00.002-04:00

After a bit of a drought, the coaches finally landed another piece to this 2011 puzzle. Dewayne Alford was an unknown until he decided to camp in Blacksburg a few weeks ago at the Hokies 2^nd summer camp. However, after a good performance on the day, the coaches decided to offer the young man out of Suffolk, Virginia. With a Virginia Tech offer in hand, it didn’t take Alford long until he decided that Blacksburg was the place for him, calling the coaches Monday night and pledging to Virginia Tech.
Read more Here. (VTF.com)

Check Out FansEdge For All of Your Shopping Needs

2010-07-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

Recruiting Update: Hitting the Home Stretch

2010-07-12T12:00:00.002-04:00

This past weekend showcased the good and evil of following the recruitment of these high school athletes. Tech hosted their second summer camp on Saturday and had numerous prospects on hand to check out the campus or participate in the camp. That was the good news, the bad news came when the Hokies lost three of their recruits that decided to commit to other schools.

UNC did the most damage landing both Landon Turner and Marquise Williams. UVA was also able to sneak in and grab quarterback David Watford as well. While the two quarterbacks were expected to commit elsewhere, most Tech fans held out hope that Landon Turner would spurn the recent rumors and pick Virginia Tech. However, due to family issues, he chose the school that he felt was right for him. All you can do is wish the kid luck and turn to the next recruit on the board.

Read the rest of this article Here. (VTF.com)

Ranking the ACC: No. 6 Clemson Tigers

2010-07-09T20:47:00.000-04:00

Last season, Clemson stunned most of the pre-season prognosticators by winning the Atlantic and scheduling a rematch with Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game. This year, the Tigers will look to repeat as Atlantic Division winners and take the school to their first ever BCS bowl. However, before that happens, 2^nd year coach Dabo Swinney has some work to do with only five starters returning on offense and seven on defense. Not to mention his quarterback is still undecided on whether or not he’s returning to school this fall.

Kyle Parker was drafted in the first round by the Colorado Rockies and is looking at a multi-million dollar contract if he leaves. If that does happen, then the Tigers would have to rely on freshman Tajh Boyd as the team’s signal caller this fall. Boyd struggled some this past spring but the coaches seem confident enough to hand him the reigns if Parker does leave.

Read the rest of this article Here. (VTF.com)

Ranking the ACC: No. 7 Miami Hurricanes

2010-07-07T21:41:00.000-04:00

Entering the fourth year of his coaching tenure at Miami University, Randy Shannon finally has a team that he feels can win the Atlantic Coast Conference. Jacory Harris will return as the team’s starting quarterback, Allen Bailey returns as the team’s speedy sack-master at defensive end, and Harris’s favorite target Leonard Hankerson is back at wide receiver. The main ingredients for a delicious ACC title run are all there.

So why are they seventh on this list? Miami’s schedule is absolutely brutal this year. Although nine wins isn’t enough for a rabid Miami fanbase, if this team can bring home nine wins again this year, it really will be a good season for Shannon’s Canes.

Read the rest of this article Here.(VTF.com)

Ranking the ACC: No. 8 NC State Wolfpack

2010-07-01T22:43:00.000-04:00

Tom O’Brien’s group experienced a lackluster season in 2009, in which the Wolfpack amassed a 5-7 record with some mysterious losses on the schedule. However, with their star quarterback returning from his minor league baseball stint, State fans have at least some hope of this being a successful year.

NC State only returns four starters on defense and seven on offense, so expect this to be a bit of a rebuilding year on the defensive side of the ball. The Pack will also have to find a new running back since Toney Baker decided not to pursue a granted extra year of eligibility. However, with Nate Irving returning at middle linebacker for the Pack, it may help the defense recover from losing most of its front seven.

Read the rest Here.(VTF.com)

Locker Rooms Closing in on Completion

2010-06-24T21:46:00.000-04:00

The new Virginia Tech locker rooms were supposed to be done by August of this year, but it appears that the construction may last into the upcoming season. However, the building is now under roof and is looking quite amazing if I do say so myself. Below is an attached picture gallery that shows the progress that has been made over the past 2 years.

Im a little upset that VT didn't release any rendered sketches like they did with the new Press box back in 2006 but needless to say, the "real" pictures show enough. The new locker rooms will boast the a players lounge as well as some administrative offices for the football coaching staff. I doubt this will beat out what Oregon has but this addition to our already top notch football facilities can't hurt things on the recruiting trail either.

At close to 42,000 square feet, this monument to Virginia Tech football will be a beauty when she's finished.

New Virginia Tech Locker Room Picture Gallery

Matt Roth Commits to Virginia Tech

2010-06-23T17:04:00.000-04:00

The Hokies don’t normally recruit the state of Florida that much unless a recruit pops up at a pipeline school like Atlantic High School. However, after viewing Matt Roth’s highlight film a few months ago, the Tech coaching staff immediately offered the Nease High School prospect. Roth visited Virginia Tech a couple weeks back and today, he called the coaches and told them he was ready to commit.

Roth made it no secret that he was a big fan of the Florida Gators in the early going but with Florida having numerous targets above him at defensive end, an offer was not likely going to come for Roth. After swinging up the coast for a few unofficial visits, Roth finally found him a home in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Read the rest of this blog Here. (VTF.com)

Corey Marshall Commits to VT

2010-06-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

I will admit, it was a suspenseful selection show but in the end, Corey Marshall selected the Virginia Tech hat and all was right in the Universe. Marshall had a final five of Tennessee, West Virginia, UVA, Michigan, and Virginia Tech but eliminated all but UVA and VT. At the end of the Washington Post Live show on Comcast Sports Net, Marshall decided to don the white Virginia Tech hat.

Marshall is a four star defensive end as rated by Rivals and will join his teammate, Chris Hall, in Blacksburg next year. The Dinwiddie product recorded over 110 total tackles last season including 21 for loss and seven sacks. Marshall was even better in his sophomore season when he racked up 122 total tackles with 17 for loss and 11 sacks. Needless to say, he is a phenomenal defensive end and a phenomenal pickup for our Virginia Tech Hokies.

Read the rest of this story Here.

Tyrone Garland Qualifies

2010-06-22T13:25:00.000-04:00

Seth Greenberg received some great news today, as Tyron Garland, three star PG out of Philadelphia, has officially qualified and is set to enroll in the second summer session. Garland is one of five players in the Philadelphia area to eclipse the 2000 point mark in his career, joining the likes of Wilt Chamberlain for that honor.

Garland is a pure point guard and should help provide the Hokies with some excellent depth this coming season. I doubt Garland sees a whole lot of minutes, depending on how much Erick Green improves but he'll get his chance to play early on.

2010-06-21T22:50:00.000-04:00

Duke:

The Blue Devils picked up a pair of commits today from Ohio OL Matt Skura and LB David Helton. Skura seems likes a bit of a project on the OL, his clips from the Army one-on-one thing aren't very reassuring. He's going to be a center for Duke so maybe that will help. Helton is a talented linebacker and one we pursued for a bit, so I think Duke got a solid pickup there.

FSU:

The Noles picked up a QB commitment today from Jacob Coker. He is an unrated and unranked QB out of Alabama and held offers from Duke, South Alabama, and Arkansas State before receiving an FSU offer. He performed at their camp last week so obviously Jimbo must have saw something to offer him. The Noles also got a commitment from a 4 star wide receiver Rashad Greene on the 17th. He is listed at 175 in the Rivals 250. Good pickup although he's very slight in build.

Georgia Tech:

The Jackets picked up a commitment from 3 star DB Darren Waller. His measurables are impressive as he's listed at 6'5", 205 pounds while running a 4.4. Sounds like he may be more linebacker in the future but he is going to start out at safety.

Miami:

The Canes landed 4 star Phillip Dorsett on Saturday. Dorsett is a speedy yet small wide receiver with a pretty impressive highlight film though.

NC State:

The Wolfpack are off to a pretty slow start this year as they sit on just three commits. One of which they received on Friday when 2 star RB Anthony Knight committed to them. Knight could be either a linebacker, RB, or WR for the Wolfpack but it appears for now, he'll enter as a 6'1", 225 pound running back when he enrolls.

Virginia:

The Hoos picked up a commitment from Kevin Green on Sunday. Green is a solid athlete who I'm guessing has a future at WR or DB.

More Commits Coming Soon

2010-06-19T12:26:00.002-04:00

The June and July months are normally the more relaxing months of the year for the Virginia Tech coaching staff. During this time, many of the coaches decide to take family vacations, spend weekdays out on the golf course, and sometimes even get married (Congrats to Torrian Gray on tying the knot last weekend). However, the June and July months are also some of the busiest recruiting months out of the year. The Hokies hold their two summer camps during these months and will host numerous OOS and In-state recruits looking to see the campus for the very first time.

If you look at the last three recruiting classes, you will notice just how important these months are to the livelihood of each class. In 2010, the Hokies received 10 verbals in these two months, exactly half of the class verballed in either June or July. In 2009, Tech received another 10 verbals within these 61 days, almost 45% of that class. In 2008, that number jumps up to 11, although percentage-wise it was only about 35%.

Still, these two months normally help build about 40% of every Virginia Tech recruiting class. So with numerous prospects left wanting to decide before their senior year, you should be able to give an estimate on how this class is going to look by the end of July. Below we will look at some of the prospects that could decide within the next few weeks.

Corey Marshall - Defensive Tackle - Dinwiddie High School

Corey Marshall has been a coveted defensive lineman for the Hokies since last season, when he received a verbal offer long before official offers could be mailed. However, Marshall decided to play the field a little bit and take visits to all of the Universities and Colleges that offered him. The four star defensive tackle will decide before the end of June and as long as he doesn't pull a shocker, he'll likely commit to Virginia Tech. Marshall grew up a Tech fan and now that his teammate (Chris Hall) has a VT offer, I would be shocked if both committed elsewhere.

Chris Hall - Tight End - Dinwiddie High School

Chris Hall earned a greyshirt offer at the Hokies June summer camp and it appears that he is Blacksburg bound sooner rather than later. Hall stated that he wanted to wait a bit after receiving his offer before committing, stating that he wanted to talk it over with his family but odds are he'll commit before the end of the month. If Marshall chooses VT this week sometime, I wouldn't be surprised if Hall turned around and gave his commitment a few days later.

Marquise Williams - Quarterback - Mallard Creek High School

Williams is a talented, yet raw quarterback out of the Charlotte area thats been an interesting story to follow. He grew up a Miami fan and was dead set on going to Miami if they offered him a scholarship. However, the Canes had a few other QB's higher on their list and eventually Williams saw the writing on the wall. The Hokies were one of the first schools to offer him and wow him with a visit when he saw the Hokies dismantle his Canes in Lane Stadium last season. At that time, I would have bet on him becoming a Hokie. After a few months and few more visits it appears that UNC has stuck their hat in this race and may have even taken the lead. UNC has a young freshman QB in Bryn Renner and they already have one three star QB in the 2011 class, which is concerning but it appears that Williams isn't worried about playing time. Honestly, this race is too close to call but most UNC fans feel confident about this so I'm guessing Williams is headed to Baby Blueville.

Kiaro Holts - Offensive Tackle - Warren Central High School

I'm starting to really hate North Carolina, seeing as they tend to offer and now contend with us for a large amount of our recruits. It also doesn't help that they beat us, on Thursday night, in Lane Stadium last season. Also, they sell a lot of their players on their basketball tradition, blindly forgetting that they've been irrelevant in college football for the last 20 years. Holts has never been a Tech lean but I do think for a while he liked the Hokies. At least that was until he visited Florida and UNC. If I had to guess, Baby Blue would win this one as well. Grrr.

Adeboye Aromire Commits to Virginia Tech

2010-06-18T19:08:00.000-04:00

The ball has officially started rolling on this 2011 Virginia Tech recruiting class as Adeboye Aromire, cornerback out of D.C, has verbally committed to the Hokies. Aromire is Ricardo Young’s former teammate at H.D. Woodson high school and is the fourth player to commit to Tech from HDW since 2002 (Aromire, Young, Theodore Miller, and Roland Minor).

Aromire held six offers and chose Virginia Tech over close competition with UNC and Maryland. The stud cornerback plans on enrolling early in January of 2011 for the spring session, which will allow him to take part in spring practice.

Read the rest of this story Here. (VTF.com)

Christian Reeves Commits to Virginia Tech

2010-06-16T14:49:00.000-04:00

After a few months of uncertainty, the Hokies finally added a new member to the 2011 recruiting class by the way of Georgia tight end Christian Reeves. Reeves camped at Tech back on June 6th and was one of two players to receive an official scholarship offer (the other being Chris Hall who is another tight end).

After visiting NC State last week, the McDonough native decided to end his recruitment and commit to Coach Frank Beamer and Coach Torrian Gray. With little to no depth returning next season at tight end, Reeves should have a good shot at putting his name in the hat early on in Blacksburg.

Read the rest of this article Here.

VTF.com Updates

2010-06-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

I've posted a couple new articles on VTF and thought I would link them here.

Countdown to Signing Day: Tech Looks to Ink 2 More QB's

Ranking the ACC: No. 10 Wake Forest

Recruiting Update: A Look at the Positional Needs for the 2011 Class

Ranking the ACC: No. 11 Maryland

Coming up I'll preview the no. 9 team in the ACC, the Duke Blue Devils. That article should be up on Tuesday night. After that I will work on the next part of my "Countdown to Signing Day" series.

Thanks!

GO HOKIES!!

Ranking the ACC: No. 12 Virginia Cavaliers

2010-04-30T12:51:00.000-04:00

Here is the link to my first article in this 12-part series

Enjoy

Ranking the ACC: No. 12 Virginia Cavaliers - VTF

Ranking The ACC: Football Edition

2010-04-28T20:32:00.000-04:00

Over the next 11 weeks I'm going to be writing a series of article, detailing some of the major storylines for the other 11 teams in the ACC. I'm going to reveal it by my projected rankings of how each team in the ACC will fare this year. Starting with the last place team and working my way through the first.

Tomorrow my article on the 12th ranked UVA Cavaliers will debut on VTF (www.virginiatechfan.com). Obviously, some are going to take a shot at me for making VT's main rival the last place team in the ACC but logically it fits. UVA could have a good year this year but they have a talent deficiency and are honestly the 2nd least talented team in the conference behind Maryland.

I'll provide a like to the article over here when it's posted but since you guys stay true to this blog, I thought I would give you guys my projected ACC rankings.

12. UVA
11. Maryland
10. Wake Forest
9. Duke
8. NC State
7. Clemson
6. UNC
5. Miami
4. Boston College
3. Florida State
2. Georgia Tech
1. Virginia Tech

Few Pre-Spring Game Notes

2010-04-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

I've done a lot of writing today but I'm still in the mood to jot some notes down since the Hokies are closing in on their last spring scrimmage of the year. The Spring Game is a big event for the fans but for the players, it just gives the stars as well as the backups one last chance to shine before the long four month offseason begins.

Here are a few things I've kept track of throughout the spring practice sessions.

* The Hokies entered the spring with a question mark as to who would be Tyrod's backup this season. Not only is this quarterback battle important to this season but it will lay the foundation to who his successor will be next year when Tyrod departs to the NFL. After Wednesday's scrimmage, it appears that Logan has flown by JuJu Clayton and should enter the fall as the number two QB. Now before I get ahead of myself, if Logan doesn't play well in the spring game and JuJu throws a couple TD passes then this thing could once again return to something that resembles the 2000 Presidential election.

* The word out of Blacksburg this spring is that the coaches are going to leave it up to David Wilson on whether or not he wants to redshirt this fall. This means that David Wilson is going to be on the field in some aspect. Perhaps you can use him as a slot receiver but at this point, I'm not going to jump to conclusions since Stinespring is still our offensive coordinator. But it appears with Evans still being a little tentative on his knee, the Hokies feel that they should get Wilson ready just encase he is needed this fall.

* The one player that has surprised me this spring is left tackle Nick Becton. The left tackle is a tough position to play whether your in high school, college, or in the NFL. However, Becton has really succeeded at the position and there shouldn't be much of a falloff from losing Wang at the end of last season. Our starting five on the offensive line is an impressive looking group and could be one of the best units in the ACC.

* Speaking of the Offensive line, I'm starting to get a little concerned about depth. Michael Via will miss at least four months due to minor ACL surgery and Painter is out for about the next month with a minor knee injury. Although both should be back for the season, missing reps during spring practice can hurt the chemistry along the line a bit. If the starters can stay relatively healthy this year, this won't be a glaring problem but the Hokies line is only about 10 deep at the max. Losing one or two could be troublesome especially since the Hokies toughest stretch of games is in the month of November.

* Eddie Whitley has become my new favorite player on this team. The Hokies have been lacking that true vocal leader that the defense rallies around since Vince Hall graduated but I have a feeling Whitley is going to become the heart and soul of this defense over the next two seasons. Also, I have a good feeling about Whitley actually being a better free safety than Chancellor last season. Kam was playing out of position, which hurt us a bit but that doesn't diminish the talent he has. Just wish he could have stayed at Rover where he would have been an absolute beast.

* The Backup defensive line concerns me a bit since a good portion of that line consists of underclassmen. Jake Johnson and James Gayle have played well at defensive end but neither one is at the point where they can be trusted during a game situation. Jake needs to bulk up a bit more (if that's even humanly possible) and Gayle just needs some more reps. The defensive tackles are ok with Hopkins and Tucker but Tucker has been largely inconsistent. Same with Joe Jones who has been battling Tucker for the 4th defensive tackle spot.

* The kicking game has been suspect but I expect senior Chris Hazley to win the job. He appears to be the most consistent at this point and Beamer likes going with seniors. I still believe that Justin Meyer will handle kickoffs.

* If Wilson doesn't redshirt, having Roberts and Wilson returning kicks with Hosely returning punts could be a deadly combo. I think David was just too young last year and struggled because of it but it appears he has found his comfort zone on kick-off returns and could take one or two back this season.

Other than the backup quarterback job I don't think the Spring game is going to answer any questions. I think summer preparation will show who really wants to win these starting spots or 2-deep spots that are up for grabs. However, the spring game will be the last chance for us Hokie fans to see the team we love until September 5th.

Go Hokies!!

Complete Overview of Spring Practice

2010-04-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

I did the impossible and wrote my final two spring preview articles for VTF today, one of which has been posted and the other will be posted tomorrow.
Whether you've been following along or not, you can find the links to all the articles below.

Thanks for reading

Justin

QB Preview: Here
RB Preview:Here
WR Preview: Here
OL Preview: Here
TE Preview: Here
DL Preview: Here
LB Preview: Here
DB Preview:

Saturday Scrimmage Thoughts

2010-04-17T20:10:00.000-04:00

If it wasn't for the 35 mph gusts of wind, it would have been a beautiful day in Blacksburg.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the scrimmage but the team is definitely coming together and our first string units are full of talent. Depth is a little shaky at this point but thats expected with so few seniors and so many Jr's and So's.

Quarterbacks:

Tyrod was his usual impressive self. His highlight reel play of the day came on a bad snap when he bolted to his right, grabbed the football, reversed field behind a few coaches and players and darted a strike to (I believe) Jarrett Boykin for a 15-20 yard gain. It was a thing of beauty.

JuJu Clayton struggled today and I honestly believe the wind was a big cause for that. A lot of his balls seemed to float a bit and its clear that he just doesn't have the arm strength that Logan and Tyrod have. He threw 3 interceptions and two of them we're just bad throws.

Logan Thomas didn't fare much better but the Brookville product showed off his wheels some, breaking off a few 10+ yard runs on the day. At this point, Thomas is our backup QB.

Running Backs:

No Williams or Wilson today. Darren Evans looked ok and he's definitely back to his usual self. The offensive line just didn't open a lot of holes for him today.

Tony Gregory looked good but the running game as a whole really struggled in this scrimmage.

Wide Receivers:

Danny Coale is our best pure wideout. He didn't drop one single pass today in warm-ups or in the scrimmage. He had two big catches in the scrimmage and led the way with I believe 81 yards today.

Boykin and Roberts are solid... nothing new here.

Marcus Davis still plays like he's afraid of contact. Dropped a couple easy catches and at this point I don't know what you want to do with him. He has all the talent in the world but plays like he's scarred to get hit.

Didn't notice anybody else but Patrick Terry got an earful from Coach Sherman at one point in today's practice.

TE's/Offensive Line

Eric Martin is going to be a dependable TE for us down the road. Doubt he can contribute much this season but he definitely has that "Jeff King" look to him.

Andre Smith will be an excellent TE this year if he catches the ball. That's my only concern with him right now.

Didn't notice Dunn or any of the others any.

The 1st string OL is solid from left to right. Nosal struggled but he had his shoulder examined by Mike Goforth during the scrimmage. Hopefully he is ok.

Our backups struggled but then again most of our 2nd string OL is missing due to injury.

Defensive line

1st string DL played well but Friday has yet to really turn it on from the rush end position. Losing Jason Worilds hurt and that could be the one piece that keeps us out of an MNC or a BCS bowl this year. Hopkins and Battle are going to be an excellent this fall. They both were very disruptive today.

Joe Jones impressed me a lot. He's skinny but he's quick and was in the backfield on a few different occasions.

Linebackers

Bruce Taylor has won the starting job at MIKE LB as long as Rivers remains sidelined with his injury. Even then I'm not sure Rivers will have enough time to get back to 100% before the beginning of the season. Taylor is showing why he was such a coveted prospect back in 2008.

Did pay attention to any of the WHIPs or Backers.

DBs

Eddie Whitley is going to have a BIG year this year. He's not the fastest, nor the biggest, but he may be the toughest. His diving interception today would have made Sportscenter's top 10 if this was a game.

Hosely had a great scrimmage and is going to be a rich, rich man one day. That is all.

Carmichael and Morgan conclude what is going to be the best defensive backfield in the ACC this fall.

Exum still has a ways to go mentally but physically he's ready to contribute.

Special Teams

Sucked. Ok that's a little unfair because the conditions we're terrible for kickers but each kicker missed a field goal, most of them wound up short.

Brian Saunders boomed about a 50+ yard punt at one point but Hosely caught it inside the five and if the whistle didn't blow, he would have taken it back for a touchdown.

Overall I liked what I saw. First string is solid and will just need some fine tuning in the fall camp period before the Boise game.

Virginia Tech Spring Preview: A Look At The Offense

2010-04-12T19:54:00.000-04:00

I'll provide a quick link over to all of my VTF spring football articles below but I wanted to jot a few things down about our offense and you can find that below. .

I wasn't able to attend last Saturday's scrimmage but I am going to try and attend the scrimmage this Saturday. The one review that I heard is that our offense was actually able to move the ball for the first time in a few years. Although we are going to be a little weaker than normal on defense this spring, I still believe that our offense is going to be a dynamic factor this fall.

I know Bryan Stinespring is not a well liked guy in Blacksburg but his limitations as a coordinator have come due to a lack of talented personnel. Last year, the Hokies had their type of quarterback, their type of running back, and a budding group of receivers for the first time since 2005. Tech managed to take a huge step forward by finishing in the top 50 in total offense for the first time since 2005.

This season I would expect that ranking to increase, maybe not by much but enough to alleviate some of the pressure off Stiney's back. This offense is probably the most complete package the Hokies have had since their National Title year in 1999. The Hokies offensive line is back to its late 90's caliber and the Hokies return starters at every other position on the field. They return their most electrifying player in Ryan Williams, they get a stronger and faster Darren Evans back from injury.

Although you won't see it much this spring, the Hokies should have a very formidable and potent offense this fall.

QB Preview: Here
RB Preview: Here
WR Preview: Here
OL Preview: TBA
TE Preview: TBA

Kris Harley Commits to Virginia Tech

2010-04-07T21:11:00.002-04:00

I just posted an article on VTF going into further detail (you can read this article Here)

The Hokies landed Warren Central's Kris Harley yesterday. Harley is a potential 4 star defensive tackle that had offers from USC, Nebraska, Michigan, Oklahoma, and a lot more.

In the past, the Virginia Tech coaches have struggled to find highly touted defensive tackles and if you take the last two classes, the Hokies have landed Nick Acree and now Kris Harley. Combine that with Derrick Hopkins and the Hokies will have some serious depth at defensive tackle in the future.

The best part of this commitment is the fact that we're keeping the pipeline to Warren Central open and that will pay dividends in the future. Too bad we couldn't do the same thing at Butler high school in North Carolina. That school has potentially three top 250 kids this year, including the best quarterback in the nation.

Harley will add immediate depth to the position but I would expect him to come in and redshirt then battle for a spot depending on the amount of attrition.

One of Harley's coaches goes on to discuss why he committed to Virginia Tech.

"He feels at home there," Warren Central assistant coach Greg Brookey said. "He's visited there three times and really likes his position coach (Charley Wiles). I think he was ready for the recruiting process to be over and knew where he wanted to go."

The Warren Central star led his teams defense to a class 5A Championship last fall, beating Carmel High 42-36 in double overtime.

"He's the most explosive defensive player I've ever coached," Hart said of Harley, who had 91 tackles as a junior, 19 for loss, and five sacks.

Although Kris has another 15 months before he enrolls at Virginia Tech, I'm excited about this commitment just because it shows how much the Hokies have evolved in recruiting over the past five seasons. 5 years ago we would have not been able to land this kid for a few different reasons but thanks to some consecutive 10 wins seasons and some national hype, we were able to land Harley.

What A 96 Seed Tournament Means to Virginia Tech

2010-04-06T10:02:00.000-04:00

I wanted to continue on with by spring preview series tonight but thanks to the Final Four blasting on just about every TV in the house, I feel inclined to write another Virginia Tech basketball piece. On Thursday, the NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen broke down the potential expansion options for the NCAA tournament. He showed a 68-team model, an 80-team model, and then the 96-team model. Needless to say, the majority of the press conference was spent on the 96-team model and why it would be good for College Basketball.

You can read the rest of the article Here

Need Boise State vs Virginia Tech Tickets?

2010-04-04T21:09:00.001-04:00

If you need Boise State tickets for the September 5th made for TV game in Washington D.C. please check out our ticket page on www.virginiatechfan.com.

The link below is a direct link to the VT vs Boise State ticket page.

Thanks guys!

Quarterbacks and Running Backs Previews Are Posted on VTF

2010-04-04T21:07:00.000-04:00

These articles take a little bit to write so hopefully I can finish them by the Spring game, although the last one or two may be a photo finish. Either way, read them and feel free to leave me a comment on the VTF site. Thanks!

Quarterbacks Preview: http://www.virginiatechfan.com/2010/03/virginia-tech-spring-football-preview-quarterbacks/

Running Backs Preview: http://www.virginiatechfan.com/2010/04/spring-football-preview-running-backs/

Coach Greenberg Agrees to Contract Extension

2010-03-26T16:25:00.001-04:00

Hokie fans everywhere received a bit of good news today as Men's Basketball head coach Seth Greenberg has agreed to a contract extension that will keep Seth here for at least six more seasons. The new agreement should also increase his base pay to over the 1 million mark and end any rumors of Greenberg leaving Blacksburg.

“I am pleased that Coach Greenberg will continue his mission at Virginia Tech and will lead the Hokies for the next six seasons," Jim Weaver said in a press release Friday afternoon. "He has done an outstanding job in creating a program and environment that has the Hokies competitive year in and year out in the ACC. Under Coach Greenberg’s tutelage, the Hokies have the fourth-best regular season record in the ACC and he has created one of the best programs in the country."

Greenberg has amassed a 132-94 record at Virginia Tech since his arrival in 2003. The Hokies have finished in the top four in the ACC four times in just six years in the league. Next years team will return all five starters and could potentially start off the season in the top 25.

Spring Position Battles: Offense

2010-03-26T15:12:00.003-04:00

With the Hokies basketball team suffering a tough loss to the Rhode Island Rams, it's not time to slide seamlessly over to Frank Beamer's department and look at some of the position battles that will be occurring this spring. The offense returns eight starters this spring with the only losses coming from the offensive line and tight end.

The Hokies will have to find a new left tackle and left guard as well as a replacement from Greg Boone at tight end. The good news is that the Hokies have plenty of depth waiting in the wings.

I'm going to do a more in-depth look at each position over on www.virginiatechfan.com so for the purpose of this blog I'm going to do a quick sketch of the offense this spring.

Quarterback

It's been a quick three years for Tyrod Taylor but much like last season, he will enter this spring in full control of this Virginia Tech offense. The biggest question mark is who will be the man standing behind him if something were to happen. Sophomore JuJu Clayton played well in what little playing time he received last season. His biggest highlight was his 81 yard touchdown pass to Marcus Davis against Boston College. If JuJu can produce this spring then odds are he'll have a good shot at keeping his backup job.

Logan Thomas will be JuJu's challenger and will be a worthy opponent this spring. Thomas brings his 6'6" frame and rocket of an arm to the field this spring, but his performance will decide his fate. After a redshirt season I am intrigued to see how much Thomas has progressed as a Quarterback. If he plays well I have a feeling he'll eventually unseat JuJu as the Hokies backup quarterback this spring.

Also keep an eye on true freshman Ricardo Young as this will be his first action in a Hokie uniform.

Running Back

The running back order won't change much from last season except for the addition of a healthy Darren Evans. I would expect Williams to keep his starting job and split carries with Evans who will serve as the primary number two option. The biggest storyline to watch will be the play of Josh Oglesby and the potential redshirting of David Wilson.

Also, keep an eye on Tony Gregory. He had a great spring last year and ended up redshirting since he needed to add a few pounds.

Wide Receiver

The Hokies starting three will remain in place this spring with Boykin, Coale, and Roberts receiving work with the first string offense. However, there are a few kids behind them that could make a splash this season. First is Marcus Davis who had all but surpassed Xavier Boyce by the end of the year. Davis had a up and down first year as he caught a couple touchdown passes but also had a few key drops as well.

Two more players to watch out for are redshirt freshmen Nubian Peak and Ben Barber. Peak is a burner but is a tad on the small side. If Peak can find a niche and stick with it he could see some playing time possibly this fall if not then in the future. Ben Barber is a thick wideout who could earn a few snaps this fall although his number probably won't get called until next year at the earliest.

Lastly, there is D.J. Coles, Austin Fuller, Patrick Terry, and Xavier Boyce. Odds are two or three of these players will switch positions by the end of the spring. The most likely is Boyce, who should have started at free safety from day one, and D.J. Coles. Coles could get moved over to Whip linebacker even though it seems like we have a bajillion Whip linebackers on roster already. Terry and Fuller will both stay at wide receiver but I wouldn't expect either one to make a huge splash this spring.

Tight End

The Hokies will have to replace both Greg Boone and Sam Wheeler who departed last season. As it stands now Senior Andre Smith, Sophomore Randall Dunn, and redshirt freshman Eric Martin will be the one's called upon to fill that void. Smith has had an up and down year last season, struggling to catch the ball at times while also making a few sweet catches as well. With the tight end becoming a dieing position in our offense, I could see 20 or less receptions for this group this fall. Needless to say, we need to recruit some tight ends in this 2011 class.

Offensive Line

The right side of the line will stay intact from last season with Senior Beau Warren at Center, Junior Jaymes Brooks at right guard, and junior Blake Dechristopher at right tackle. The left side of the line is a bit iffy at this time but junior Greg Nosal will more than likely start at left guard and sophomore Nick Becton will start at left tackle.

For the first time in what seems like forever, the Hokies will have some quality depth on the line as well. Sophomore Michael Via will backup at both center and left tackle. Sophomore Vinston Painter and freshman David Wang will provide solid backup at both guard positions and junior Andrew Lanier will backup Dechristopher at right tackle.

This unit should be the best offensive line within the last eight years. There may be some shuffling around to maximize the potential of some of these players but by the end of the spring, this offensive line should be pushing the defensive line around. That's something we haven't seen in Blacksburg in a long, long time.

Virginia Tech Dominates Georgia Tech 88-82

2010-03-06T22:48:00.001-05:00

Virginia Tech’s head coach Seth Greenberg received some bad news before the game as Tech’s starting shooting guard Dorenzo Hudson would have to spend the day on the bench in a dress shirt and khaki pants due to injury. Just as the team rallied around Hudson when Delaney was MIA against Seton Hall earlier this year, the team would do the same today.

Malcolm Delaney put on a show in Atlanta, torching the Yellow Jackets for 32 points. However, the two most surprising performances came from Hudson’s replacement Manny Atkins and the Hokie starting small forward Terrell Bell. Atkins started for the first time in his young career and played by far his best basketball of the season. He finished with just five points but chipped in seven rebounds and five assist.

You can read the rest of this article Here.

Jake Johnson Will Move to Defensive End This Spring

2010-03-06T11:59:00.004-05:00

With Spring workouts just a few weeks away, the Coaches have already started lining up their two deep for this upcoming season. One of the main topics floating around on Virginia Tech message boards was a possible position change for the Hokies junior Jake Johnson. After two seasons at Backer, Jake will switch from outside linebacker to the end position, which is the Hokies boundary defensive end.

With both Nekos Brown and Jason Worilds departing after last season, Jake will compete with Chris Drager for the starting spot at end while Stephen Friday and some of the younger players compete at the rush end position.

Jake finished last season with 55 tackles in 11 games. Johnson started at Backer for the first eight games until he was benched in favor of Sophomore Lyndell Gibson.

Ronny Vandyke Commits to the Hokies

2010-03-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

Just a few weeks after Signing Day, the Virginia Tech coaching staff was back to work trying to secure another highly touted class. Saturday was Virginia Tech’s Junior Day and needless to say the event went off with only one hitch caused by a Bud Lite truck running over a fire hydrant. Some of the recruits had to leave before the Virginia Tech vs. Maryland game but the quality time spent with the coaches was very beneficial.

You can view the entire article here: VTF.com

Hokies Lose Barquell Rivers For 4 Months

2010-03-04T21:57:00.002-05:00

According to Beamerball.com, the Hokies will be without their starting Mike Linebacker until August as Barquell tore his his quad during max testing earlier this week. In his absence, expect Bruce Taylor to take some reps with the first team this spring. Also, don't be too surprised if Coach Foster gets creative and moves Jake Johnson back inside to help him out with his lack of lateral quickness.

Follow Me on www.VirginiaTechFan.com

2010-01-06T14:05:00.003-05:00

This blog has moved to a new site.

Please visit us at:

Hokies Defeat Georgia Bulldogs 74-62 in Blacksburg

2009-12-06T18:13:00.002-05:00

The Essentials

The Game

The Hokies held Georgia scoreless for the first five minutes of this game while starting on a 5-0 run. However, Georgia battled back and thanks to a few Leslie Travis layups, the Bulldogs found themselves tied with the Hokies at the eight minute mark at 18 apiece. But the Hokies used a nice 18-9 run over that last eight minutes to head into the half with a fairly commanding nine point lead. The 2nd half was more of the same for Greenberg's bunch as Tech jumped out to as much as a 15 point lead before seeing it shrivel down to seven with just six minutes left to go in the half. The Hokies rallied once more and went on a 10-2 run and was able to put the game out of reach with just over three minutes left. Delaney missed a three-pointer with just a few seconds left and the shot clock running down but Tech had already wrapped up the 74-62 victory.

Stats:

Up Next: VMI (12/09) - Blacksburg, VA

The Hokies are off to their best start under Seth Greenberg as Tech is currently scored at 6-1 on the year. But, if the Hokies want to stay on this positive win streak they are going to have to defeat a strong and tough opponent in the high-scoring VMI Keydets. VMI knocked off Kentucky last year so they have the ability to come into somebody else's place and ruin the afterparty.

The game isn't televised but if you have a ticket, head to Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday and cheer on the Hokies.

2011 Recruiting Update: Athlete Dominque Terrell

2009-12-05T20:55:00.001-05:00

Dominique Terrell
Osbourn Park High School
Mannassas, Virginia
5'10", 165 lbs, 4.4 seconds
Offers: Virginia Tech, Maryland, Miami, Tennessee, West Virginia, NC State, UNC, Duke, and more.

Editors Note

Since the 2010 recruiting class seems to be wrapped up now with Furman being a silent commit to Michigan, I'm going to start focusing on some of the 2011 kids since they are now rising seniors.

Justin's Take

I've been debating on whether to do a post-season ranking of the top 2011 players in the state of Virginia. If I don't get around to it, I do want to admit that Dominique Terrell would be my number one player right now. Terrell is just so explosive with the ball in his hands and really reminds me of a smaller Ryan Williams with the way that he runs.

Terrell has the ability to play on either offense or defense but with his athletic ability most coaches probably won't commit to one position until they get him on campus. The Hokies will be looking at Terrell as either a cornerback for Foster or a wide receiver for Coach Sherman. With the ball in his hands, Dominque can do things that just make you say "wow" but If he wants to play at the NFL, cornerback may be the way for him to go.

Strengths:

I love the way he runs especially when he can get to the outside and cut up the sideline. He doesn't have the moves that some running backs have but he has enough speed that he really doesn't need those moves.
Terrell has that big play ability that most coaches look for now days, especially those in the SEC. Through two years of starting, Dominique has five runs of 50 or more yards in just four playoff games.
Although he hasn't really played much receiver in his career, he does have a few plays on film where he's catching the ball. He does seem to have good hands, which leads me to believe that some teams may try to get a leg up on the competition by promising him that he'll get the chance to start on the offensive side of the ball.

Weaknesses

For me, size is a bit of a concern. Terrell is listed at 5'11" on his Rivals.com profile more realistically he's about 5'9". What concerns me the most is that he's only listed at about 165 pounds heading into the season. I think Dominique has the ability to play at about 190 pounds but at that weight it would all but rule out running back, especially in the system that Virginia Tech has. Can he bulk up, can he maintain his speed at a heavier weight? Those are really the only concerns I have.

As far as recruiting goes, Terrell is still wide open and hasn't taken any visits to date. He claims to like the bigger schools such as Miami, USC, Florida, but also has expressed interest in both in-state schools. The Hokies will have to battle if they want to keep this kid in-state but it will all start with getting him on campus for the junior day in February or for the Spring game in April. If Terrell doesn't visit for either or both of those events, Tech will be in a deep hole that they'll really struggle to dig themselves out of.

Terrell's recruitment is going to be interesting to follow because if the Hokies want to take that next step and be able to compete with the SEC, they're going to have to get kids like Terrell to commit and come play in Blacksburg. Also, it will be interesting to see if the new coaching staff at UVA will be able to make a play for Terrell as well.

Recruiting Update: Josh Furman Down to Virginia Tech and Michigan

2009-12-04T23:20:00.000-05:00

Josh Furman
Old Mill High School
Millersville, Maryland
6'2", 193 lbs, 4.32 seconds
Offers: Michigan, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Maryland, West Virginia.

Justin's Take:

After watching this team's last 12 games, it's pretty clear we're in need of a few big time linebackers. Furman has the potential to bulk up and play either the WHIP Linebacker position being vacated by Cody Grimm or potentially either a Rover or Free safety. With his size and speed, there's not many positions that he can't play although having him on the edge would be beneficial for a few reasons. I personally would love to see him at the WHIP linebacker spot if he does pick Virginia Tech.

However, at this point I think Josh is going to pick the Wolverines on December 19th, when he announces his decision at the Crab Bowl in Maryland. For some reason, he just seems to give more glowing reviews to Michigan than he does VT. Obviously I could be mistaken and with recruiting, you never know but right now, I think he's a Michigan lock.

Quotes:

When asked about Virginia Tech:

"The program has been successful for a long time and they always seem to do well. Virginia Tech has a really great atmosphere too. I really bonded with the team. The players are a lot like me. We had a good time together. They are all fun and outgoing guys and I felt like they were being totally honest with me. I felt a good connection with them."

When asked about his visit to Michigan earlier in the season:

"I had very good time. The Big House was loud and action-packed. It is a great place and the crowd was great too. Having a chance to be around the players was nice. They are very outgoing and they were really trying to get to know me. They are the type of guys that are just like me. On our way to the game the streets were flooded with fans everywhere. I have never seen that many fans going to a game before."

On how his relationship is with Michigan coach Tony Dews:

"I have a great relationship with Tony Dews. He is my favorite recruiter. I call him up a lot just to say hi. He is my type of coach. Coach Dews is so down to earth that we can talk about anything. We talk about recruiting, but we also talk about life."

On his strengths and weaknesses as a player:

"My strength would definitely be my athleticism. My weakness at this point is my coverage because in all my years (playing defense) I've only been rushing the quarterback. I just need the repetition. Then I'll get it down."

Regular Season Wrap Up Part 1 - The Superlatives

2009-12-01T17:57:00.003-05:00

Team MVP: Cody Grimm

Some are going to argue with me here and say Ryan Williams deserves this award, and really he does but what we were able to accomplish on defense this year all centered around the play of Cody Grimm. Grimm leads the nation in forced fumbles and tied a Virginia Tech record with three forced fumbles in one game against NC State. That was his MVP moment this season. If it wasn't for his play in the first quarter of that game, the NC State game would have been too close for comfort. Instead it forced the RB's and Russell Wilson to think about keeping two hands on the ball, forcing them down on first contact. I'm going to save the majority of the stats for part two of this article but I also wanted to point out here that Grimm leads the team in tackles with 99, tackles for loss with 9.5 (tied with Jason Worilds), and of course leads the team (and nation) in forced fumbles with 7. Impressive for a kid who decided to walk-on at Tech, turning down a few scholarship offers to do so.

Offensive MVP: Ryan Williams

The old saying "you can never have too many running backs" really rang true for the Hokies this season. Exit Darren Evans, who set a school freshman rushing record last season with 1265 yards, and enter Ryan Williams, who easily broke that record in two less games. Ryan was the heart of our offense this year and without him, I'm not sure I want to speculate at what our record would be. Williams set a school and ACC record this year, rushing for 100 yards in 9 of the 12 games this season. Also, if Williams can grind out 111 yards in the bowl game, he will break Kevin Jones single season rushing record he set back in 2003.

Defensive MVP: Rashad Carmichael

This is the first time since 2003 that I have a hard time choosing who else on defense is really worthy of winning this award. Our defense was really average this season, in 10 of the 11 spots. Worilds had good numbers but didn't do anything eye-popping this season, same with Chancellor, Rivers, and Brown. Rashad Carmichael is the only one I can truly say had a better year than I was expecting. Replacing Macho Harris at the boundary is a tall task, especially when you practice all spring and all summer at the field corner position. Carmichael made the best of it though, leading the Hokies with five interceptions, one of which led to the Hokies only defensive score this season. Carmichael went from a truly unknown against Alabama to quite possibly the next in a great line of cornerbacks here at Virginia Tech.

Team Freshman of the Year: Jayron Hosely

After Ryan Williams muffed the first punt return of the year, Hosely replaced Williams and never relinquished the job. Hosely finished the season with a 10.9 yards per return average and took one back to the house against Marshall. While he mostly starred on special teams, Hosely also saw some action at cornerback in five games this season. In those games, he registered 8 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and two pass deflections.

Most Improved Player: Brent Bowden

Brent Bowden infuriated me at times last season due to lack of consistency and ability to shank punts. This year was a completely different story as Bowden seemed to find his consistency and is one game away from setting a new Virginia Tech record for punting average. The record is 43.1 and Bowden is setting at 43.9 heading into the bowl game. If you were to ask me who our punter is going to be next season, I would probably shake my head and reply with "I really don't know." But, after watching Bowden reel off booming punt after punt, I'm really going to hate having to hold my breath every time we call out or punting team next year.

Ryan Williams Named ACC Rookie of the Year

2009-12-01T14:12:00.001-05:00

Congrats to Lil Sweetness on earning the ACC Rookie of the Year Title

Here's the link: http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120109aac.html

Williams, Boykin Close to Making History

2009-11-22T23:37:00.000-05:00

Just a small nightcap here, but following up on a story I started last week, Boykins 6 reception, 174 yard game against the Pack only moves him closer to a milestone that he's destined to break.

Boykin now has 66 receptions in his career and through only two seasons he is now over halfway to becoming the Hokies most productive wide receiver in school history. See the chart below:

Also, after Ryan Williams 8th 100 yard rushing game of the season, he too is close to making history. Williams is just 292 yards shy of tying Kevin Jones single season rushing record. Although that's a lot of yards to gain with just two games left on the schedule, I wouldn't bet against the kid. See below.

Also, no chart for this but after Cody Grimm stripped three fumbles in Saturday's 38-10 victory over NC State, Grimm now leads the entire country in forced fumbles with 7 on the season. Congrats to possibly the future 2009 ACC Defensive player of the year.

2009-2010 ACC Bowl Predictions

2009-11-18T15:27:00.001-05:00

Since there are only two weeks left in this 2009 regular season, it's time to figure out who is going where. Obviously, with 2 weeks left a lot can still happen but as long as Clemson takes care of UVA this weekend (and with Clemson always finding a way to choke, who knows) but the ACC Championship game is all but set, Clemson will take on the Yellow Jackets in Tampa Bay.

But as you can see from the below, there is still a lot to figure out in this bowl season as there appears to be 7 ACC teams that will end up bowl eligible by the end of the regular season. Have a look below.

Predictions:

Orange Bowl - Georgia Tech vs TCU

I'm picking GT to win the ACC even though I think Clemson has the best chance to give them a run for their money. But, if this holds true it appears that the Yellow Jackets will more than likely face one of the Non-BCS teams, either Boise State or TCU. At this point, it seems like the Fiesta Bowl Group wants Boise St, so that will send an undefeated TCU team down to Miami to play the winner of the ACC.

Gator Bowl: - Virginia Tech vs Notre Dame

The Hokies really have three options, Champs Sports Bowl, Gator Bowl, or the CFA bowl. The CFA bowl loves Virginia Tech but will take a look a long look at the loser of the ACCCG. Since Virginia Tech has already come to town twice this year, their may be some doubts on whether or not the Hokies will bring as many to say Orlando or Jacksonville. As long as the Hokies win their final two games, they will more than likely end up in the Gator Bowl against either Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, or possibly West Virginia.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl - Clemson vs Auburn

If Georgia Tech happens to lose the ACCCG, I would look for possibly South Carolina being their opponent, but with Clemson and South Carolina playing each other here in a few weeks, the bowls won't force a rematch. The middle of the SEC has been pretty average this year and their are six teams with either six or seven wins right now. So at this point, the Tigers could play Ole Miss, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn, or even Tennessee.

Champs Sports Bowl - Miami vs Northwestern

The Hurricanes have a very passionate fanbase, but their fanbase is one of the most national fanbases in America along with UNC, Notre Dame, and USC. That, unfortunately, means that the Hurricanes will be regulated to a lower tier bowl just because the top two ACC tie-ins will probably pass on them due to ticket sales. The Hurricanes should be able to bring about 15-thousand fans to Orlando which is why I'm picking them here. Miami will get matched up with a middle of the road Big 10 team. The options are either Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, or the Wolverines of Michigan if Richrod can pull off an upset of Ohio State and get that elusive 6th win.

Meineke Car Care - Boston College vs South Florida

Boston College only brought about 10-thousand fans to last years bowl game so I could see them falling a little further if the this bowl group doesn't mind bringing back UNC for the second straight year. The Eagles have a few options on who they might play here with Rutgers, South Florida, West Virginia, and possibly even UCONN being able to sneak in and grab up this bowl bid. Odds are the ACC teams opponent will be either USF or WVU.

Music City Bowl - North Carolina - Tennessee

Played in Nashville, Tennessee; this would be almost a dream scenario for this bowl and would probably draw a lot of media attention. However, both teams may have other options if they would like to play elsewhere. The ACC team would likely face either Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, or possibly Mississippi State if they can win their final two games.

EagleBank Bowl - Florida State vs Central Florida

Located in Washington D.C. and not even played in a football stadium, this is definitely one of the lower tier bowls, but if this bowl group can some how lock up Florida State, they could actually be able to sell some tickets this year... possibly even more than the Nationals did in RFK this year. The Blue Devils of Duke may be an option here if they get their 6th win, same goes for NC State who has to win out. But at this point this looks like an FSU vs MAC, CUSA, or WAC type of bowl.

Emerald Bowl - Duke vs UCLA

Hell of a basketball matchup but too bad this game will be played on a baseball field using football rules. Duke needs just one win in their final two games (@ Miami, Wake Forest) to go to their first bowl in a very, very long time. The Blue Devils could face a few different teams depending on how UCLA does and how the Pac-10 finishes. The Blue Devils could play Cal, Arizona, or UCLA at this point, or possibly a bowl eligible WAC team if UCLA does not finish bowl eligible.

Hokies To Play Cincinnati at Fedex Field in Washington D.C. in 2012

2009-11-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

According to Heather Dinch at ESPN.com the Hokies have agreed to move the game from Ohio to Fedex field, so all in all this is a no brainer for the Hokies.

Tech defeated the Bearcats 20-7 in last years Orange Bowl and with the Notre Dame job opening up this year, odds are Cincy will lose Brian Kelly and their program will take a step back.

You can read Heather's article Here

Game Review: Hokies Defeat Brown 69-55

2009-11-15T18:24:00.004-05:00

Overview:

The first game of the year is over and done with and Tech is now 1-0. That’s really all you can hope for with this bunch. The Hokies struggled mightily in this game as Tech was plagued by sloppy play and senseless turnovers. Also, Tech failed to really find a 3rd scorer this year, something that’s going to be a season long
issue.

But for now, Tech is undefeated and honestly, this isn’t a bad starting point. Delaney played very well, as you can see below and some of the Hokies supporting cast has improved their games from last season.

The starting five for this game was Malcolm Delaney, Dorenzo Hudson, Terrell Bell, Victor Davila, and Jeff Allen. That group scored 62 of the Hokies 69 total points in this one. Erick Green added a 3-ball, Boggs added a jumper, and Thompson added a layup to round out the 69 points.

Stats:

Player of the Game:

Malcolm Delaney was on his game today, shooting 6-12 from the field and 3-7 behind the arc. As you can see from above, he also added 4 rebounds and 4 assists. If the Hokies are going to win, Tech will need this type of game from Delaney day in and day out throughout the course of the season.

Unsung Hero of the Game:

Dorenzo Hudson is a raw player that has struggled in his first two years on campus. But, this year, Hudson is looking to step up his game and he did today scoring the Hokies first five points of the game and finishing with 8 on the day. Zo also added 6 rebounds and 6 assist, rounding out a very good day for the starting shooting guard

Justin’s Thoughts:

Sloppy, Sloppy, Sloppy. That’s about all you can say about this game against the color Brown. The Crayola Kids played well though, shooting 45% from the field and really put some pressure on the Hokies with their man-defense. Brown’s gameplan was to try and force the Hokies into making some mistakes and for the most part Tech did. Although the Hokies had only 8 turnovers, The Hokies did jackup a few bad shots and did make a few bad decisions that damaged the scoreboard a bit down the stretch.

All in all, this wasn’t a bad opening start to the game but it wasn’t necessarily pretty either. But the Hokies do have the talent to win 20 games again this year if Tech can solidify their defense and find some bench players that can contribute down the stretch.

Hokies Jarrett Boykin on Record Breaking Pace

2009-11-15T12:19:00.001-05:00

If you're looking for a recruiting success story, then look no further than the Hokies own Jarrett Boykin. The Virginia Tech coaching staff was high on his high school teammate, Eddie Whitley who dazzled the scouts earning First Team All-District player in his junior season at Butler High School in Matthews, North Carolina.

However, after Whitley committed to the Hokies, he told the coaching staff to take a peak at Butler's 6'2" wide receiving prospect. That prospect was Jarrett Boykin.

Jarrett was an unknown to most college coaching staffs, only holding an offer from Appalachian State until the Hokies came calling.

“Jarrett was a guy that really grew on us,” offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring said. “We just felt there was a great upside to him. There’s a size factor there. He can run. And he’s got a great set of hands.”

And grew on the coaching staff he did. Boykin finished his senior year with 60 catches, 1,252 yards and 17 touchdowns to go along with 8 rushing touchdowns as well. That, my friends, is the exact definition of a beast.

"He didn’t pop out really until his senior year," said wide receivers Coach Kevin Sherman. "Then everybody started to see what type of athletic ability he had. He has great hands, loves football, is tough and physical."

Coach Sherman offered the talented wide receiver prospect in mid-October and just a month later, Boykin was a Hokie.

...

With only three games left in his Sophomore season, Boykin has already amassed himself quite a career here in Blacksburg. The former 3-star prospect has a total of 60 receptions, which ranks him at 27th on the Hokies All-Time receptions list. He also has 992 career receiving yards, which puts him at 24th on the All-Time receiving list.

With three games left, odds are that Boykin will add about 150 or more yards to this, maybe a couple of touchdowns as well as 10 or so more receptions. If that is the case, Boykin could enter his junior year as high as 18th on the All-Time receptions list. That's not bad for a kid that only received scholarship offers from three division one schools.

Jarell Eddie, Tyrone Garland Sign with Virginia Tech

2009-11-11T13:31:00.001-05:00

Early signing day is here for the world of College Basketball as today is the first day that current High School seniors can sign with the respective college of their choice.

The Hokies received two big commits from Forward Jarell Eddie and Guard Tyrone Garland.

Jarell Eddie is the highest rated player (according to Rivals.com) that the Hokies have ever brought in. Eddie is ranked 63rd nationally in the Rivals150, which is 26 spots higher than Malcolm Delaney in 2007 and 16 spots higher than Jeff Allen who was also in the 2007 class.

(To read the entire article click here -> Read More)

The Hokies also had to out-recruit some big time programs to get Eddie as he had offers from Clemson, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Wake Forest, Richmond, and Charlotte to name a few.

Jarell is a player that can really do it all. At 6'7", he can be a force inside but he also has the ballskills to play out on the wing or even at shooting guard for the Hokies. However, it appears that he'll start out his career playing on the wing at the "3" or small forward position for Tech.

Jarell Eddie Links:

Rivals.com: Click Here

Scout.com: Click Here

Tyrone Garland is the 2nd addition to this class and with the Hokies being a little low on point guards at the moment, he's a very welcomed member of this class. Garland is a fierce competitor on the floor and his tenacity is what caught the attention of some schools along the east coast.

Tyrone boasted offers from Butler, Nebraska, Nevada, Seton Hall, St. Johns, St. Bonaventure, St. Josephs, and Temple.

Garland is about your average point guard in size at 6'1", and 170 pounds, but he plays a lot bigger than what he's listed. Although he's a little hit or miss on his jump shot in some games, Garland averaged over 20 points per game for his AAU team last summer. Combine that with Eddie's 25 points per game and the Hokies are bringing in two kids that know how to shoot the rock.

Tyrone Garland Links:

Rivals.com: Click Here

Scout.com: Click Here

Virginia Tech Nike Pro Combat Uni's Unveiled

2009-11-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

You can see more over on www.hokiesports.com but honestly, I think they look pretty sweet. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Daily Discussion: Focusing on the Positives

2009-11-09T13:01:00.001-05:00

Sitting at 6-3 overall, the Hokies are far from where they wanted to be at this point in the season. Even though things haven't gone according to plan, Tech has still accomplished a lot this year and we've seen the return of some familiar sights in Blacksburg as well.

After writing my "What the Hell is Wrong With The Hokies" article last week, I've decided to spend my Monday talking about some of the positives from this season. Obviously, when you're 6-3, you've still had a pretty good year. Win out and you're probably a top 10 team by the end of the 2nd week in January. So Tech still has a lot going for them and since Tech will return 12 starters next year, the Hokies are still in contention for a top 10 starting spot again in 2010.

But for now we'll keep it focused on this season.

Positive #1 : Ryan Williams

Obviously, the Hokies focus on a tough, smash mouth running game and have since the Don Strock days back in the 70's. After losing Darren Evans to a torn ACL in the 2nd week of practice, it left a void at the running back position. Would Josh Oglesby step up and be the tough inside runner, would Ryan Williams make an impact as a redshirt freshman, or would David Wilson steal the show? All of those questions were answered in the first few weeks of the season. The answer was actually pretty simple, Ryan Williams is quite possibly one of the most talented running backs to ever play for Virginia Tech.

Through nine games, Williams has rushed for 1109 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those 10 touchdowns are a freshman record and with another 100 yard game he'll be close to breaking Darren Evan's school record for most rushing yards in a single season by a freshman running back (Record is 1265 yards). And if your looking for some hope heading into the 2010 season, Evans is well on his way to recovering from his knee injury and Tech will have about 2700 rushing yards returning next season.

Positive #2: Tyrod Taylor

Although most Tech fans won't admit it, they had the same "Ohh God" feeling after Sean Glennon graduated last season. That feeling was attributed partially to Tyrod Taylor ability to get hurt and then to the fact that the Hokies had almost nobody to back him up. Whether you liked Glennon or not, having two quarterbacks that could run the offense was a lot better than having just one.

However, Tyrod has quieted his critics and has played very well throughout the course of the season. In fact, he is on pace to have one of the better seasons for a VT quarterback since Bryan Randall graduated. If Taylor stays true to his pace of 161.3 yards per game, he'll throw for 2100 yards, 12 TD's, and just 4 interceptions. Combine that with anywhere from 300 to 500 yards on the ground, that's a pretty good year for a Virginia Tech quarterback.

Positive #3: Rebuilding A Defense

Coming into this season, I liked our personnel on defense but as the season has gone along, I'm starting to hope that Foster sticks some of our younger players in there in some key situations to help them gain some more experience. I'm not saying that our defense is awful, it's not, we're still ranked in the top 30 in the nation and for most teams that would be a welcome site. However, I'm saying that our defense just doesn't fit together.

Sometimes when you post back to back number one defenses in total defense and scoring defense, you get a little spoiled as a fanbase. It's a natural human response of course, when you get something and you become accustomed to receiving it, then when that certain item goes away you become angry or confused at why that certain item has disappeared. If you look at some of the Virginia Tech message boards here on the Interwebs, then you'll see that very aspect.

Even though our defense has played fairly well as of late, getting some new blood on defense will be a welcome sight.

Hokies Survive Trip Into Pirate Territory, Win 16-3

2009-11-05T23:27:00.002-05:00

From the Associated Press/ESPN

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Freshman Ryan Williams ran for a season-high 179 yards and Virginia Tech (No. 23 BCS, No. 22 AP) avoided its first three-game losing streak in six years, holding off East Carolina 16-3 on Thursday night.

Tyrod Taylor had a 13-yard touchdown run, Matt Waldron kicked three field goals and Williams atoned for his critical miscue last week against North Carolina by cracking the 1,000-yard mark for the Hokies (6-3).

They had a 379-277 advantage in total yardage, forced three turnovers and made just enough plays on offense to bounce back from losses to No. 10 Georgia Tech and the Tar Heels while also avenging last year's loss in Charlotte in which the Pirates turned the tables on Beamerball.

Williams, whose fumble in the closing minutes last week gave North Carolina a chance at a winning field goal on the final play, helped make Virginia Tech the third school to have freshmen rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive years after Darren Evans did it last year. Williams surpassed his 164-yard effort against Marshall and became just the second 100-yard rusher against by the Pirates this season.

Taylor finished 17 of 30 for 137 yards with another 61 yards on the ground for the Hokies.

Patrick Pinkney was 16 of 33 passing for 167 yards with a late interception for East Carolina (5-4), which was playing its first Thursday night home game since 2001 and hosted the Hokies for the first time since 2000.

The upstarts from Conference USA had won three of their last four against ranked teams, including last year's 27-22 upset that was keyed by a late blocked punt, and they pulled out a few stops for this special occasion. They designated the game a "blackout," welcomed back to town former star quarterback Jeff Blake and broke out a new helmet logo with a tricorne-clad skull and crossbones to replace the traditional "ECU."

But ultimately, they had too much to overcome: Two fumbles in Tech territory, too many overthrown receivers by their sixth-year quarterback and some baffling-at-times decisions. Trying to tighten things up late in the third, East Carolina ran five consecutive direct snaps to receiver Dwayne Harris, but the last was stuffed for a drive-killing 8-yard loss.

Virginia Tech, a 13-point favorite, was strong early -- at one point holding a 252-109 advantage in total yards -- but for a while, all the Hokies had to show for it was a pair of field goals.

Waldron kicked a career-long 41-yarder to cap their second series, then made it 6-0 with a 22-yarder late in the first quarter after a 75-yard drive stalled at the 5.

Taylor put the Hokies up 13-0 with his touchdown run with 2:06 before halftime, but the Pirates countered with a quick 73-yard march capped by Ben Hartman's 24-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

At times, both teams had trouble stringing together a few positive plays.

One play after Dominique Lindsay's 20-yard touchdown run was called back on a holding penalty, Rob Kass was stripped by Tech's Cody Grimm. The Hokies gave it right back when -- two plays after Williams' 46-yard run -- Taylor took off for the goal line but fumbled through the back of end zone for a touchback.

Daily Discussion: Where the Problem Lies

2009-11-03T18:58:00.006-05:00

This last week has been a tough one for Hokienation as fans have gone from booking trips to Pasadena to planning their two-hour car ride down to Charlotte for the Meinikie Car Care Bowl. Obviously, with four weeks left in this college football season, a lot can still happen (VT still has a shot at winning the ACC, can you believe that?).

However, since the Hokies have a non-conference game this weekend, I'm not going to dive into the psyche of the ECU Drunkin Pirates, instead I'm going to do some soul searching on what exactly is wrong with this Virginia Tech team.

The Virginia Tech fanbase has become spoiled over the past few years. Going into this season, Tech was alone with USC and Texas as the only schools to win 10 or more game each of the past five seasons. So, it's no secret that Tech fans have become accustomed to winning. But, with the Hokies now losing two straight, some fans have pulled out their guitars and began their Kumbaya chants while other have resorted back to burning Stinespring statues in effigy.

As much as I disagree with the direction Beamer wants to take in this offense, this season has at least been a breath of fresh air for us on the offensive side of the ball. And, this brings me back to what I wanted to talk about: What the hell is wrong with our team?

I've really decided that their are three things that currently concern me with the direction of the Virginia Tech program, however the good news is that all are correctable without one of the coaches getting the ax at the end of the year.

1. Offensive Line Woes Continue

Do you all remember the talk heading into this season that the offensive line should finally be able to take a step forward? Ok, do you remember the same talk before last years season? You remember that to. Ok, do you remember the excitement that surrounded the fanbase when Coach Newsome was hired after molding JMU's front five into the best in Division 1-AA?

If you remember all of that then your probably asking yourself why is Virginia Tech still ranked 97th in sacks allowed this year? If you think that's bad, take a look at this... the Hokies are ranked 116th in passing attempts per game with just 146 passes this season. The only teams that have thrown the ball less than the Hokies, the four teams that run the triple-option offense (Navy, Army, Georgia Tech, and Air Force).

So we throw the ball less than 17 times per game but we still give up about three sacks a game, which is about 1.5 more sacks on average than teams like Houston that throw the ball 50 times per game. That folks, is where the problem lies on offense.

Stinespring was the offensive line coach before switching over to tight end coach when Newsome was hired in 2006. After the 2004 season, the offensive line was slowly going down hill and with Stiney taking over as offensive coordinator, it was clear that the Hokies needed somebody who devote all of their attention to coaching the players on the line.

But since the Hokies hired Newsome, the offensive line has never been able to play at that high level most Hokie fans were expecting with Newsome being hired. This year and that 97th ranking in sacks allowed, is the highest the offensive line has risen in that category since 2005 when Tech was ranked a mediocre 80th with just over 2.5 sacks given up per game.

So is it coaching, is it player effort, or is it talent?

Up until last season, I probably would have said it was a lack of talent. But, with the Hokies bringing in some better overall recruiting classes lately, it's pretty clear that Virginia Tech has the talent up front capable of better results.

Sergio Render is currently listed as one of the top three guards in the country by most NFL scouts. Ed Wang is also considered a player that should be drafted by many scouts, especially the New Orleans Saints. Add those two along with Warren, Brooks, and DeChristopher and there is plenty of talent there.

Also, when I went back and watched a few of the games this year, the guys on the offensive line were playing their hearts out but they seemed a little lost in certain situations. The sack on Tyrod Taylor in the 2nd quarter that I broke down in my previous article, was a perfect example of the kids playing hard but completely missing an assignment (aka not knowing what to do).

Boone stayed in to be an extra blocker but completely missed the UNC defensive end, allowing him to come free. Dechristopher sold the run to the left where as Boone ended up blocking the outside linebacker. It's mistakes like that, that keep this offense from reaching it's full potential.

So, I guess Im saying that our problem on the offensive line is coaching. We have the talent, the effort is there, but our kids still seem to be confused by our zone-blocking scheme that we've implemented. Either we need to simplify things a bit and just go with what we know or start shopping for a new offensive line coach.

2. Lack of Recruiting Success

Two and Three go together but I decided to break them up for a couple of reasons. I went back and looked at our 2005 recruiting classes up through our current 2010 recruiting class and there have been some alarming similarities between every one of those classes.

Coach Beamer prides himself on trying to win a national championship with Virginia players. I, and the rest of the fanbase, have no problem with that because if you follow high school football here in Virginia, you know that the state produces a lot of quality talent year in and year out. The problem with Beamer's plan here is that the Hokies have failed to lock down the state in recent years. While Tech has done a good job at grabbing around 30 percent of the top 20 in-state on the average each year, those misses at the top of the class can really change the future of your program. Just imagine if Michael Vick went elsewhere instead of coming to Virginia Tech.

So, from my research here is what I found

2005 class:

This was the one class that breaks up my argument. The Hokies grabbed four of the top five in-state (missing out only on current UVA DB, QB, WR, RB, KR, PR, Kick Holder, defensive coordinator, and head coach Vic Hall).

Tech also grabbed nine of the top 15 in the state of Virginia, four of the remaining six went to UVA, and the remaining two went out of state. However, those great recruits the Hokies got, just about all of them never panned out. Macho Harris was the lone five star in this class and lived up to the hype, becoming a great cornerback.

Deveon Simmons, Elan Lewis, and Todd Nolen were the Hokies other big time recruits in this class and only one of those three ever made it to campus (Lewis tore his ACL and was never the same after that). The rest of this in-state haul has been pretty marginal to say the least. Ed Wang has turned out ok (10th in-state), Greg Boone (12th in-state), and Cordarrow Thompson (26th in-state) have done ok, but the trend that really started with this class was that the Hokies missed on some pretty good players in this class.

Daryl Gresham (8th in-state) went to Florida and has had a pretty good career. Vic Hall has turned out be a good player for UVA although he plays just about every position for them. Pat Sheil (6th in-state) turned out to be a good offensive lineman for Boston College. Quite possibly the biggest loss for the Hokies was losing out of Jeffrey Fitzgereld who turned out to be a quality defensive end at UVA.

2006 class:

The 2006 Virginia class was about as national of a class as you could get. The bad news was that the Hokies failed to land a single player in the top 10 this year. They let Percy Harvin (No. 1), Vidal Hazelton (No. 2), Damon McDaniel (No. 3... and VT's biggest loss in this class, he tried to transfer back to VT two years later), Brent Vinson (No. 7), Dedrick Epps (No. 8), and Brandon Minor (No. 10) all go elsewhere. If we added Harvin, McDaniel, and Minor to this offense, maybe the Sean Glennon years wouldn't have been so bad. Could you imagine Eddie Royal and Percy Harvin lined up for us at wide receiver, it would be like buttering a bread, a simple recipe that not even Stinespring could screw up.

Sadly the losses in the 2006 class didn't just stop in the top 10. Tech missed out on Brandon Caleb who is now a starting WR for Oklahoma, Evan Royster a three year starter for Penn State, and Ras-I Dowling who has turned into a future NFL'er at UVA. The Hokies only had about three recruiting successes in-state in this class and they were Kam Chanceller, Beau Warren, and John Graves.

Also, if you wanted to expand this debate to the out of state prospects to pursued, we did miss out on both Knowhon Moreno and LeSean McCoy. We led for both players up until the very end... ohh what could have been.

2007 class:

The Hokies did a good job of landing the top player in-state in Tyrod Taylor but the rest of this class turned out to be a wash. Tech grabbed only one of the top five, three of the top 10, and just nine of the top 30 in the state of Virginia. Cris Hill and Blake Dechristopher (both four stars) have turned out to be ok but neither one has lived up to the hype they had coming in. Quillie Odom, Will Alvarez, and Davon Morgan had some success but Avarez is now gone and Morgan has battled through some injuries recently while backing up Dorian Porch at Rover. Odom was a promising recruit that came in a year late but has yet to really materialize into anything on the field.

The good news was that the Hokies didn't really miss a whole lot in this class. Four star Andrew Nuss who went to Notre Dame and four star defensive end Jamar Jackson who went to FSU might have been a nice addition but neither have had much success yet in their careers.

2008 class:

I built this class up as possibly the best group the Hokies have brought in and currently, they really haven't let me down. Tech did a good job of raiding their pipelines in-state and did a decent job at getting some kids further down on the list. The Hokies finished with just two of the top five, four of the top 10, and 17 of the top 30 in the state of Virginia. Overall, this is what every Virginia Tech recruiting class should look like.

However, the Hokies did miss out on getting Mike Glennon (NC State), Quinton Couples (UNC... took Leon Mackey, former VT commit with him), Marcus Dowtin (UGA), Deion Walker (Notre Dame), and Kerry Boykins (Maryland). Every one of those kids have at least made some impact on their current teams.

Overall this was probably the Hokies best recruiting effort, especially since they were able to out recruit some schools for Ryan Williams, Tech's starting running back.

2009 class:

The 2009 class had mixed results but it seems like the Hokies had a lot more misses then they did hits. The Hokies landed just two of the top 10 (No. 1 David Wilson and No. 4 Logan Thomas) but missed out on three quarterbacks in Bryn Renner (UNC), Kevin Newsome (Penn State), and Tajh Boyd (Clemson).

To go along with that the Hokies also missed out on Jared Askew who has all the intangibles to be a three year starter at Tennessee. Add two four star running backs and a four star wide receiver to that list and you have a lot of misses at the top of this class. Tech did pretty well from 11-30 by landing nine of those 20 recruits but the failure to bring in a quarterback when they needed one will haunt Virginia Tech.

Everything you do in college football one way or another can be traced back to recruiting. The Hokies have failed to lock down the state of Virginia even when their only real in-state competition is struggling.

If Beamer wants to continue recruiting Virginia and trying to win a national championship with Virginia kids, then he might want to try to improve his recruiting budget and actually go after some of these guys. Sure some of them might just want to head out of state but its the players like Newsome, like Brandon Minor, like Tajh Boyd who have really no reason to head out of state other than to not play in our offensive system.

Thanks to the Internet, these kids aren't as clueless as they were 15 and 20 years ago where you could sell them on just about anything. I'm sure both Kevin Newsome and Tajh Boyd knew exactly how bad our offense was and even when our coaches sold them the chance of playing early after Tyrod leaves, they didn't want to play in the 60th ranked offense in the nation. They wanted to play in an offense that could produce big plays and play in big games and they just didn't see that in the Virginia Tech offense.

Ok, rant over let's move on to number three.

3. Lack of National Championship Level Talent

Every year, every fanbase debates the possibility of their favorite college making it to the national championship game. The Hokies did it this year, many of those on Techsideline and Rivals were predicting an 11-1 or a 12-0 season. But, after watching the Hokies closely over the past six years, it's pretty clear that Tech doesn't have the talent to come out and win 12 games in one season.

This past weekend I decided to watch the first half of the Texas vs Oklahoma State game and if you really want to see how good a team can be when a bunch of four and five star kids put in 100 percent effort, go back and watch that game. Texas is in a school of their own when it comes to recruiting and talent. Texas puts out over 200 kids each year to Division one colleges, that's enough to field two and a half teams. Texas normally wraps up it's recruiting class by April of the previous year. Don't believe me, stroll on on over to Texas's Rivals.com site here in a couple months and look at the amount of commits they'll have for their 2011 class.

Virginia Tech hasn't even gotten close to that level where we can select who we want and who we don't want. That is what's amazing about how we've been able to hang with USC and Texas over the past half decade in wins. Part of that is hard work from our players and our coaches and part of that has been because we play in a weaker conference than they do. But, still impressive nonetheless.

But, if we were to play Texas or USC we would lose to them seven or eight times out of 10. It wouldn't because our coaches would be getting out coached or our players getting out played, it would be because they are simply better athletes than what we have at Virginia Tech.

This is why I said that two and three fit together. Tech needs to recruit at a higher level and we need to recruit more nationally as apposed to just VA, NC, and Maryland. There are enough kids in this area to field a really good football team but if we have a chance to land a kid that's going to develop into a huge playmaker for us, we should recruit that kid instead of a two star kid that has a chance to contribute in three or four years.

Maybe your opinion varies and if it does let me know, but after doing some soul searching this is what I came up with. If we can raise our level of recruiting, I think all of our current problems go away but that's just me.

2010 Football Schedule Gets Shuffled

2009-10-23T10:25:00.000-04:00

Ok, well maybe not shuffled but the Hokies Athletic Director Jim Weaver agreed to move the Western Michigan game from 2010 to 2016 in order to allow WMU to play Notre Dame in 2010.

Tech was set to play Western Michigan in Blacksburg on September 11th but will now have to try and find another team to play in 2010. Odds are the Hokies will have to fill that void with an FCS opponent much to the fan base's dismay but with only a few months to schedule the game, there's not a whole lot Weaver can do.

Tech will play Central Michigan, East Carolina, and Boise State next year in out of conference play and will hopefully be able to find another D1 team to fill the current hole in our schedule.

Tuesday Thoughts: The Future Cometh

2009-10-20T11:47:00.002-04:00

I went into this past Saturday’s game knowing that the Hokies winning streak may be in jeopardy and for that these past few days have been a little easier on me than most. As the fanbase recovers and cancels their Orbitz.com trips to Pasadena, the team still knows that there’s more football to play.

Sure the national title hopes are gone, but the ACC Championship hopes are still there. Georgia Tech owns the tie-breaker but with one slip-up, the Hokies are penciled right back as the Coastal Division Champions. Right now, that’s the only thing the Hokies can shoot for (editors note: GT has not won in Charlottesville since 1990, they play at UVA this weekend).

I’m trying to keep this article relatively the same week to week but for some reason I really don’t feel like going back and watching the film on this one. Watching a game that VT loses on live TV is hard enough, going back and having to watch it again… well it’s not for the feint of heart.

So, this week’s “Tuesday Thoughts” article will mainly be focused on the future including the next five weeks and beyond.

If you’re a Virginia Tech fan, you still have a lot to hope for. If the Hokies can win out, Coach Frank Beamer will have had six straight season of 10 wins or more. Pretty impressive seeing that the Hokies have had to depend on a pretty average defense and a young offense the past two seasons.

If Georgia Tech loses and the Hokies head to Tampa, they could have their first ever 12-win season in program history. That folks would be pretty big in the grand scheme of things.

Also, for everybody who likes to look to the future of the program and follow recruiting, you know the Hokies aren’t going to fall from grace anytime soon. After a horrendous 2006 class in which Tech missed out on about 10 current NFL’ers, including two who had been rumored to have pledged to Virginia Tech at one point, the Hokies have been able to reel in four straight impressive recruiting classes. Those recruiting efforts are starting to pay off on the field.

And if you look at next years team, the Hokies will return just five starters on defense next year but the Hokies will return almost their entire offense minus Render, Wang, and our starting tight end Greg Boone. With a lot softer schedule in 2010, there will be plenty of reasons to be excited going into next year, even if the rest of this season doesn’t pan out like we want it to.

But, those discussions will come in a few months when the Hokies wrap up this 2009 campaign in either December or January.

Right now, Tech needs to focus on their final five games and view anything after those five games as icing on the cake.

As it stands of now, the Hokies do not have a ranked team left in their final five games and right now only two teams have a winning record. The two toughest games will easily be the two Thursday night games. While the Hokies should beat UNC at home, the Tar Heels have a good defense that could slow down Tyrod and our offense enough to beat us in a low scoring affair. If the Hokies can score some points, Tech should roll.

The trip to ECU is going to be a tough one as the Pirate faithful will be looking for a big win this season. ECU isn’t quite the team it was at the beginning of last season but they are still talented enough with 6th year senior Patrick Pinkney still tossing the ball around down there in Greenville.
However, since the Hokies national championship hopes have now gone down the drain, this game may not mean a whole lot seeing that Tech probably won’t get picked to be in a BCS game even if they do win out (if GT wins the Coastal).

The final three games should all be routes, and I do mean routes. The only one of the final three that concerns me is the UVA game. The Cavs have played better over the last few weeks and are slowly turning their season around. If they can find a way to beat Georgia Tech next weekend, this years Coastal title will run through Charlottesville. This could be Groh’s last shot at beating the Hokies so look for UVA to throw everything they have into winning this game.

Even with the Hokies currently standing at 5-2, not all hope has been lost this season. There is still a chance for Tech to make it to Tampa and if the Hokies can somehow manage a third straight league crown, then at least one of Tech’s preseason goals will have been reached.

If we only win 10 games this year, it’s not the end of the world. Just like Macho said after the BC game “a minor setback for a major comeback.” With our entire offense (including Darren Evans) returning in 2010, why wouldn’t the Hokies be favored to win the ACC with another shot at going to the national championship game.

As much as the Georgia Tech game hurts, it’s still good to be a Hokie.

Yellow Jackets Sting Hokies 28-23 in Atlanta

2009-10-17T23:55:00.000-04:00

A small night cap here for you guys, not really going to break anything down or go in-depth on anything. I'll save most of my thoughts for Tuesday and I'll let Daniel give you the game recap when he gets that posted early on this week.

However, I have to admit that I really saw all of this coming. The Hokies have struggled with these kind of games in the past and well, most teams struggle with these kinds of games. It's hard for a top five team to head on the road and walk away with a victory. It just is. The home crowd, the home team giving you your best shot, and the fact that most of these games are played under a night sky cause these games to never work out well for the ones ranked in the top five.

The Hokies had plenty of golden opportunities in this game and failed to convert on any of them...especially the one's in the first quarter. Three straight trips into GT territory resulted in zero points. That folks, will not win you a football game.

So just like that, the Hokies left Atlanta for the second time this season, hanging their heads in defeat.

Even though the national title hopes are gone and the ACC Coastal race is hanging by a thread, Tech still has five games left on their schedule with all five being very winnable games.

This bye week couldn't come at a better time for the dinged up and now emotionally injured Hokies. Tech will enjoy their first Saturday off since the last weekend in July, which was almost three months ago now.

The good news for Tech fans is that if the Hokies can win out and if Georgia Tech finds a way to lose to UVA, Duke, or Wake Forst, your beloved Hokies will make the long journey back down to Tampa with a chance to claim their third straight ACC Championship.

And for some reason, I feel like that's going to happen. Maybe I'm psychic (failed to win the Mega Millions this past week so I doubt it) but I have a good feeling about how the rest of the season is going to go.

All I know for certain is, I would absolutely hate being UNC next Thursday night.

Virginia Tech vs Georgia Tech Preview

2009-10-16T20:24:00.001-04:00

By Daniel Smithey

It’s that time again - half way through the ACC season - and from here on out every game is a big one, but none will be tougher than Saturday evening's match up between the 19th ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and your 4th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies.   If the Hokies can leave Atlanta with a win the stage will be set for them to go straight to the ACC championship .... and with some help to the national championship game.

Back to the matter at hand though, the Yellow Jackets bring an option attack, and the leading rushing attack in the ACC, into Bobby Dodd stadium on their homecoming night.   No doubt the stadium will be rocking for this night game. The Hokies are 4-1 against the Yellow Jackets since joining the ACC, escaping last year at home with a 20-17 win. The Hokies are coming off an impressive win against Boston College in a game that both the offense and defense dominated from start to finish only giving up 3 total yards in the 1st half and they will be looking to duplicate that performance in Atlanta.

The Hokies have struggled this year to put together back- to-back dominating performances. If ever there was a time for the Hokies not to have a meltdown, this is it.   But I don’t see this as a trap game. The coaching staff knew prior to the season that this would be one of the toughest games, and that the Coastal division would probably come down to this game; and that’s why Bud Foster and his crew spent extra time in the off season watching film and studying Georgia Tech's option attack The Hokies have prepared differently this week than any other games they have prepared for all year. They took out the individual drills and ran more first-team defense against the scout team which was run by Antoine Exum (the ex-high school quarterback and now free safety) to try and simulate Josh Nesbitt. Sounds like Bud Foster will have his defense ready and when this defense is focused and hitting on all cylinders they are lights out (see the Miami and BC games).

It would appear that this one will be a shootout with GT’s rushing attack being first in the conference in yards per game and with the way the Hokies offense has really turned over a new leaf, putting up over 370 yards a game since that game winning drive against Nebraska. However, the key to beating the Yellow Jackets is getting up on them early and forcing them to throw the ball. Josh Nesbitt and his Georgia Tech offense struggled as they were forced to go to the air ofter in the 2nd half as they trailed Miami for most of the game.

That’s not to say they can’t throw the ball however, when they do go to the air (which is about a 1-to-5 ratio from running) they like to go deep on play action and have been extremely successful, usually going to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas who leads the ACC in receiving yards. The Hokie defense must stay extremely disciplined and maintain their assignments - something they have struggled with at times this year giving up a lot of big plays in the process.    Last season the Hokies keyed in on Jonathan Dwyer and held him to under 50 yards rushing, but Nesbitt ran all over them. Nesbitt is much improved since last season (running for 151 yards against the Hokies last year and turning the ball over 4 times with 2 fumbles and 2 interceptions).

If the Hokies can create turnovers again I'd look for the Hokies offense to capitalize on those turnovers with a heavy dose of Ryan Williams, the ACC’s leading rusher and Heisman hopeful, mixed in with some Tyrod Taylor play-action passes down the field.   Tyrod isn’t doing to bad himself sitting number nine in passing efficiency in the country, and throwing 8 touchdowns with just 1 interception. The GT defense should have its hands full this week with a balanced attack from the Hokie offense, but look for some big plays from both offenses in this game as there will be play makers all over the field for both teams.

Now for the defensive side of the ball - an area in which both teams have struggled at times. The Hokies "bugga boo" this year has been the big play. The Hokies will look to take advantage with Coach Foster sending pressure in the form of Jason Worlids and sure tackler Cody Grim, to try and slow down the GT rushing attack. Containment is the key as the jackets try to block down field and get one on one match ups with linebackers and corners. Also when your playing Georgia Tech, tackling is very important as one missed tackle can lead to 6 points on the board.

At defensive back, look for corner Rock Carmichael, who has emerged as the top corner for the Hokies, to have his hands full with Thomas all day. While the Hokies D has been giving up the big play, they have really been buckling down when the opposing team gets in the redzone and have done a great job of keeping teams out of the end zone. I would look for that to continue again this week due to Coach Foster's excellent "bend but don't break" defense.

The Yellow Jackets really struggled last week against the Florida State Seminoles, giving up 44 points in the win. If the Hokies can limit the big plays, which they have done in their two big wins this year against Miami and Boston College, they should be able to keep the Georgia Tech offense under wraps.   The Hokies defense will look to capitalize on turnovers turning them into points, something the Virginia Tech defense has become accustomed too since the mid-90's.

On special teams, the Hokies will look to use their patented "BeamerBall" to help sway the momentum against the Yellow Jackets this weekend. So far this season, the Hokies have scored on a kick return, punt return, and a blocked punt. Also, punter Brent Bowden has been booming the ball and if need be, Tech will look to use him to control the field position battle. GT is averaging 26.7 yards per punt return, so it will be a challenge for Hokie gunners Zach Luckett and Alonzo Tweedy to get downfield and contain the Yellow Jackets return man, Jerrard Tarrant, from taking his third punt back for a touchdown this season.

"Beamerball" versus. "Paul Johnsonball" should be an interesting match up and a tough game for the Hokies. On the road, at night, and under the lights is prime time football. If the Hokies want to be in the national championship, this is where you find out if you’re ready. They better bring there A-game as the Jackets will be looking to spoil the Hokies dreams of playing in a third straight ACC Championship game.

This is a must win game for both teams and is being anticipated as the ACC championship for all intensive purposes since preseason predictions came out. Get your Chicago maroon shirts out in full force and your keys ready to jingle as there are sure to be plenty of key plays in this game. GO HOKIES!!!

Rewatch The 2008 VT vs GT game

2009-10-15T13:32:00.000-04:00

Click Here to rewatch last years Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech game.

Or you can visit Attila's Hokies blog by going to www.techturf.net

Daily Discussion: Midseason Heisman Report

2009-10-14T16:26:00.003-04:00

The ESPN poll I posted a couple of days ago got me thinking, how would I vote for the Heisman if I did indeed get a chance to vote? Well, I've been doing some soul searching and I've decided to list my top 10 candidates for this years 2009 Heisman Award.

Note that the Heisman goes to the year's most outstanding football player. It doesn't say offense or defense, nor does it say most talented or most valuable. It's the most outstanding football player, the player that was the best and most consistent player all year long.

So because of that, my rankings may disagree some with the talking heads at ESPN who tend to vote for whoever they hype up the most (Tebow).

1. Ndamukong Suh - Nebraska

Only once in the history of this award has a defensive player won the Heisman and that was Charles Woodson back in 1997. Ever since then it's been a Quarterback's award to lose. Well this year, there hasn't been an outstanding QB with Tebow being good at times and just average in a few games. McCoy really hasn't gotten going so far this year, Bradford was injured in week one, Clausen has played well but his competition has been weak, and Tyrod Taylor doesn't have the stats to warrant winning this award. So who does that leave? With no top-notch running back emerging and with very few dominant wideouts this year, Suh is really the only player that has been consistently dominant in each game. Right now, if I had a vote Suh would be my number one choice.

2. Tim Tebow - Florida

As much as I dislike Tebow, the kid is an excellent player and an even better person. However, thanks in-part to ESPN, the majority of the country hates his guts. And at the end of the day, I think that could cost Tebow his second Heisman trophey unless the Gators go 13-0 and beat Alabama in the SEC championship game which at this point looks likely. Tebow's stats are down a bit from his last two seasons but as long as the Gators keep winning, Tebow will stay in the top 3 in this race.

3. Jimmy Clausen - Notre Dame

I hate myself for voting for Clausen but he's number one in passing efficiency at 179 a game, that's 15 points higher than Tim Tebow who is 3rd on that list. However, the reason why Clausen isn't higher is because of Notre Dame's strength of schedule. How would Tebow, Tyrod Taylor, Case Keenum, Todd Reesing, and Tony Pike do against the level of play Notre Dame has played this year? Probably a lot better than they have done against their own schedule. Take a player like Tyrod who has had to play Alabama, Nebraska, Miami, and Boston College in his first 6 games, all of whom rank in the top 25 in total defense. So, sorry Jimmy, throw for 400 yards against USC and I might move you up, but if you have a bad game you'll probably be off this list for the rest of the season.

4. Mark Ingram - Alabama

The last running back to win this award was Reggie Bush back in 2003 and even though Ingram is a good back, he's just not putting up "Heisman Numbers." However, because Alabama is undefeated so far with a few quality wins, Ingram has warrented a spot in my top five but there's a pretty big gap right now between him and Jimmy Clausen.

5. Colt McCoy - Texas

Colt has been largely pedestrian this year compared to last season but his numbers still figure as some of the best in the nation. However, the spark just hasn't seemed to be there for Colt this year, who could be pushing himself more this year instead of just going out there and playing his game. If Texas goes undefeated this year, Colt could move up but after one or two losses I just cant see Colt winning this award.

6. Ryan Williams - Virginia Tech

Alabama fans like to brag since they believe they have the best freshman running back in the nation in Trent Richardson, that's fine because the Hokies have the best redshirt freshman running back in the nation. Ryan Williams has filled in rather nicely for an injured Darren Evans and it appears that Williams could be well on his way to New York if the Hokies can run the table and find a spot in the BCS National Championship game. However, if Ryan has a bad game or the Hokies slip up somewhere along the way, his Heisman hopes could be ended for this season.

7. Tony Pike - Cincinnati

I have a hard time believing Pike is a serious contender just because of what the Hokies did to him in the Orange bowl last year. Pike is a good quarterback who is really starting to play well in Bryan Kelly's system but because they are in the Big East and because Cincy's schedule has been rather light, I'll need to see him show up in a big game sometime this season before he can move any further up on my list.

8. Ryan Mathews - Fresno State

When your the leading rusher in the nation, you'll tend the grow a little Heisman buzz around yourself but unless Mathews starts cranking out some 200 and 300 yard games in conference this season, it's going to be hard to get the media support for him to get an invite to New York this season. The good news is Mathews is just a junior and this year could spring board him into the Heisman race next year if he can repeat this performance.

9. Case Keenum - Houston

Case would be higher on my list but a tough Houston loss a few weeks ago has dropped him down and almost out of Heisman contention. Keenum is still one of the better passers in the NCAA but when your in a non-BCS conference, it will take a strong, and nearly perfect effort for you to get an invite to New York.

10. Jordan Shipley - Texas

There are about six players I wanted to put in the 10th spot but after his performance against Colorado this past weekend, I had to put Shipley in at this spot. Shipley is a 6th year man down in Texas and is doing everything he can so embrace this opportunity. However, for Jordan to make it to New York he'll simply have to keep doing what he's been doing the last couple weeks and he could easily rise close to the top of this list. But, if Oklahoma has anything to say about it, they'll be looking to end Mr. Shipley's chances this weekend.

Honorable Mention

QB Tyrod Taylor - Virginia Tech
QB Todd Reesing - Kansas
RB Darius Marshall - Marshall
QB Jake Locker - Washington
WR Eric Decker - Minnesota
WR Golden Tate - Notre Dame
RB Jacquizz Rodgers - Oregon State.

2011 Recruiting Class: Names You Need to Know

2009-10-13T17:09:00.020-04:00

It's never to early to look towards the future when it comes to college football. For some teams, that's about the only thing they have to look at. However, for the Hokies, the future keeps getting brighter and brighter as the Tech coaching staff keeps rolling in top recruiting classes one right after another.

The 2011 class will be a smaller class, around 12 to 15 depending on attrition and whether or not anybody leaves early. But, the good news for Tech is they have a large amount of in-state talent to pull from, including several who will be guarenteed four or five stars come this time next year.

So without further adieu, let's take a look at some of the prospects that the Hokies will be eying for the 2011 recruiting class.

Quan Bray
Running Back
Hogansville, Georgia
Callaway High School
Offers: Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, UNC, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
Early Synopsis:

Bray is another in the long line of great Georgia (the state of) running backs as it appears he'll be Rivals100 recruit come this time next year. Bray really hasn't started his recruiting process yet as he's only taken a few visits to some of the SEC schools but expect him to be on the move come the spring taking his rounds to a few colleges on the east coast. The Hokies haven't really recruited Bray very much as it appears the Tech coaching staff wants to see him in person before they put on the full-court press for this kid.

Trey Depriest
Linebacker
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield High School
Offers: Cincinnati, Duke, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Virignia Tech, andWest Virginia
Early Synopsis:

Another national recruit that the Hokies have thrown their hat in the ring for is Trey Depriest. Although the Hokies have shown some interest it appears that Depriest's number one team, the Michigan Wolverines, will be a hard team to beat. He has already visited Michigan numerous times and it appears that he could be ready to commit this coming spring. If the Hokies can get him on campus then they have a chance but until that happens, Tech doesn't really have much of a chance here.

Jeff Driskel
Quarterback
Oviedo, Florida
Hagerty High School
Offers: Auburn and Virginia Tech
Early Synopsis:

2010 was a down year if you needed a quarterback but it seems like 2011 is going to make up for 2010 and then some. Jeff Driskel is another quarterback that the Hokies are going after for the 2011 class. Driskel has a big arm but he's also a pretty quick and agile runner as he was timed as a sub 4.5 guy this past spring. At 6'4", Driskel has the size the Hokies are looking for in a quarterback. So far, his recruitment hasn't blown up much and since Driskel was born into a military family he doesn't have any ties to one area. Expect Driskel to visit next summer for one of the Hokies summer camps.

Quintae Funderburke
Wide Receiver
Chesapeake, Virginia
Oscar Smith High School
Offers: No written offers
Early Synopsis:

If you're a football junkie like me your probably sat at home on the last Firday night in August and watched Oscar Smith play Venice (Florida) on ESPNU. If you did, one of the one players that probably jumped out at you was Quintae Funderburke who had over 100 yards receiving in that game. For now, it appears that the Hokies are pursuing but Quintae may have to visit this summer in order to earn and offer. West Virginia, Maryland, UVA, UNC, and NC State are a few of the schools that have been in contact with the top 15 player in the state of Virginia.

Curtis Grant
Linebacker
Richmond, Virginia
Hermitage High School
Offers: Boston College, Maryland, Richmond, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

The state of Virginia has produced some pretty good linebackers over the years but Curtis Grant has the ability to be the highest ranked linebacker in the Rivals.com era. Grant was a member of the Rivals 100 to watch for 2011 that was published back during the summer. It's no secret that Curtis is one of the Hokies top priorities for the 2011 class as Tech was the first school to offer him (verbally) back in 10th grade. Grant has yet to name a leader or visit many schools but it looks like the Hokies are a concensus number one for the future four or five star linebacker.

Chris Hall
Athlete
Dinwiddie, Virginia
Dinwiddie High School
Offers: no written offers
Early Synopsis:

It's a little early to catagorize Hall as a quarterback since he is a little raw at that position but Chris has the ability to grow into a good college quarterback by the time he leaves which ever program he chooses. The Hokies have shown some interest early as Hall was on campus for the Miami game but no offer has been extended yet. I would expect Hall to attend the Junior day in February or the summer camp next summer if the Hokies haven't offered him by then.

Christian LeMay
Quarterback
Matthews, North Carolina
Butler High School
Offers: Florida, Florida State, Georgia, UNC, Tennessee, UVA, Virginia tech, Wake Forest, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

If your looking to find the number one quarterback prospect on the east coast well you might not have to stray too far from Blacksburg. Christian LeMay has wowed most of his scouts and has put his name in the running to be a five star prospect when the first 2011 ratings come out next spring. LeMay has been able to take a few trips including one to Georgia a few weeks ago. With his former teammates at Virginia Tech (Eddie Whitley and Jarrett Boykin) the Hokies could have a small advantage but LeMay has made it pretty clear that he wants to play in the SEC. Tech does have a chance if they can get him on campus a few more times (a birth in a national championship game couldn't hurt either) but right now it appears that LeMay is SEC bound.

Corey Marshall
Defensive End/Defensive Tackle
Dinwiddie, Virginia
Dinwiddie High School
Offers: JMU, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and UVA.
Early Synopsis:

Corey Marshall made his first recruiting visit this past weekend to Blacksburg, Virginia to watch the Hokies blast Boston College. Marshall grew up a Virginia Tech fan and it's no secret that he's favoring the Hokies right now. With Tennessee and UVA both extending offers, Marshall may a take a few more visits but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him eventually commit either after the season or sometime this spring. With so few scholarships the Hokies need to bring in at least one defensive end and it looks like Marshall will be the number one defensive end recruit on their board for the 2011 class.

Clifton Richardson
Athlete
Newport News, Virginia
Menchville High School
Offers: Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

Every class seems to have one of these guys like Clifton Richardson who can play just about any position on the field. You can bulk him up and put him on the defensive line, put him at running back or wide receiver, or let him use his speed and patrol the skies in the defensive secondary. At 6'1", 200 lbs, and 4.4 speed it's easy to see why Richardson has so many early scholarship offers. As for his recruitment, Clifton hasn't spent too much time on the road yet visiting colleges so it's too early to say where any colleges stand for the potential four star recruit.

Caleb Taylor
Linebacker
Hampton, Virginia
Phoebus High School
Offers: West Virginia
Early Synopsis:

Caleb Taylor is going to be largely a regional recruit but look for his recruitment to sky rocket after he attends some camps this spring. Taylor's height, 5'11", will hold him back a little bit but any team that needs a strong outside linebacker will offer Caleb. He's receiving interest from Louisville, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, UVA, and NC State currently and has an offer from West Virginia. Taylor grew up a fan of the big schools : Miami, Texas, Virginia Tech and Penn State.

Dominique Terrell
Athlete
Manassas, Virginia
Osbourne Park High School
Offers: Duke, Maryland, Miami, NC State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

In my mind, Dominique Terrell is the number one recruit in the state for 2011 and the reasons are numerous. Terrell is easily the most athletic recruit to come out of the state since Percy Harvin back in 2006. Add that along with an impressive offer list and you have yourself the highest ranking in-state recruit this year. For the Hokies, this is the one player in 2011 you can't afford to let get away. Terrell would be a game changer at wide receiver, running back, or defensive back for the Hokies. He easily could be the best ever at any of those positions (especially WR since the Hokies have never had 1000 yard receiver). Terrell has taken a few recruiting visits but it doesn't appear that his recruitment will get going until after his junior season. Expect Terrell to be a high 4 or low 5 star when the first Rivals.com rankings come out in the spring.

Lafonte Thourogood
Quarterback
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Ocean Lakes High School
Offers: UNC, Stanford, Tennessee, UVA, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

Ocean Lakes is clearly becoming a Virginia Tech pipeline with the Hokies grabbing two of the last three big prospects graduating from there. Thourogood looks like another player that could easily wind up at Virginia Tech. Lafonte visited earlier this season for the Miami game and was very impressed with the Hokies and even said that he would try to make it back for one of the Hokies remaining home games this year. Thourogood is a raw quarterback prospect but with his size, 6'4", he could grow into an exceptional quarterback in the right system.

Landon Turner
Offensive Line
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg High School
Offers: Maryland, UNC, UVA, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

The state of Virginia has produced at least one four star wide receiver in every year of the Rivals.com era. In 2011, Landon Turner appears the most likely to continue that trend. Turner is a huge lineman at 6'4", 290 pounds and could be a Rivals100 member once the rankings come out in the spring. Currently, it appears that West Virginia is the team to beat for the talented lineman but the Hokies made a huge impression when he visited for the instant classic Virginia Tech vs Nebraska game. Turner is going to visit Georgia for the Arizona State game this season but after that Landon is done with visits. I wouldn't expect Turner to make a decision anytime soon but the Hokies need to get him back on campus a couple of times before the start of next season.

Ronny Vandyke
Safety
Lorton, Virginia
South County High School
Offers: BC, Maryland, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech
Early Synopsis:

Lorton, Virginia doesn't produce a whole lot of division one athletes but they have a talented junior this season. Vandyke has become a regional recruit that's receiving interest from Penn State, Pittsburgh, USF, Florida State, Georgia, and a few other ACC teams as well as having offers from BC, Maryland, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech. Right now, the Hokies are probably the team to beat for the potential four star safety. Vandyke attended the spring game this past spring and will more than likely visit for the Hokies 2nd junior day this February.

Marquise Williams
Quarterback
Charlotte, North Carolina
Mallard Creek High School
Offers: Clemson, ECU, LSU, Maryland, UNC, NC State, Notre Dame, Stanford, South Carolina, UVA, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Early Synopsis:

The Hokies are pursuing a lot quarterback prospects in the 2011 class but Marquise Williams is the one that would clearly fit the Hokies scheme the best. Williams is a dynamic runner and has a bigger frame than most former Hokie quarterbacks (6'4", 220 lbs, 4.4). Williams was on campus for the Miami game a few weeks ago and came away very impressed at what Virginia Tech has to offer. Marquise grew up a Miami fan but has stated that he will choose the school that's right for him. Location will also play a factor in his recruitment as he doesn't want to stray too far from home. After his visit to the Miami game, I think the Hokies have a great shot at getting the sure-fire four star quarterback.

Taylor, Williams Receives Heisman Votes on ESPN

2009-10-13T12:46:00.001-04:00

It's been a long time since the word "Heisman" has buzzed around Blacksburg but for the next two years at least, the Hokies will have a big contender in the Heisman race in either Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Williams.

If Taylor and Williams keep playing like their playing, there's a good chance at least one of them could end up in New York this December.

Tuesday Thoughts: Week 6 Edition

2009-10-13T11:26:00.001-04:00

Ask any coach today and they'll tell you that when you can get your team to peak around the middle of the season, good things will happen for you down the stretch. At the midway point in the season, the Hokies just played their best and most complete football game of the season as they beat Boston College 48-14 in Lane Stadium.

The Virginia Tech offense was dominant in the win with Ryan Williams slashing through the BC defense along with Tyrod's effectiveness through the air. If Coach Beamer wanted to, Tech's offense could have easily put up 600 yards of total offense against the outmatched Eagles defense. But, after surviving a close scare against Duke last week, the coaches needed to get some of the backups some game time and did just that.

There's not much that Bud Foster's defense can do these days that surprises me but I have to admit I was a little surprised that our defense played as well as it did on Saturday. Tech's D gave up just 3 total yards of offense heading into halftime. On top of that, Boston College had negative yards for the majority of the first half. Combine that with the Hokies first defensive touchdown of the year, and you have yourself a pretty flawless day.

The special teams play on Saturday was a little overshadowed since the Hokies didn't get to return much by the way of kickoffs or punts. But, they did hold BC to an average starting field position of the 21 yard line after the kickoffs. That includes five of the 9 kicks that Justin Myer boomed into the endzone for touchbacks as well.

Best Offensive Play

Notice that in the past three weeks you haven't heard a whole lot from Bryan Stinespring. Well that's because he's really done a helluva job mixing the run and the pass and keeping the defense off balance. The one play that stood out to me and really shows how far our offense has come was the little 23 yard pass from Tyrod to Ryan Williams down the seam. The Hokies lined up in their usual Shotgun, 3 WR set with Williams set to the left of Tyrod. Ryan's job on this play was to block the outside linebacker on the left side of the field then float into an open space and become Tyrod's safety valve if the pocket collapsed. When the defense lined up, Williams man lined up on Dyrell Roberts in the slot. After he saw this, Ryan took off up the middle of the field and was wide open, he caught the pass, scampered up the field, and had a nice 23 yard completion.

Best Defensive Play

Since the Hokies were scoreless on defense coming into this game, the best defensive play has to be Rashad Carmichael's pick 6 in the 2nd quarter. Boston College lined up in their Ace Formation, 3 wide receiver, 1 tight end set with Montel Harris as the lone running back in the backfield. The two wide receivers were set to the wide side of the field and the tight end was set to the short side of the field. The Hokies countered this with a zone blitz, bringing Cody Grimm from the strong side and dropping Jason Worilds into coverage on the short side. A more experienced QB would have read this and thrown it to the wide side where the Hokies more or less had man coverage on the two wide receivers with just Stephan Virgil and Kam Chancellor. Instead, Shinskie felt the blitz from Grimm and fired it to the right side of the field where Rashad Carmichael was able to jump the route and take it 20 yards to the house for the touchdown.

Player of the Game

There were a lot of players who deserved this award this week but I'm going to go with Nekos Brown. Brown had a tremendous game with 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 Tackle for loss, and 3 QB hurries. Seeing that Brown only played 24 snaps in this game, that's pretty impressive.

Unsung Hero of the Game

Sophomore Justin Myer finally looked like a Virginia Tech kicker on Saturday, booming 5 of his 9 kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks. There was a slight wind at his back on most of those kicks but not enough to move the ball more than a yard or two. If Myer can keep this up throughout the rest of this season, it will give the defense a great advantage seeing that it's hard to go 80 yards on this group.

Up Next: Georgia Tech

National Title talk has already begun in Blacksburg but with 6 games left, there's still way too much football to be played for anybody to even begin to think about the Rose Bowl out in Pasadena. The Hokies biggest challenge left will be this Saturday's trip to Atlanta, Georgia to take on the Yellow Jackets and their triple-option offense. The Hokies beat this team in Lane Stadium last year thanks to a few turnovers but this Yellow Jackets offense is much improved since then.

The key to this game will be can the Hokies defense shut down this offense and if they can't, can the Hokies offense keep pace with the big play machine of Georgia Tech. This is one game where the Hokies cannot get behind in, seeing that GT is excellent at managing the clock and giving the opposing team the fewest amount of opportunities to get back in the game.

The game is set to kickoff at 6 p.m. EST and can be seen nationally on ESPN2.

Virginia Tech vs Boston College Highlights

2009-10-12T09:15:00.001-04:00

A Look Towards the Future: DT Nick Acree

2009-10-09T15:35:00.003-04:00

Nick Acree
Defensive Tackle/Offensive Tackle
6’6”, 295, 5.01
Fork Union Military Academy – Fork Union, VA
Offers: Virginia Tech (committed), Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA, USC, and West Virginia.

Rankings

Rivals.com: 4 star prospect, 18th best defensive tackle, 8 best player in the state of Virginia, and 232nd nationally.
Scout.com: 4 star prospect, 27th best offensive tackle
ESPN.com: 3 star prospect, 75 rating, 78th best defensive tackle

ESPN.com Bio and Player Breakdown

Acree is an interesting kid. He draws your attention with his excellent size. This is a big and well built kid for his age. He has good size and for a kid who is around 300 hundred pounds he carries it well. There is no arguing that he looks the part.

As a defensive tackle he displays a good get-off. Would like to see him be more consistent in this area, but he does display the ability to get moving quickly. With his size he can get into a blocker and knock him back when he comes off the ball with good pad level. Overall, he needs to watch his pad level as he can tend to play tall. He is adequate with his hands and needs to work on bringing them and protecting himself and creating separation. He can allow blockers to get into him and with poor pad level he can be pushed off the ball despite his size.

He will flash the ability to attack half-a-man and get into the gap, but can tend to attack the whole man and at times will almost block himself. Plays with a good motor and will turn and run to the ball. Displays solid straight-line speed. Can seem a bit rigid in his overall body movement and has very adequate short-area change-of-direction skills. He is an adequate drag-down tackler. As a pass rusher he has the tools to bull rush and collapse the pocket. With his ability to get off the ball he can try and work a quick move like the swim, but needs to be careful to not get tall and expose himself and get washed.

Acree has the size, but you would like to see him be more dominant in his play. His ability to get-off the ball well could likely find him on defense initially in college as a nose tackle, but he needs to keep developing his game and get more from his raw tools. It certainly is a strong possibility that the best fit for Acree could be on offense at guard.

Justin’s Assessment

Nick Acree was the first commit of the 2010 recruiting class and he might even be the best prospect in this class. I got a chance to see him up close at the spring game back and April and trust me; he’s not somebody I would want to line up across from. Nick is a chiseled 295 pounds and is pretty lean and agile for his size. Depending on what position he plays in college, he could easily bulk up some more and play at about 310-320 pounds.

However, Acree and the Hokie fanbase did receive some bad news a few months ago when it was reported that Acree tore his ACL and was going to miss his entire senior season. This was a bit of a blow since Nick transferred from King Williams High School to FUMA to improve his game in order to play next fall.

I completely agree with the ESPN analysis above in that Acree needs to be more dominant at the point of attack but since he was playing out of position (pass rushing DE at King Williams High), those who see his film need to take it with a grain of salt. Acree was by far the most intimidating prospect that showed up last winter at the Rivals All-American Camp down in San Antonio and even beat Rivals100 member Robert Crisp (NC State commit) on multiple occasions.

For Hokie fans, get use to the name Nick Acree because you’ll be hearing it a lot for the next four years.

FV Sports Scouting Report

Monstrous prospect with special athleticism for his size. Someone who can change the opposition's game plan. Obviously stout against the run, Acree's height is a tremendous tool in clogging the opposition's passing lanes as well. Understands the nuances of his position unlike a lot of physical marvels. Unlike D.J. Fluker, who I advocated should move to offensive tackle after his sophomore year, Acree has the initial burst, balance, and aggressiveness to stay on the defensive line. Carries himself with a presence on and off the field. As expected, needs to work on consistency and especially pad level. Gets by with his size in high school, will need to develop his techniques in the future. Should be a tremendous force at the next two levels, a program changing talent.

Articles

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/notebookplus/wb/165684

VT weeks 1-4 Recap

2009-10-09T14:41:00.001-04:00

Gobbler Country's VT vs BC Game Guide

2009-10-06T15:13:00.000-04:00

Virginia Tech Hokies (4-1, 2-0) vs. Boston College Eagles (4-1, 2-1)
Time: Noon EDT
Date: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009
Place: Lane Stadium at Worsham Field, Blacksburg, Va.
TV: Raycom Sports

Check out what the guys over at Gobbler Country have to say about this Matchup between the Eagles and the Hokies.

Article Here

3 Questions From a Boston College Blog

2009-10-06T14:53:00.000-04:00

How will Shinskie react on the road
Shinskie's brief appearances on the road in Clemson were a disaster. It will be interesting to see how he plays this week in another hostile environment. He has made quantum leaps these past two weeks and has really stepped into his role nicely but can he continue his solid play in Lane Stadium?

Read More of this Article Here

Daily Discussion: An Improved Hokie Offense

2009-10-06T13:55:00.005-04:00

Just a short blog here as I'm going to let the stats (or facts) do most of the talking.

When a coach says stats don't matter, he's lying. Although stats can be deceiving and are misinterpreted most of the time, they still give you at least an outline of how the team is performing. But when you decide to glance at your favorite teams state page, you have to keep everything in context and remember that the Hokies are not the Houston Cougars.

Offensively, the Hokies have been rather inept over the past few seasons but after a rebuilding year (and what a rebuilding year it was) Tech has shown some actual signs of life on offense here in 2009. The Hokies rank 55th in total offense ahead of teams like Ohio State (69th), Miami (67th), Oregon (64th), Oregon State (61st), and Ole Miss (59th). That's almost 60 spots higher than this point last year, when the Hokies were a lowly 112th in total offense.

The main reason for this added success has been the development of a passing game. After five games last season, the Hokies had just one passing touchdown and that came against Furman who was an FCS opponent. So far this year, the Hokies have 6 passing touchdowns with all six being caught by a wide receiver. Something that didn't happen until the 4th to last game a year ago.

Here are the 2008 passing statistics:

Now compare that to the 2009 Statistics:

Throw in a Heisman contender at running back you have yourself a pretty decent offense. Something that has been largely absent at Virginia Tech since 2000.

With just seven games remaining in the regular season and potential for two more post season games, the Hokies have a chance to produce another 2,000 yard passer, another 1000 yard rusher, and the potential to have their first 1000 yard receiver in Jarrett Boykin, although that one may be the toughest to achieve.

Now, if that Foster guy could just right the ship with our defense, big things could be in store for this team come seasons end.

A few other notable rankings:

Tech is ranked 24th in rushing offense and 103rd in passing offense. The Hokies are ranked 36th nationally in scoring offense at 31.4 points per game.

Tyrod Taylor is ranked 27th in passing efficiency at 150.85. That's one spot behind Colt McCoy of Texas, 2 spots behind Jacory Harris of Miami, and 4 behind Russell Wilson who leads the ACC with 152.34 rating.

The Hokies are tied for 3rd in the nation with just 1 interception thrown all year, Missouri and Texas A&M are the only teams not to throw a pick this year.

Tech is 97th in first down offense with just over 17 first downs a game.

Tech is 70th in Time of Possession with 29:29 a game.

The Hokies are 66th in the nation with an 81% Redzone Efficiency rating. Tech has came away with points on 13 of their 16 trips into the redzone this year. 9 of those 13 scores have been touchdowns.

Virginia Tech is 62nd in the nation is 3rd down conversion percentage. The Hokies have converted on 40% of their third downs this season.

Ryan Williams is 8th in the country, averaging 115 yards rushing per game.

Virginia Tech vs Duke Highlights

2009-10-04T23:28:00.001-04:00

ESPN.com VT vs Duke Recap.

2009-10-03T18:27:00.003-04:00

This review is brought to you buy ESPN.

DURHAM, N.C. -- With No. 6 Virginia Tech not at its best, Tyrod Taylor needed to be. He certainly was.

Taylor threw for a career-high 327 yards with two long touchdown passes to help the sometimes-sloppy Hokies dodge a letdown and beat Duke 34-26 Saturday.

Taylor was 17 for 22 with TD tosses of 36 yards to Danny Coale and 28 yards to Jarrett Boykin, and Josh Oglesby had two late touchdown runs once the rushing game opened up for Virginia Tech (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

"I know we have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball," Taylor said. "It's just my job to get the ball to them."

Playing one week after dominating then-No. 9 Miami, the Hokies were nowhere near that crisp this time. But they were good enough to claim their ninth straight victory against Duke.

"I don't think that's the old Duke football team," Tech coach Frank Beamer said.

Thaddeus Lewis was 22 for 40 for 359 yards with two touchdown passes, including a 4-yarder to Austin Kelly with 25 seconds left. But Lewis said the pesky Blue Devils (2-3, 0-1) too often settled for field goals, with Will Snyderline kicking four, including a 43-yarder that pulled the Blue Devils to 27-19 with 7 minutes left.

"We needed to get seven points, and we didn't do that," Lewis said. "But three points is better than no points."

The Blue Devils, 17-point underdogs, kept this one tight throughout, but were denied their first win over a top-10 opponent in two decades. Before last year's 14-3 loss in Blacksburg, Duke hadn't come within 24 points of the Hokies since they joined the ACC in 2004.

"We got close enough in the fourth quarter to go beat a great team," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "Once you taste that, you like it. I wouldn't say we spit it out -- it wasn't a choke -- but we just didn't finish."

Indeed, Tech spent much of this one looking ripe for an upset after routing the Hurricanes 31-7 to vault back into the top 10. By halftime, the Hokies had matched their season highs with seven penalties for 55 yards, and they finished with 12 flags for 105 yards.

"Too many penalties and too many long plays," Beamer said. "We weren't as sharp as we would like, but I don't think it was lack of effort. Part of it was Duke, and part of it was us. ... Sometimes I think you've just got to win some games that's not real pretty on the road, and this is probably one of those."

Ryan Williams, the nation's No. 6 rusher, was held to 83 yards on the ground, 40 fewer than his average. But he had 41 yards and a pair of third-down conversions during the drive that ended when Oglesby's 12-yard touchdown run made it 27-16 with 9 1/2 minutes left. Oglesby added a 19-yard score 7 minutes later that made it 34-19.

For much of the way, Duke keyed on stopping the ground game, and Taylor took advantage.

"When we needed to run the football, and we did, and got points, that was critical to this ball game," Beamer said. "They were going to take the run away, so you've got to be able to throw the ball."

Taylor led the Hokies to 17 points in a 9-minute stretch of the first half, then made just enough plays down the stretch to preserve their early lead. He directed three straight scoring drives to help the Hokies rally from an early 7-0 deficit, countering Duke's first touchdown pass with his touchdown to Coale.

Then, one series after Matt Waldron's 40-yard field goal put Tech ahead to stay, Taylor put the Hokies up 17-7 with his scoring pass to Boykin -- who wrestled Duke's Leon Wright for the ball and came down with it near the sideline in the end zone.

Later, Taylor connected with Boykin for 64 yards on third-and-34 to keep alive a drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal by Waldron to put Tech up 20-13.

"He told me, 'Just get the ball down the field, and if the guy makes an interception, you tell your wide receiver to make the tackle,'" Taylor said. "Jarrett kept the play alive, he went down there and I found him down the field and he made a great catch."

Taylor went on to surpass his previous best of 287 yards set two years ago in his first college start against Ohio.

Duke's only lead came late in the first quarter when Lewis faked a handoff and hit wide-open Brandon King in stride down the left side for a 48-yard score. Snyderwine added field goals of 29, 25 and 47 yards for Duke.

A Look Towards The Future: Nick Dew

2009-10-01T19:34:00.002-04:00

Nick Dew
Safety
6'2", 200 lbs, 4.45
First Colonial High School - Virginia Beach, VA
Offers: Virginia Tech (committed), Arkansas, ECU, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Purdue, Syracuse, UVA, and West Virginia.

Rankings
Rivals.com: 3 star, 49th best defensive back, 18th best in-state
ESPN.com: 4 star, 49th best player in the nation, ESPN 150 member, 7th best Safety
Scout.com: 2 star, 131st best defensive back.

ESPN Bio and Analysis

Dew is the entire package and a major sleeper. He has a great blend of speed, quickness, size and athletic ability. A tall drink of water that has good overall size and is an intimidating player both sides of the ball. As a defensive player could line up at safety, outside linebacker or defensive end. A real threat coming off the edge as a pass rusher or blitzer. Times his get off the ball well and shows a real burst when coming on the blitz; runs by blockers or uses his hands and long arms to defeat pass protectors.

Uses hands to control the blockers pads and works the edge of the offensive man to win the one on one battle. Gives exceptional effort and will not be denied getting to the quarterback. Often deflects the pass with long arms while on the blitz or pass rush once the quarterback releases the ball. A rangy athlete that is a long strider and can cover a lot of territory within just a few strides. Shows a real burst getting to the football in order to make the play. Can change direction quickly and is always in control of his body; never off balance. Exceptional jumping ability and gets way into the air to break up passes on defense and to catch the ball as a wide receiver on offense.

As a receiver runs good routes and is a real threat due to speed and vertical ability. Few receivers are more dangerous running the fade or takeoff. Dew has tremendous athletic talent and has all the tools to standout at the next level. He can line up at several positions and with his speed and athleticism can be a major producer on special teams as a punt or field goal blocker.

Lemming's Notes

A fast rising FS who shows a smooth backpedal, he's quick in transition, and does a good job in pass defense. He also proves to be very reliable in run support. An explosive ball player with good anticipation and timing, he's able to break down in the open field and make plays. He's also known for his sure hands on defense. Grades–His GPA is over a 2.5. Benches 310 and has 37" vertical jump. Favorite Schools– Committed to Virginia Tech.

Hampton Road's Recruiting Summary

One recruiting service ranks him the No. 9 prospect in the state and the No. 29 safety in the country. Purdue likes him as a receiver because of his fearlessness to go up and get the ball. Virginia Tech sees him as a rover/linebacker, but most schools like him as a defensive back.

“He’s strong enough to play linebacker but also quick enough to cover someone out of the backfield,” Patriots coach Bill McTyre said. “He’s a unique individual.”

Others call him “the total package.” He has a great blend of speed, quickness, size and athletic ability. He’s a great open-field tackler and his long arms and jumping ability on the blitz make him a nightmare for quarterbacks. He can bench 275 pounds, has a 36-inch vertical and runs 4.4 in the 40.

He also might be playing with a chip on his shoulder after he received just one vote for All-Beach District. Instead of complaining, he worked harder.

“I just shook my head because I knew what he could do,” McTyre said. Now everyone else will find out what Dew can do. He has been chosen to play in the 2010 Under Armour All-American game Jan. 2 in Orlando.

Not surprisingly he’s getting a lot of interest. He has got many offers, including from Virginia Tech, Purdue, Virginia, Syracuse, West Virginia, Maryland, Louisville and Arkansas. He’s getting interest from Alabama, Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Justin's Assessment

I very rarely agree with anything ESPN says but in this case, their 4 star ranking of Nick Dew is by far the most accurate I've seen. It's easy to see that something about the Virginia Beach native has caught the eye of the Scouts and needless to say, he caught the eye of defensive coordinator Bud Foster and offensive line coach Curt Newsome, who was his lead recruiter.

Dew has the ability to play several different positions at Tech including Rover, Free Safety, and WHIP Linebacker. With Tech having 4 senior at those positions, It wouldn't surprise me to see Dew sneak his way into the two deep by this time next year. It's going to be awfully hard to keep a player of his ability off the field, even if it is best to let him redshirt and adjust to the college game.

Nick is fully qualified and will enroll in the second summer session next July.

Videos

You can view Nick Dew's Hampton Roads.com recruiting profile, which includes his highlight film, here.

Articles

Nick Dew Commits to Virginia Tech - HamptonRoads.com

A Look Towards The Future: Ricardo Young

2009-10-01T14:09:00.005-04:00

Ricardo Young
Duel-Threat Quarterback
6’1”, 175 lbs, 4.5
H.D. Woodson High School – Washington D.C.
Offers: Virginia Tech (committed), Cincy, UCONN, ECU, Louisville, Maryland, USF, Syracuse, UVA, and WVU

Rankings
Rivals.com: 3 star prospect, 5.5 rating overall
ESPN.com: 3 star prospect, 76 rating overall
Scout.com: 3 star prospect, 48th best QB

ESPN.com Bio and Analysis:

Young has a lot of traits to him that are strong as an undersized, athletic passer that should probably be in the spread working from the shotgun, but he is not. As a result though, he is a guy that is very comfortable dropping from center in the three and five step passing game and has a nice feel for timing.

He has just marginal height and a lean, muscular frame that is built like a wide receiver. He is a good enough athlete to move to another position if need be, but in the right offense should stay at QB. He is very similar to both Detchauz Wray and Malik Stokes in terms of size, ability level and methods. Young has adequate-to-good arm strength and shows very good zip in the short and intermediate ranges of the field. In fact, this is where he is most accurate and efficient and he displays the drop speed, feet and balance in the pocket to provide good timing and get the ball out.

Shows a live arm and quick, whip-like release. He can be a bit robotic and isn't as smooth in his overall delivery as Stokes, but his mechanics are very consistent and he is capable of getting rid of the ball in a hurry. Gets set and can plant and throw on the fifth step without re-setting on timing routes which is becoming rare at the high school level with kids that are always in the shotgun as opposed to under center. Shows very good touch on the deep ball and can lay it in over coverage to the outside shoulder when on time.

His arm has its limits vertically, but it is all about timing for him. He is very athletic and can evade the rush and make plays on the move when things break down. Throws very well on the run when outside of the pocket and can definitely keep a play alive with his feet. When you watch Young you do not see a physically imposing player with a rocket arm, but more of a Pat White-type passer. He is a good prospect, but we are not sure he is a possible great prospect in terms of size and physical tools. We feel the school he picks needs to have some spread elements to the offense to enhance his strengths and mask his weaknesses because we are not convinced he would be a true pocket passer at the next level against top level competition.

Lemming Notes:

The most athletic QB in the region, this guy can get the job done with his arm and his feet. It might be stretching to say he is 6-1 but it not stretching it to say he has the ability to take Virginia tech to an ACC title. On Film–I was impressed with his accuracy, his dominance in short to medium range passes, shows a quick release, and a much stronger arm than I was aware of. He can make all the throws including throwing the deep out with authority. He is a leader on the field, makes very good decisions, is cool under pressure, and can get the job done when it is most needed. Stats–He earned D.C. All-Area honors after throwing for 3,100 yds and 31 TDs. Grades–His GPA is perfect 4.0. He has a 30" VJ. Favorite Schools–Committed to VIRGINIA TECH.

Stats:

2008 season: Threw for 3,089 yards and 31 touchdowns and added 780 yards on the ground to go with 11 rushing TD’s

2009 season: Follow his senior season here: Washington Post - High School Sports

Justin’s Assessment:

There's a reason why I'm starting this "Look Towards the Future" series with Ricardo Young. In my mind, he's easily the Hokies most underrated and most under valued recruit. He has all the tools to be a success in the Hokies current offensive scheme and when you watch him on film, he even reminds me a bit of a high school version of Tyrod Taylor.

Obviously, Ricardo does have a few weaknesses right now. Arm strength is a bit of a concern but can be fixed, more on that later. Also, his max bench press is at 205 heading into his senior year and while that seems like a lot, that would put him close to last place if you compared that to our freshman testing numbers this July. The good news is that Young will enroll early here in a few months (January of 2010) and will get a jump on the rest of the class by participating in spring practice next April. This will really help as Young will more than likely redshirt next fall giving him a full year and a half in the weight room before he challenges JuJu and Logan Thomas in 2011 for the starting job.

If you ask anybody around H.D. Woodson, one of the more redeeming qualities Young possesses is his ability and knowledge of how to examine and break down film. Ricardo spends almost two hours a day in the film room, looking for that extra advantage against the opposing team. Some times its the little things, more so than the physical things, that make a player great.

Videos:

You can see a lot of videos of Ricardo Young in action here

Virginia Tech vs Miami Highlights

2009-09-30T23:13:00.001-04:00

Daily Discussion: Hokies National Title Hopes Loom Large

2009-09-28T22:15:00.005-04:00

1:11 was all that was left on the clock when Vick and the Virginia Tech offense took the field on a dreary day in Morgantown. In a game the Hokies should have easily won, the sensational freshman saw Tech's national title hopes dwindling as West Virginia was about to pull one of the biggest upsets in the history of their football program.

However, after a Vick scramble down the sideline and a Shayne Graham field goal, Tech survived and went on to play Florida State in the national championship game that January.

Flash forward 10 years.

1:26 was all that was left on the clock when Tyrod took the snap from center, pump faked, danced around in the pocket, and sent a prayer that was answered by sophomore Danny Coale who took the pass all the way to the two yard line, setting up a Tyrod

****

If the Hokies are able to make it to the National Championship game, the 2009 Tyrod Taylor chapter will replace the 1999 Michael Vick chapter as the great story ever written in Virginia Tech football.

Obviously, the heave to Danny Coale was a big play, but what made the drive in Morgantown so special is what happened afterward. Tyrod Taylor and this Virginia Tech team has the chance to accomplish something that has never been done before in school history and that's to win that elusive BCS crown that has for so long eluded this program.

Tech has been close in the past, climbing up to 3rd in 2007, being in the top 3 in 2003 before falling off, and coming a missed field goal away in 2004. That's a lot of heartbreak.

But this year feels different and even with a struggling offense, the Hokies have the talent and ability to make this 2009 season a year to remember. There's still a lot of work left to do, a lot of edges to smooth out, but nevertheless the Hokies will have the chance to be there in early December when the last regular season BCS poll comes out.

Even though the lunchpail is more of a defensive symbol for Bud Foster's boys, I think the team should embrace the message it portrays: "What's Important Now."

Win, Just win.

Miami Injury Report For Virginia Tech Game

2009-09-25T10:11:00.003-04:00

Questionable

WR Aldarius Johnson

Doubtful

RB Lee Chambers
OT Cory White

Out

DL Adewale Ojomo
DE Andrew Smith
DT Marcus Forston
TE Richard Gordon
DE Gavin Hardin
LB Shayon Green

Obviously the two biggest players on this list are Aldarius Johnson and Marcus Forston, who are two very talented underclassmen that could have given the Hokies some trouble in this game. Johnson may play but he will not be at 100%

The Hokies also have a few players listed on the injury report as Worilds, Virgil, Whitley, and Ryan Williams are all listed as probable.

Gobbler Country Breaks Down Win Over Nebraska

2009-09-21T16:02:00.002-04:00

A pretty good rundown of the current conditions in Blacksburg. Give it a read at the link below.

http://www.gobblercountry.com/2009/9/21/1045634/virginia-tech-16-nebraska-15#storyjump

Highlights of the Two Big Plays from Yesterday's Game

2009-09-20T12:16:00.000-04:00

Southern Pigskin's Thoughts on the NEB vs VT Game

2009-09-20T12:12:00.003-04:00

You can read this full article here Southern Pigskin - VT vs Nebraska

Sometimes it's good to go outside of the fan base to get a non-biased and pretty accurate review of what happened yesterday in Lane Stadium.

This guy is on the money, while most Hokie fans will stew over our inept offense, the national media will look at this game as a huge win for the Hokies and the ACC. The final score is the only thing that matters in college football today and remember nobody cared back in 2007 that we lost 14-10 to a 2nd ranked BC team we dominated for most of the game.

Week 3: ACC Schedule and Predictions

2009-09-16T15:14:00.002-04:00

Georgia Tech at Miami - Thursday, 7:45 pm EST

The Canes struggled to stop the option-offense last season as they lost 41-23 in Atlanta. However, they get Paul Johnson's squad at home this year and are looking to prove that they can win the Coastal Division. Georgia Tech has struggled to beat both of their opponents this year (Jacksonville State and Clemson) so I would expect a close game. However, with the Miami style of defense, I just think Georgia Tech will have too many big plays and should role the Canes by a touchdown or two.

Prediction: Georgia Tech - 38, Miami - 24

Duke at Kansas - Saturday, 12:00 pm EST

Todd Reesing had two scholarships coming out of high school, one from Duke and one from Kansas. Now in his senior season, Todd will get to show the Duke program what they missed out on four years ago. The Blue Devils are 1-1 heading into this road game with a win over Army and a loss to Richmond. Also, Duke has lost 36 straight games on the road against ranked opponents. So, logic says take Kansas here but I think Duke could put up a fight for the first half or so.

Prediction: Duke - 13, Kansas - 52

East Carolina at North Carolina - Saturday 12:00 pm EST

Sadly, this matchup could feature the two best teams in the state of North Caroina. UNC has struggled offensively in both of their first two games but thanks to a late safety against UCONN, they remain unbeaten so far in the 2009 season. ECU is in the same boat as they lost a hard fought game to West Virginia last week and almost lost to Appalachian State in week one. This is a big game for both teams as UNC would like to stay unbeaten heading into a showdown with the Yellow Jackets next weekend. ECU needs to build some confidence in the fact that they are capable of actually beating a division one opponent, something they did very well last season. This wil be a close football game but I'll go with the home team in this one.

Prediction: ECU - 20, UNC - 24

Boston College at Clemson - Saturday 12:00 pm EST

With Florida State falling to Miami in week one, the Atlantic division race is wide open. Clemson lost to Georgia Tech last week but with a win this weekend against the Eagles, they could be right back in the mix. Boston College suffered a tragic offseason but they have played very well in their first two games of the season, even though both were against lower tier opponents. Clemson is hard team to pick especially since they seem to disappear in big games, but they were my sleeper pick to win the Atlantic division this year and I'm sticking with them.

Prediction: Boston College - 13, Clemson - 17

Mid Tennessee State at Maryland - Saturday 3:30 pm EST

Revenge games are normally fun to watch and Maryland fans are hoping that remains true as Middle Tennessee State travels to College Park to take on the Terrapins. The Terps have been pretty bad so far this year, they got walloped by the Golden Bears in week one then won by a field goal in week two against JMU. This game could be a confidence builder for Maryland or it could be one that ruins the season for this team. However, I always like picking the team that has revenge on their minds, so I'll go with Maryland even though I'm not real confident on this one.

Prediction: MTSU - 20, UMD - 31

Virginia at Southern Miss - Saturday, 3:30 EST

If UVA is going to win a game this season, this may be one of their better opportunities even though they have to travel to Southern Miss. So. Miss is 2-0 with wins at home over Alcorn State and Central Florida. Neither one of those is a great win but they clearly have a better resume right now then UVA. The Cavs head into this game just looking for something positive to happen. Vic Hall is listed as questionable so with just Sewell and Verica behind center, this could be another long day for the Wahoo people.

Prediction - UVA - 10, USM - 38

Nebraska at Virginia Tech - Saturday, 3:30 EST

Another revenge game from last season as the Huskers head to Lane Stadium to take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Tech marched into Lincoln last year and walked away with a stunning victory, thanks in part to Dustin Keys who went 4 for 4 on field goals in that game. This years Nebraska team is a bit younger but every bit as talented as the team that the Hokies faced last season. However, Nebraska will need to find an answer to the Hokies fountain of youth at tailback. This should be the marquee game of the week in the ACC and if you're headed to Blacksburg, expect a close one.

Prediction: Nebraska - 23, Virginia Tech - 30

Gardner-Webb at NC State - Saturday, 6:00 pm EST

NC State struggled against an SEC defense in week one but exploded for 65 points in week two against Coach Beamer's old stomping grounds in Murray State. Against another FCS foe, expect the Wolfpack the light up the scoreboard again and walk away with another easy victory.

Prediction: G-Webb - 0, NC State - 63

Elon at Wake Forest - Saturday, 6:30 pm EST

Wake Forest has played two tough teams in the first two weeks of the season (Baylor and Stanford), but this week they'll finally get a bit of a break. Wake Forest has the better athletes and should be able to control this game fairly easily. With Wake's brand of football, I wouldn't be too surprised to see this one stay close for a while but the Demon Deacons should be able to ride off into the sunset in the 2nd half.

Prediction: Elon - 10, Wake Forest - 45

Florida State at BYU - Saturday 7:00 pm EST

What do you make of Florida State? They play stride for stride with Miami then lost on a last second play. Then in week two they almost lose to Jacksonville State. Something tells me that this weeks game may be a bit more about pride then actually winning the game. BYU is 2-0, coming off two impressive victories against Oklahoma and Tulane. I think FSU should be able to play with BYU in this one but I have a hard time picking the Noles here.

Prediction: Florida State - 17, BYU - 30

Game 3: Virginia Tech vs Nebraska Breakdown

2009-09-14T15:40:00.004-04:00

Sorry folks for not posting an analysis of last weekend's blowout but there wasn't much you could really take from that game. David Wilson and Ryan Williams dominated against average competition and our talent level won us that game.

However, this week the Hokies will have a challenge on their hands as the Nebraska Cornhuskers make their way to Lane Stadium. Nebraska is an improved team from what the Hokies saw last season but just like Alabama, they have a few new starters that could ultimately decide the fate of this game.

Nebraska hasn't really been tested yet this season as they beat Florida Atlantic 49-3 in week one and then dumped Arkansas State 38-9 this past weekend. Both teams are in the Sun Belt conference and neither team is predicted to be in the top three in that conference. So needless to say, this will be a measuring stick for Nebraska on what to expect this season.

I'm going to try out a new format for this game, hoping that this will lessen the workload for me but not damaging the quality content on this site. So first we will examine the teams offensive impact players.

Impact Players - Offense

Junior quarterback Zac Lee has taken over for the now graduated Joe Ganz. Lee has played very well so far in the Huskers first two games of this season, completing 75-percent of his passes for 553 yards and 6 touchdowns. He has completed passes to 11 different receivers as well. So far this season, Lee has shown pretty good poise in the pocket as well as the ability to run when need be. Obviously, the quarterbacks play is always crucial to whether or not a team performs well but for Lee, this will be his first ever game on the road in front of a raucous Lane Stadium crowd. If Lee does not perform well, neither will Nebraska.

Junior running back Roy Helu Jr. performed well in last years matchup but only received limited carries. He had 21 yards on just four carries including Nebraska's only rushing touchdown in last years matchup. This year, the Hokies defense will see a lot more of Helu Jr. seeing that he's taken about 90% of the snaps this season for the Huskers. They do have two other running backs that they can rely on but the majority of their carries have come in the 4th quarter of Nebraska's first two games.

Defensive Impact Players

Senior Ndamukong Suh is probably the Cornhuskers best defensive player. At 6'4", 300 lbs, Suh is an athletic enough lineman to make plays as both a run stopper and a pass rusher. Suh had 6 total tackles in last years matchup, which also includes 1 tackle for loss. In the Huskers first two games this season, Suh has attained 12 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Senior safety Larry Asante is a name Virginia Tech fans should be familiar with as the Hokies recruited him a few years ago. Larry is now the starting safety at Nebraska and currently leads the team in total tackles this season with 15. I'm not sold that Nebraska's defensive backs are much better than last years but if they want to control the Hokies passing attack, Asante is going to have to step up and make some plays for Nebraska.

Matchup To Watch

I think the biggest matchup to watch in this game is going to be the Hokies running backs vs the front seven of the Huskers defense. Obviously, Nebraska isn't going to have a top 10 defense this season but it will be a lot better D than what the Hokies saw against Marshall this past weekend. If Ryan Williams, JO, and David Wilson have success running the ball, it's going to be a long day for Nebraska. But, if they can contain them and keep Williams or Wilson from busting a big play then Nebraska's offense should be able to muster enough points to keep them close, if not leading heading into the 4th quarter.

Last Meeting

Of course, the last meeting between the two teams came last season when the Hokies traveled to Lincoln and walked away with a huge 35-30 win. The game really wasn't as close as the score indicated, Nebraska added a late touchdown with 50 seconds left to get within five after a masterful drive from Joe Ganz, but failed to recover the onside kick. Tech dominated the time of possession and won the turnover battle 2-1.

Prediction

I thought heading into last years game that Nebraska would probably beat us in their house but lose to us this year in Lane Stadium. Well, that wasn't the case as the Hokies won a huge matchup, showing the nation that Tech could travel on the road and knock off a big time opponent.

I think this years game will go along similar to last year. Virginia Tech should be able to score in this game and they should be able to develop a consist ground attack with Williams leading the way. If that happens and the Hokies don't turn the ball over, I would expect Tech to win by at least two touchdowns.

Nebraska will need to bring their A game in order to win and that's hard to do when you travel to a different time zone. Like I said earlier in this article, this game will come down to quarterback play, if Lee can handle the pressure from the crowd and the Virginia Tech defense, Nebraska will have a good chance to win. If not, Nebraska and their fans could have a long plane ride home.

Nebraska - 24
Virginia Tech - 37

Interesting Stats

Virginia Tech has the number 13th ranked rushing offense, Nebraska is ranked 37th respectively.

Nebraska has the 17th ranked passing offense, The Hokies are ranked 115th in the same category

Ryan Williams is 14th in the nation in rushing yards per game, Roy Helu Jr. is 22nd.

Nebraska has only 1 turnover this year, the Hokies have 3 so far.

Virginia Tech vs Marshall Game Highlights

2009-09-13T21:16:00.000-04:00

Rumor Central: Stephan Virgil Done For The Year?

2009-09-10T15:46:00.004-04:00

Stephan Virgil updated his facebook status yesterday saying "I hope this MRI goes well." Well, nothing has been made official but at this point, it does not look good for Virgil to play this weekend.

Cris Hill will start a field corner and Rashad Carmichael will switch over to boundary against the Herd.

Stephan tweaked his knee in the 4th quarter of the Alabama game and limped off of the field, never returning to game action after that.

Once something has been made official, I'll post it on here but as of now, I'm listing Virgil as Doubtful for this weekend's game and am hoping that it's nothing worse.

Marshall Thundering Herd Game Preview

2009-09-07T20:30:00.003-04:00

After a disappointing opening weekend for the Hokies, it’s time to pick up the pieces and get back on track against an average Marshall team.

The Thundering Herd come into this game 1-0 overall after beating Southern Illinois 31-28 last weekend. It’s hard to tell how good Marshall is from this game but seeing that the Salukis are an FCS level team, Marshall isn’t going to be anything close to what the Hokies saw against Alabama last weekend.

Tech should be able to rebound nicely this coming weekend but in today’s game, nothing is certain anymore (see NIU vs Iowa game last weekend).

Also, for all of the VT fans that will be at this game, wear white. The White Out was a success last year and it appears that it could become an annual event… all the money goes to a good cause so why not chip in a few bucks and help out Herma’s Readers.

Without further adieu, on to the Marshall breakdown

Quarterback

Junior Brian Anderson was one of the lone bright spots for the Herd offense this past weekend as he finished his first game 27 of 36 passing for over 300 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. Anderson has a strong arm and can sling it when his line gives him time too.

Behind Anderson on the depth chart are a slew of capable quarterbacks including sophomore Mark Cann and junior college transfers Press Taylor and Jacob Laudenslayer. Cann, who figures to be the primary backup, is a strong armed 6’5” quarterback that can make a lot of throws but is far less mobile than Anderson.

Running Back

The Herd had to play without junior running back Darius Marshall who was suspended for the opener due to drug charges back in the spring. Marshall should be available this weekend in Blacksburg so he could be a player to watch if he does indeed start this game.

Sophomore Terrell Edwards-Maye got the start and really struggled against the Salukis defense last weekend. Maye ran for just 28 yards on 15 carries. His backup, redshirt freshman Martin Ward, was a bit more effective running for 54 yards on just 14 carries. As you can tell, the running game clearly didn’t get going last week with Marshall on the sidelines.

Wide Receiver

In his first career game at Marshall, junior WR Chuck Walker had ten receptions for 119 yards. Walker, who is listed at 5’10” and 177 pounds, probably won’t have as big of a game against the Hokies defense but he looks to be Anderson’s favorite target.

Other than Walker, the Thundering Herd are pretty ordinary at wide receiver. Freshman Antavious Wilson and junior Wayne Bonner are possession wideouts that could have a really tough time getting open against the Hokies talented secondary. Other than those two, the Herd does have a few other wide receivers that will dress but nobody really stands out on the list as somebody that could break our defense.

Tight End

Cody Slate is s 6’4”, 229-pound senior that could be a first team All-Conference USA player by the end of the season. Slate caught nine passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns last weekend so stopping him is a must for the Hokies defense to completely shut down this Marshall team.

Offensive Line

Marshall allowed two sacks, 72 yards rushing, 316 yards passing, and eight tackles for loss last week against an FCS opponent. The Salukis were able to consistently get pressure on Brian Anderson and completely shutdown the Marshall rushing attack. The Hokies defensive line should have a lot of success in this aspect on Saturday, as Tech’s defensive lines could be one of the best and deepest in the ACC.

The line did return most of the players from last years group that only allowed 13 sacks all season but they allowed two last weekend and shows some signs of regression this year.

Offensive grade: C+

With Marshall at running back this could be a fairly good offense in conference-USA play but the Herd just doesn’t have the ponies to hang with the Hokies defense. I could see them scoring a touchdown or two but I think this could be a long day for Marshall’s offense.

Defensive Line

Senior DE Albert McClellan is one of the best linemen to come through Marshall University, as he should end up in the top five on the Herd’s career sacks list. McClellan needs just one and a half more sacks to advance to sixth on the all-time list.

However, other than McClellan, there’s not a whole lot on Marshall’s defensive front. The front seven of this defense really struggled against the Salukis giving up 105 rushing yards on just 28 attempts. The front four also only recorded two sacks in this game, one of which was McClellan’s 18th career sack.

Linebackers

Senior linebackers Brandon Burns and Mario Harvey are seasoned players but neither one is overly impressive. Burns finished with just five total tackles against Southern Illinois where as Harvey finished with just three and never seemed to be around the football much from what I saw on film.

This should be a pretty solid group by the end of the season but this group struggled a bit last weekend. By looking at the front seven, Tech’s three running backs should be able to have success against this group and get into the secondary fairly often as long as the Hokies offensive line holds up.

Defensive Backs

When your three of your top four leading tacklers for this season are defensive backs, you know your defense isn’t very good. Chris Dieker, the Salukis starting quarterback, shredded this secondary for 206 yards and converted 8 of their 14 3rd downs in the game as well.

So what’s the best cure for a horrible passing offense, well it could be this Marshall secondary. If the Hokies want to get back on track offensively and quiet the critics, they will need to have a big game against this secondary.

Defensive Grade: C-

While the front four is one of the best in Conference USA, the defense as a whole could struggle some against the Hokies speed and size on offense. I think the Hokies should be able to have a hundred yard rusher this weekend and would expect Tyrod to find some throwing lanes.

Final Prediction

The Hokies really need to come out this Saturday and make a statement win against this Marshall team. If Tyrod can throw for around 200 yards and if either Williams or Oglesby can get over the 100 yard mark, the critics could back off of the Hokies flailing offense for at least a week.

Marshall – 10
Virginia Tech – 34

Other Notables

Junior RB Darius Marshall, sophomore CB DeQuan Bembry and junior LB Corey Hart were all suspended for the season opener due to team rules violations this summer. Sophomore CB T.J. Drakeford was expected to start against Southern Illinois, but was on the sidelines in street clothes due to a lingering foot injury. Sophomore Ahmed Shakoor started in his place opposite junior D.J. Wingate.

Head Coach Mark Snyder is 16-31 in his tenure at Marshall as he in now in his 5th year as head coach.

The first meeting between these two occurred back in 1913 in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Hokies won that meeting 47-0. Virginia Tech is 7-2 all-time against the Herd and has not lost to Marshall since 1940. The two most recent meetings were in 2002 and 2005. Both of those meetings were in Blacksburg and the Hokies won both games by an average of 26.5 points (41-14, 47-21).

Jaymes Brooks, the Hokies starting right guard, missed the majority of the 4th quarter against Alabama due to cramps. He practiced on Monday and is good to go this Saturday.
Greg Boone injured himself early on in the Alabama game and is expected to play this Saturday as well.

Marshall is ranked 100th in the nation in net punting and 69th in kick return yardage defense.

Alabama Game Recap and Analysis

2009-09-06T10:33:00.004-04:00

After six months of hype, a week chalked full of advertising, and 60 minutes of football; the game ended just as most college football pundits believed it would.
The Hokies traveled to Atlanta to take on a determined Alabama team and came up short, losing 34-24 in front of over 75-thousand.

As much as this loss hurts, Hokie fans needs to realize that there are 11 games left in this season, and in all eleven Virginia Tech will be favored. The reason for this is because the Hokies played pretty well on Saturday, for an ACC team that is.

Tech was able to prove that the top ACC team could hang with the top SEC team, a feat that went by the wayside last year when Clemson was mauled in the same building by the same team.

The Hokies started off this game slow, allowing two long Alabama drives, both of which ended in field goals for the Tide. However, on the returning kickoff, Dyrell Roberts raced 97 yards down the left sideline to give the Hokies the lead in the first quarter.

After Leigh Tiffin and Matt Waldron set of field goals, Alabama regained the lead after a masterful Bama touchdown drive that was capped by a 19 yard Roy Upchurch touchdown run.

However, the Hokies weren’t done as a turnover sparked some life into the Hokies offense as Ryan Williams busted through the offensive line to score his first career touchdown, giving Tech a 17-16 advantage at the half.

The third quarter saw a lot of body shots thrown, but both teams failed to land a haymaker.

That all changed as the fourth quarter saw a large outburst of scoring and it was the Tide who regained the lead on a Mark Ingram six yard touchdown run. McElroy was able to find Collin Peek, the tight end, in the back of the endzone for the two point conversion.

The Hokies turned the ball over on the next possession setting up another Leigh Tiffin field goal, which gave Alabama a ten point lead with just over ten minutes left.

After another beautiful Dyrell Roberts return, Tech was able to punch it in thanks in part to a 32 yard run by impact freshman Ryan Williams. Tech closed to within three but the Alabama offense was rolling and the tired Virginia Tech defense couldn’t stop it. On the next drive the Tide rolled 74 yards on just five plays to put the game out of reach on a 19 yard pass and catch to Mark Ingram.

Tech had one last offensive possession but the Tide defense sacked Tyrod twice and never gave the junior signal caller a chance.

Alabama was able to walk away victorious for the second year in a row in Atlanta, Georgia.

Analysis:

While many Virginia Tech fans will look to point fingers, the loss could be attributed to numerous amounts of factors. Simply, the Hokies were just outmanned and outgunned on the field tonight. Alabama had a more talented team and it showed but the tenacity of this team allowed Tech to stay in it until the very end.

But looking at it at a micro-level, Tech made far too many mistakes to overtake a talented Alabama team. Ryan Williams muffed a punt that lead to a field goal, Davon Morgan fumbled a kickoff, a phantom holding call took away a first down, and a pass interference call gave Alabama a first down even though the ball was uncatchable.

If any of those things bounced the other way, this could have been a completely different outcome.

The Bad:

As much as I like Tyrod Taylor, I thought at times tonight he appeared to be a little timid in the pocket; worrying about the rush more than what’s happening downfield. I say this without having looked at any of the game film. It appears that early on, Tyrod was determined to stay in the pocket more than taking off in running, something he would have done more often last season. Nevertheless, I don’t think you can put any blame on Tyrod’s play tonight. He managed the game well and didn’t turn the ball over.

The offensive line’s blocking in the fourth quarter was atrocious. Dechristopher at right tackle and Greg Nosal at right guard seemed to be lost at times tonight, especially on the last drive where both of those guys were responsible for the two sacks that ended Virginia Tech’s chances tonight.

I am really surprised that Rolando McClain wasn’t ejected from tonight’s game. After two personal fouls including one for shoving an official, McClain was not ejected from the game. For the cheap shot on Render and bumping into a referee, he should have been tossed. In an ACC basketball game, he would have been ejected as soon as he touched an official, not sure why that’s so different in football.

I’m not one to blame anything on the refs as there are always phantom calls or no calls that hurt each team. But it seems like the holding calls were just thrown in randomly. Now, if you ask any offensive lineman or defensive lineman, there’s “holding” going on, on every play. But while Tech got flagged for holding on a few key plays, Alabama got away with two big holds that allowed a few of their drives to keep going. Tech did get a few calls that went their way in this game but if your going to call holding call it consistently on both teams.

Who would have thought our defense would have had such a poor showing last night. Obviously, it wasn’t all there faults but Alabama did have a very good 3rd down conversion percentage so the defense could have saved themselves 10 to 15 plays if they just could have stopped the Alabama offense on third down. But, you very rarely expect an opponent to be able to put up 500 yards of total offense on a Bud Foster defense.

My final point here is one that should register with every Virginia Tech fan. Another shot of launching this program into the arms of the elite falls short due to problems that are consistently on going for this program. Lack of an elite level QB, lack of a great offensive line, and lack of creative play calling along with consistent execution plagued this team again tonight. For some reason we just cannot get over that hump.

The Good:

While this loss does hurt, I did see a lot of good things out of this team tonight. Two years ago, we couldn’t have even hung with these guys. This year, we hung with them and were a big play away from winning it at the end.

Ryan Williams was our offense tonight and boy is that kid going to be special. When
Evans comes back next season (I’m hoping he gets a medical redshirt making him a sophomore again, might be a bit tricky since he’s already redshirted but there’s a chance he could get one), Tech will have by far the best group of running backs in the nation. The Hokies may struggle a bit this year but boy are these guys going to be fun to watch.

How about Dyrell Roberts getting his first ever kick return TD in his young career. He was a few steps from breaking a couple last season, so it was nice to see him do this against the best team we’ll see this year. Hopefully he can take a few more back to the house this year.

Take away the last two possessions but our offensive line played reasonably well last night. Notice the words “Terrence Cody” never came out of either Herbie’s or Musberger’s mouth last night. Gotta give credit to Sergio and Warren for taking care of the big fella all night long. DeChristopher and Nosal struggled at the end but a large part of that was miscommunication.

After Ryan fumbled the punt return, Jayron Hosley was the man catching the punts the rest of the night. The one return he did have was pretty impressive as he eluded about five defenders before getting brought down for only a small gain. The kid is only a true freshman but it appears he has the “it” factor we need as a punt returner.

Sadly, Brent Bowden could have possibly been our MVP last night. Bowden boomed a couple of punts and really looked a lot more poised than he did last season.

Lasting Impression:

While it would have been nice to win this game, the Hokies at least were able to hang with the best team in the SEC and even slug them in the mouth a few times. It’s clear that the Hokies are not on that SEC level yet but since Tech doesn’t play in the SEC, that spells trouble for the rest of the conference since, let’s be honest, the ACC is pretty pathetic.

The Hokies should be favored in their 11 remaining games and honestly; we should probably win all 11 of our remaining games.

If we can get through September 3-1, watch-out because the Hokies national championship hopes might not be done yet.

Daily Discussion #8: Pre-gaming

2009-09-04T20:19:00.002-04:00

One game will not make or break your season, especially when you play in one of the six BCS conferences. However, for the Hokies, this game could make or break the program.

Virginia Tech is a shocking 0-24 all time against top 5 opponents when they play away from Lane Stadium. Now of course, most of those games were played a while back when the Hokies were on the verge of becoming a perennial top 25 team.

So as badly as Tech fans want to believe their team is among the elite, they don’t have the evidence to back it up.

But, the good news for Hokie fans is that they can garner the respect and the attention of all the media outlets with a win over the fifth ranked Alabama Crimson Tide tomorrow night.

However, he last time the Hokies played a game of this magnitude, they left Baton Rouge with a 48-7 loss ringing in their ears. But, all of that pain and all of the negative media that has come along with that loss could all be erased with a win against the Tide tomorrow night.

So, you guys have heard my predictions and my analysis so in my mind it’s time to stop analyzing and start playing the game.

If Thursday’s game is any indication of how this game will go, it should be fairly low scoring with the turning point being a big play on either offense or defense. Both are places where the Hokies usually excel.

All you Tech fans in Atlanta, be loud, be proud and show those Alabama fans what being a VT fan is all about.

Have fun and let’s bring a big “W” back to Blacksburg on Sunday.

GO HOKIES!!!!

Virginit Tech vs Alabla Game Preview

2009-08-30T10:59:00.003-04:00

Virginia Tech and Alabama are set to kickoff next Saturday night in a game, which could have national title implications in week one of the season. While a loss would not eliminate either team from national title contention, it would deeply hamper their chances.

The Hokies head into this game after completing one of the most memorable seasons to date. With a two-quarterback system, and a lot of freshmen in the two deep, the Hokies were able to win their first ever BCS bowl game.

On the flip side, Alabama came up one win short of a trip to Miami, which would have gave them a shot at the title against Oklahoma. However, Alabama lost their last two games of the year after rolling through the first twelve games of the season undefeated.

As you can tell, there are reasons for both teams to be confident heading into this showdown.

But, according to the college football rulebook, only one team may walk away victorious next Saturday night.

In this article we will examine both sides of the football for both teams and try to reach a logical conclusion on who should win this game.

First off, we will examine both teams offense.

Quaterback:

At quarterback, the Hokies return junior Tyrod Taylor. Taylor has developed into a leader on offense so far this preseason now that he no longer has to share snaps with the departed Sean Glennon.

The challenger on Alabama will be redshirt junior Greg McElroy who will be starting his first ever college football game next Saturday night. McElroy isn’t a slouch either as he won the MVP award at the Manning Passing Academy this past summer.
Obviously, Taylor does have the experience factor in his favor and he does have the ability to make more happen with his legs.

McElroy has a very good arm but with almost no game film on the fourth year junior, it’s tough to determine what type of quarterback he’ll be next Saturday.
And the winner is: Virginia Tech

Although I think McElroy has a higher ceiling than Tyrod, it will be Tyrod’s experience in big games that will ultimately help Virginia Tech win this game on Saturday. If Tyrod has a bad game then the pendulum will swing back in Alabama’s favor but if Tyrod plays like he’s capable of, Tech will be hard to beat.

Running Back:

At running back, the Hokies will be without their budding star in Darren Evans after he tore his ACL earlier this preseason. However, Tech has plenty of weapons still available in the backfield with redshirt freshman Ryan Williams, sophomore Josh Oglesby, and true freshman David Wilson receiving most of the carries.

Alabama also has a stable of backs that they’ll use against Bud Foster’s defense. The Tide lost their backup running back for the season when Jeramie Griffin tore his ACL in practice just a few days after Evans went down for the Hokies. Mark Ingram will assume the starting role from a departed Glen Coffee while Roy Upchurch and highly touted newcomer Trent Richardson also receives some of the carries.

Mark Ingram may finish with the most rushing yards in this game but all eyes will be upon the Hokies Ryan Williams, who was a highly recruiting running back out of northern Virginia two years ago. Williams is a slash and dash type of runner and could be more effective against Alabama than Darren Evans who was more of a power runner.

And the winner is: Alabama

If the Hokies had Evans I would have picked them here with ease but without their workhorse, Alabama definitely has the better stable as of now. Ryan Williams will be heavily depended on to make some big plays and if he can’t deliver, the steady rushing attack of Bama could be the determining factor in this game.

Wide Receiver:

At wide receiver, the Hokies have amassed some quality depth and should be able to go five deep this year. Redshirt freshman Xavier Boyce, sophomore Danny Coale, and sophomore Dyrell Roberts will be the starting trio for this game. While the Hokies group isn’t as sexy as Alabama’s, they will be a vital part of the offense in this game since the Hokies won’t be able to live by the ground game this Saturday.

The Crimson Tide has one of the best wide receivers in the nation in sophomore Julio Jones but the rest of their receiving corps are on the same level as Virginia Tech’s. Junior Darius Hanks and senior Mike McCoy should provide some more options for McElroy if Jones is covered down field.

And the winner is: Alabama

While the Hokies have a lot of quality receivers and depth at the position, they lack a true deep threat like the Tide’s Julio Jones. Tech has been burned by some talented receivers in the past (Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald) so it appears likely that Jones will be able to get some catches on Saturday night.

Offensive Line:

The offensive line could be where this game is either won or lost. The Hokies have finally returned to their original form after taking about a six year detour. Tech has surprisingly won ten games each of the past three years with possibly the worst offensive lines in recent history.

This season should finally be the year where the line improves enough to take the pressure off the quarterback and allow the QB and the running backs to do their job. Also, the Hokies have the number one offensive guard in the nation in senior Sergio Render according to NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.

On the flipside, Alabama has to replace three starters from last year’s offensive line including All American Andre Smith. Alabama struggled against Utah last season without Smith on the end of the line and those question marks still loom heading into this 2009 season.

And the winner is: Virginia Tech

Finally, the Hokies should have one of the better lines in the ACC this year after the transformation from Stinespring to Newsome is nearing completion. Alabama still has some quality linemen but they’re starting five is a lot less proven than the Hokies starting unit and depth is a bit of a question mark for the Tide.

Defensive Line:

The Hokies have boasted a top ten defense each of the past five seasons, including two years of being number one in both total and scoring defense. This season looks to continue that success as Tech returns seven starters on defense from last year’s squad.

Alabama returns eight players from last years defense, which ranked ahead of the Hokies last season. The Tide’s front seven stays largely intact with nose tackle Terrance Cody returning for his final season in an Alabama uniform. Cody is a 365 pound monster that will test the Hokies more athletic offensive line.

Tech returns three of their four starters along the defensive line in defensive end Jason Worilds, and defensive tackles John Graves and Taco Thompson.

Alabama has to replace their best pass rusher in Bobby Greenwood, but returns everyone else along the line including Mount Cody at nose tackle.

The Winner is: Push

It’s hard to compare a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense since their almost polar opposites of each other. But in this case I like Alabama’s front three just as much as I do Tech’s front four. Stopping the run will be the primary focus of both teams in this game so with Cody in the middle of the Alabama line, I could see the Tide’s d-line out playing the Hokies to an extent.

Linebackers:

The Crimson Tide may possess the most talented and athletic linebackers in the nation in junior Rolando McClain, sophomore, Dont’a McClain, senior Eryk Aders, and senior Cory Reamer.

Tech’s linebackers may not be as glorious as Alabama’s but they should be able to get the job done next weekend. Senior Cody Grimm is a bit undersized but came close to leading the team in tackles and sacks last season, as a backup. Sophomores Jake Johnson and Barquell Rivers will be Tech’s two inside linebackers this season.

And the winner is: Alabama

The Tide will feature at least three future NFL’ers on this linebacker corps, including a future first rounder in Rolando McClain. The Tide depend on their linebackers making big hits and if they play well, it could be lights outs for the Hokies ground game on Saturday.

Defensive Backs:

While it appears that Alabama has the better front seven, the Hokies will clearly have the advantage in the defensive backs category. Tech returns seniors Kam Chancellor at free safety and Stephan Virgil at cornerback. Also, Tech has two talented players at rover in senior Dorian Porch and junior Davon Morgan.

The Tide is a bit more pedestrian at defensive back when compared to their front seven. Senior Javier Arenas is a bit on the small side at 5’9” but packs a punch and is very physical at the point of attack. Junior Kareem Jackson will start opposite of Arenas at cornerback alongside sophomore Robby Green at free safety and senior Justin Woodall at strong safety.

And the winner is: Virginia Tech

Tech has become DB-U over the past few seasons and this year will be no different as
the Hokies should put three of their four starters in the NFL come this time next season. Kam Chancellor and Stephan Virgil both appear to be first day selections while Porch will fall somewhere in the later rounds. Also the Hokies do have a bit more depth at these positions than Alabama, which also gives the Hokies as leg up here.

Special Teams:

Leigh Tiffin is “Money” around Tuscaloosa and is poised for a big senior year before heading off to the NFL. Tiffin has a strong leg and could give Alabama a bit of a leg up in this game.

The Hokies will have a new starter at kicker this season in senior Matt Waldron who finished 10-for-10 in all three of the Hokies preseason scrimmages.

And the winner is: Virginia Tech

Special teams is all about experience and it’s hard to go against the man who made great special teams famous. Beamer has rededicated himself to making his “Pride and Joy” teams some of the best they’ve ever had in Blacksburg. Even though I would give the edge to Alabama in the kicking aspect with Tiffin lining up for field goals, the Hokies should be better in every other aspect.

Overview:

If history is any indication of what’s about to take place Saturday night, the Hokies will probably lose this game. Tech is 1-24 all-time against top five foes and just 6-43 against top 10 teams. Their lone top five win came against the mighty Miami Hurricanes just a few years back.

Also the Crimson Tide is 5-0 against the Hokies all-time while they are ranked in the top 10. Of course, the last meeting between the two teams where Alabama was ranked in the top 10 was back in 1979.

Some stats also favor the Hokies as Tech beat Alabama back in 1998 38-7 in the Inaugural Music City Bowl, which was the last time these two teams faced. Also, Coach Beamer is 1-0 lifetime against Nick Saban when Saban’s LSU Tigers marched into Blacksburg and lost back in 2002 by a score of 26-8.
And the winner will be….

It’s hard to say who will win this game, but if history is any indication I’ll go with Alabama just because their defense is the only group I can say is better than Coach Foster’s in Blacksburg. Offensively I think the Hokies are ahead of Alabama but with Stinespring still as coordinator, you never really know what to expect from that group.

The only thing I’m certain of is that this will be an extremely hard fought and physical football game in which either team could emerge victorious.
And if you’re a betting man, why not take the Hokies If any program is due for a big win on a grand stage, it’s Virginia Tech.

Daily Discussion #7: Virginia Tech 2009-2010 Basketball Schedule Released

2009-08-25T17:02:00.006-04:00

Seth Greenberg stole some of the media away from Coach Beamer today as the Hokies released their official 2009-2010 basketball schedule.

You can view the schedule here.

Overall, this schedule lacks a big and worthy out of conference foe but the ACC portion of the schedule doesn't look too tough surprisingly.

Obviously, it's still way too early to tell which teams are going to be contenders but the Hokies only have to play Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, Wake Forest, and Maryland once this season. Duke, GT, Clemson, Wake, and Florida State were picked by by a few ACC Basketball blogs to finish in the top 8 of the conference this fall.

The Hokies will have to play UNC, Miami, UVA, NC State, and Boston College twice, however with UNC going through a transition year, UVA being in rebuilding mode with a new coach, Boston College going through a post Tyrese Rice transition, and with NC State losing a few talented seniors, the Hokies could be in position to possibly win 10 games in the ACC this winter.

The out of conference schedule feature a few tough away games with the Hokies traveling to Iowa for the Big 10/ACC showdown in December. Also, Tech will have to travel to Penn State and to Philadelphia to play in a tournament with Temple and Deleware. Seton Hall, VMI, and Georgia are the only big name out of conference home games this year.

This doesn't look like too tough of a schedule as it's on par with the ones over the past few seasons. If the Hokies can finish with 12 wins in their out of conference schedule, there's no way they can be denied from the tourny this year with 8 or 9 wins in the ACC.

However, at this point it's all speculation. Tech should have a good team this winter, but we may only be able to go as far as Malcolm Delaney can carry us.

Daily Discussion # 6: Are You Ready For What Still Comes?

2009-08-24T20:51:00.002-04:00

Hype.

Whether it's deserved or not, the college football world revolves around it.

After the Hokies brought home the Orange Bowl trophy and the ACC's first BCS bowl win since the Seminoles beat us back in 1999, the sun has been a little brighter, grass a little greener, and life has overall just felt better since last January.

For the Hokies, life is good right now. However, there's a little thing called hype that the boys in Chicago maroon and burnt orange are trying to live up to.

Virginia Tech was ranked 7th in the AP poll last week, once again tying a record for the highest preseason ranking in Tech history.

With that honor comes high expectations from fans who watched the toddling-Hokies grow up before their eyes last season; accomplishing the unexpected and unimaginable.

With an Orange Bowl win now in the books, the only way to go is up as Virginia Tech fans are already eying a mid January trip out to the left coast.

However, the biggest question that is probably going through your mind is whether or not this hype is justified.

Many ESPN and college football analysts have stated that they believe the Hokies are overrated and don't deserve a top 10 rankings, especially now that Evans has gone down.

But, with 15 starters returning and plenty of youth filling up the depth chart, the future of Virginia Tech football is bright. The Hokies found their heir-apparent at quarterback after Tyrod leaves, which means Tech may have 5 years where they could challenge for a National Championship.

Not bad for a team that doesn't bring in top level talent according to most recruiting services.

My message for Hokie fans is this, embrace the hype because there will be plenty of it over the next 5 years. We are heading into a special era in Virginia Tech football, one that could possibly change this program forever.

So embrace the hype, I know I will.

Around the ACC: A Look at Week 1 Games and Predictions

2009-08-17T11:22:00.008-04:00

With just 17 days left until the first game of the college football season, it's time to take a look at week one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's schedule.

South Carolina at NC State - Sept. 3rd

The Wolfpack come into this season with relatively high expectations for a team that finished 6-7 last season. Russell Wilson returning for his sophomore season is one reason why expectations are high for Tom O'Brien's group. Wilson had a resounding freshman campaign and fans are already starting to pencil him in for ACC POY in 2009. Russell finished last season with 17 touchdowns to just one interception.

However, the Pack will be tested right out of the gates as they face an improved Gamecock team. USC finished 7-6 last season but only returns 10 starters on both offense and defense. Not to fear Gamecock fans, thanks in large part to some good recruiting efforts, USC should be fully loaded and ready to play come September.

This game will be a defensive slugfest early on but I would expect a decent amount of scoring with Wilson behind center for NC State and Stephen Garcia at QB for the Gamecocks. If NC State can take care of the ball I think they'll win by 7 to 10 points in this one.

Prediction: NC State - 23, USC - 17

Northeastern at Boston College

After a run of two straight trips to the ACC Championship game, Boston College is in for a long year. Not only did they lose a few talented seniors, they also lost their starting quarterback Dominik Davis who decide to transfer after being suspended and their best defensive player Mark Herzlich due to a Ewing's Sarcoma (a rare cancer).

So needless to say, The Eagles are going to have a tough year in 2009. The good news for BC fans is that their schedule is manageable and 6 wins is not out of the question. Their out of conference games feature Kent State, Northeastern, Central Michigan and Notre Dame. BC could go 3-1 there then a 3-5 finish in the ACC would be good enough to get them to a bowl game in December.

This matchup between Northeastern and Boston College could be one to keep an eye on especially with only 12 returning starters returning from last years Eagles team. However, I would expect BC to find a way to win by at least a couple of scores and move on to a bigger game in week 2.

Prediction: Boston College - 31, Northeastern - 0

Middle Tennessee St. at Clemson

No hype, no expectations, no worries. I'm sure that's how Dabo Swinney likes it these days. After last years debacle against Alabama in the Chick-fil-a kickoff, Clemson never rebounded and finished 4-3 in their last 7 games under Coach Swinney.

This year, for Tigers fans there is reason to be excited as Clemson heads into this 2009 season with little expectations but a whole lot of promise. With two good quarterbacks, three good running backs, and an improved offensive line, Clemson should be able to hang with anybody in the country. The biggest question mark will be can Clemson finally get over the hump and challenge for an ACC title?

That question could be answered after the first week against Middle Tennessee State. MTSU will be a middle of the road Sun Belt team again this season so Clemson shouldn't struggle in this game. With the Tiger's speed I wouldn't be surprised to see this one end early, and I mean real early.

Prediction: Clemson - 51, MTSU - 13

Richmond at Duke

Sadly, this could end up being the game of the week in the ACC if something happens where the CFA kickoff turns out to be a blowout. Duke is coming off their best season in long time as they finished 4-8 last year. Richmond is coming off of a National Championship year in the FCS.

The Blue Devils should be on par or slightly improved this season although they did lose a little bit of fire power in their passing attack last season after Eron Riley graduated. However, with Thaddeus Lewis back for his senior year, anything is possible from this Duke team.

This game could come down to who has the best athletes and in this case, it could be a close game. Duke is close to taking that next step as a division one program but they're not quite there yet. If Richmond plays well, the Spiders could have a shot at upsetting the Blue Devils, but with Coach Cutcliffe in charge in Durham, I just don't see that happening.

Prediction: Duke - 27, Richmond - 24

Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech

Coach Paul Johnson's first year at Georgia Tech was a success as the Yellow Jackets were a win away from possibly their first ACC crown since the 1990's. This year, GT has a lot to look forward to as they return 16 starters on both offense and defense.

However, the one thing Paul Johnson will have to change in his offensive system is the way the Yellow Jackets throw the ball. Georgia Tech lost a couple games last season on their inconsistent passing attacking. If they can throw the ball consistently, this Yellow Jacket team may be the team to beat in the Coastal.

Jacksonville State heads into this matchup with not much of a chance to stop Georgia Tech's rushing attack. The FCS team may be able to move the ball some against the GT defense but defensively, they just won't have the horses to stop Paul Johnson's offense. Unless they turn it over a lot, expect this one to be a blowout.

Prediction: Georgia Tech - 44, JSU - 3

Maryland at California

Maryland was easily the most unpredictable team in the nation last year they finished 4-1 against top 25 yet lost to UVA and Middle Tennessee State. If Maryland can regain some consistency, they could have another successful season in College Park.

With only 10 starters returning, another 8 win season may be too much to ask for Ralph Friedgen's group. However, The turtles will be able to make a splash week one if they can head out to California and finish off a two year home-and-home sweep of the California Golden Bears.

This is a revenge game for Cal as they lost to Maryland 35-27 last year in College Park. With a suspect offensive line and an average at best defense, it's hard to declare that Maryland has much of a chance in this game. If Cal plays well, they'll walk away victorious in this one.

Prediction: Cal - 27, Maryland - 17

The Citadel vs North Carolina

The Tar Heels were arguably the most improved team in the ACC a year ago but now with Butch Davis facing some higher expectations in 2009, the question remains whether or not the team can live up to it's billing. North Carolina will have a stout defense in 2009 but the offense has plenty of question marks.

TJ Yates returns along with both Houston and Draughn in the backfield. The biggest question lies at wide receiver where UNC will have to replace Hakeem Nicks. Greg Little is the only wideout that returns with any past experience and even he was a running back at this time last year.

However, UNC has doesn't have an overly tough out of conference schedule even though the trip to UCONN could be a bit tricky on week two. The Citadel won't provide much of a challenge week one as UNC's defense alone could and probably will outscore them.

Prediction: UNC - 45, The Citadel - 0

William & Mary at UVA

Sadly, I'm going to have to put UVA on upset alert here. Now, I'm not doing this because I despise UVA, I'm doing this because I'm not really sure how UVA plans on scoring this fall. With Vic Hall taking over at quarterback, UVA could take a large step back in their passing attack, which was already average to begin with.

Even though I love Al Groh, I'm starting to think UVA fans are starting to see the light that he is clearly not going to be able to fix any of their problems. If UVA cannot win 7 games this year, I have a feeling Mike London may be the coach on the sidelines for UVA next year.

Talent-wise UVA should win this game and win by at least a few scores but with a new offense and a less than stellar defense, anything can happen. William and Mary isn't exactly cream of the crop in the FCS but they could put up a fight for at least half the game. I'm going to take UVA here but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Prediction: UVA - 24, W&M - 6

Baylor at Wake Forest

After winning the 2006 ACC Championship, Wake has slowly faded out of the ACC picture over the past few seasons. This year, Wake could fade even more out of relevance in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Now to be fair, Wake does have a good chance at winning 7 or 8 games this fall. However, they have a lot to replace. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. They return senior quarterback Riley Skinner but outside of him, Wake doesn't have a whole lot at the skill positions to work with. Defense will clearly be Wake's biggest weakness as they don't return much outside of the defensive line.

With their first three games being in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest will have a few games to mature before having to leave home. However, their first two games are against Baylor and Stanford, both teams that could beat Wake Forest this year. Baylor is a team on the rise and would have to be favored heading into this matchup. Coach Jim Grobe is one of the more respected in the ACC and his reputation would increase with another 8 win season but I just can't expect that out of this group.

Prediction: Baylor - 31, Wake Forest -20

Virginia Tech vs Alabama (Atlanta)

The game of the century, or that's at least what it feels like after the Hokies won the Orange Bowl last season. However, with Evans now out for the season, that blow could be enough to sideline the Hokies chances in this game.

Alabama returns 9 starters on defense including one of the nastiest front seven's in the nation. If the Hokies are going to win this game, they will have to play well defensively and score on any and every opportunity they get.

The Crimson Tide isn't exactly going to get off the ground running this year like they did last year, but they will be just as talented. If Alabama plays turnover free ball and plays well defensively, they will win this game. However, with a new quarterback and a few new offensive linemen, it's hard to say if that will happen or not. Either way, I just can't pick Virginia Tech here with their 1-32 all-time record against the Top 5.

Prediction: Alabama - 21, Virginia Tech - 17

4 Star Athlete Narrows List

2009-08-17T08:08:00.003-04:00

Zach Zwinak, a 4 star athlete out of Maryland, has narrowed his list down to two contenders; Penn State and Virginia Tech. Zwinak's father, B.J. Zwinak, played at Virginia Tech, which could give the Hokies the extra edge in this recruiting battle.

Zach is not expected to take any official visits and could decide any day from here on out.

"If you like tough and physical football players, you'll love this guy," said one of ESPN's recruiting insiders. "He is an old school, hard nosed linebacker and fullback. Loves to deliver on ball carriers as a middle backer; explodes on contact and drives his legs. Zwinak has some athletic limitations but his intensity, aggressiveness and toughness outweighs those limitations. He will be a true asset to the team that lands him."

Zach had a stellar junior year as he rushed for 1400 yards and 19 touchdowns while adding 53 tackles and 5 sacks on defense.

It appears that the Hokies are recruiting Zwinak as a running back/fullback hybrid to use as their between the tackles runner in the future. However, if the depth remains to great at running back, Zwinak could easily switch over to linebacker.

At 6'3", 245 pounds, Zwinak is going to be player to watch whether he ends up at Virginia Tech or Penn State.

Virginia Tech Commit Tears ACL

2009-08-15T20:57:00.002-04:00

ACL injuries are all to common in today's game but they come with the territory. Nick Acree, a four star defensive tackle as rated by Rivals.com, had his 2009 season come to an end before it even started. Acree tore his ACL and is expected to miss his entire senior season at Fork Union Military Academy.

Acree will undergo surgery soon and should be back to full speed before enrolling at Tech next July.

Get Well Soon Nick!

Virginia Tech Scrimmage Shows Team Improvement

2009-08-15T19:51:00.003-04:00

Under a cloudy sky in Blacksburg, Virginia, The Hokies were hard at work this afternoon, competing in an inter-squad scrimmage. For third-stringers, today was a big day in Blacksburg as the majority of the 2nd and 3rd string got to showcase their skills in front of 5,000 or so fans in Lane Stadium.

(Editors note: For a complete rundown of the scrimmage, please check out www.Beamerball.com)

Tyrod Taylor was sporting a bright, yellow non-contact jersey, which makes him very hard to miss out on the field. Taylor, however, struggled today as he threw 2 interceptions including his first pass of the scrimmage, which was picked off by freshman linebacker Lyndell Gibson.

Ryan Williams once again stole the show early on with an 82 yard punt return for a touchdown off the leg of senior punter Brent Bowden. Williams is by far the most elusive tailback I've seen in person since Kevin Jones.

The running back competition didn't really accomplish a whole lot today as Ogelsby only received a few carries because of a hamstring injury and David Wilson sat out the majority of the scrimmage with a non-serious shoulder injury.

Tony Gregory received a the majority of the carries and looked good for the most part. Gregory is a bit undersized at the tailback spot and seems to be a guy that could be a good slot receiver down the road.

Logan Thomas had a very good day as he went 6-14 with 128 yards and a touchdown. Thomas also tossed one pick but that came on the last play of the scrimmage while trying to throw a fade to the back of the endzone. After seeing both JuJu and Thomas in action today, I would have to think that Logan is probably our backup quarterback at this point.

JuJu was a bit more steady this time as he went 11-17 for 84 yards. That includes a string of 8 straight completions which is very encouraging from the young freshman. If Clayton can manage the game and just complete passes like he did today, I'm sure the coaching staff would feel a lot better about their backup quarterback situation.

Antone Exum, the true freshman, made a lot of noise today popping some receivers and getting in on a handful of tackles. Exum has a lot of promise and could develop into a helluva safety or cornerback here at Virginia Tech.

Senior Matt Waldron played well as he drilled 4 out of his 5 field goal attempts in the scrimmage. His one miss came on a 55 yarder that had enough distance but was pushed wide left. He connected on field goals from 42, 46, 28, and 25 yards out.

Freshman Cody Journell was the only other kicker to try a field goal and he missed a 33 yard attempt.

One day after having surgery, Darren Evans was on hand to support his teammates. Darren did receive some good news as he should be good to go for Spring Practice next year if everything goes smoothly. Get Well Soon Darren!

Switching gears to the defense as a whole, Coach Foster's group once again looks the part and is expected, in my mind, to be a top 5 defense once again this year. Other than depth at a few positions, this defense really doesn't have a weakspot that teams can exploit.

On the offensive side of the ball, I'm a little hesitant to buy into the kool-aid that has been passed around by other Virginia Tech blogging sites. Our offense looks like a more cohesive unit this year and with more experience on that side of the ball, we should be better. However, I don't think we'll be that much better than we were last year.

If we can get our total offense back into the top 70, that would be an excellent offensive year for this group, especially with the schedule we have this year. I do think we can make a big jump in 2010 and get back into the top 50 in total offense and maybe the top 30 in scoring offense since our schedule lightens up a bit.

But I digress... the simple truth is I am encouraged from what I saw today, although I'm not sold that this is a 14-0 National Championship team. If the balls bounce our way and we get a few lucky breaks this year, anything can happen but with 3 weeks of practice left before the first game, it's clear this team still has a lot of work to do.

Daily Discussion # 5: Would The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up

2009-08-15T09:31:00.005-04:00

Virginia Tech is holding an open scrimmage to the public today inside Lane at 3:15 pm. This scrimmage will go a long way to deciding who's going to play and who's not, especially among the 2nd and 3rd string guys.

So before this scrimmage starts, let's take a look at where some of the more heated position battles are occurring this preseason.

Field Corner

Field Corner is the name of the second cornerback in Bud Foster's Inverse 4-3 defense and is one of the more important parts of the defense. In Foster's scheme the safety and rover are responsible for covering the wide receivers on the intermediate routes and the corners drop deep to cover anything down field.

With Virgil moving to Boundry CB to replace Macho Harris, the Hokies are scrambling to find the next in-line at cornerback. It appears that Junior Rashad Carmichael is going to win the starting job but he is being pushed by sophomores Cris Hill and Eddie Whitley. Whitley is a Brandon Flowers clone and it appears that he will spend this season backing up Virgil at the Boundary CB position.

Defensive Tackle

The top three tackles are set: Graves, Thompson, and Taylor. However, the final spot in the two-deep is up for grabs between Sophomore Kwamaine Battle and Freshman Antoine Hopkins. Battle does have the extra year of experience on his side but Hopkins has a lot of promise and upside. This will be one battle (no pun intended) to keep an eye on.

Quarterback

Tyrod is the starter, nobody is questioning that but with Logan Thomas now listed as co-number two on the depth chart, the battle between him and JuJu should be fun to watch.

Logan has a good scrimmage last week where he went 5-15 for 150 yards and a touchdown. Now it'll be JuJu's turn to make a splash and impress the coaches. If you're going to the scrimmage today, I wouldn't expect to see too much of Tyrod (he'll be in a yellow no-contact jersey) but I would expect to see a lot of the two guys I just mentioned.

Rover

Davon Morgan started the first four games of last season but then went down with an ACL injury against Nebraska. Dorion Porch took over and hasn't relinquished the starting job since. Morgan is a steady player but Porch is the 5th year rising senior and will be tough to beat out. One scenario that could happen here is for Morgan to redshirt this fall and let Porch play almost every snap there this fall. That would give Morgan two more years to start and mature into a future NFL caliber player.

Running Back

Hard to leave this off the list with Evans out for the year. I would expect to see all three running backs receive a workload today as the coaches are looking to decide on a starter for the Alabama game within the next week or so. If nothing else, fans will have their first chance to see freshman sensation David Wilson in action this afternoon.

Alabama Loses Running Back To ACL Injury

2009-08-13T20:21:00.003-04:00

A few days after the Hokies lost Darren Evans to an ACL injury, their opponent in their regular season opener also suffered a bit of a blow at the running back position.

Sophomore Jeramie Griffin suffered an ACL injury that will effectively end his 2009 season before it even started.

Griffin was battling with Roy Upchruch, Mark Ingram, and Trent Richardson for a spot in the running back rotation this fall.

Huskers Lose Backup Quarterback for Season

2009-08-13T07:37:00.004-04:00

Kody Spano, a redshirt freshman quarterback for Nebraska, had to be helped off the field on Wednesday after tearing his ACL. Spano has had knee problems throughout this past year and it appears that his left knee finally gave way after opting to not have surgery on it this past spring.

Junior Zac Lee will be the starting quarterback this year, however behind him Nebraska doesn't have a whole lot of proven depth.

Latravis Washington is expected to be the primary backup now but at this time last year, Washington was practicing with the linebackers hoping to earn a spot in the two-deep there.

The Huskers do have three talented in-coming freshman quarterbacks that could make a splash but none are truly ready to jump on the field yet and be expected to manage a game.

Head Coach Bo Pelini issued this statement after yesterday's practice.

"We have Cody Green and Latravis (Washington) and Taylor Martinez," Pelini said. "We've brought Ron Kellogg Jr. back in too. We'll be ok, those guys are all coming along. We wish Kody was with us, but he's not. It's part of the deal. I'm not worried about us, I'm worried about him. He's worked his tail off to get back. I feel bad for him."

Daily Discussion # 4: Three's Still A Crowd

2009-08-12T16:50:00.001-04:00

“We Will Prevail, We Will Prevail, We Are Virginia Tech.”

Just as they were spoken two years ago on April 17th, a day after the tragedy, those words still echo in my mind whenever I’m down about something.

After losing our star running back, Darren Evans, to an all-so-common ACL tear; I really could feel the wind being sucked out of the Hokies sails.

Coming off of a media day where the players and coaches were both excited about this year possibly being “The Year,” the team received their first set back and it could be one that costs the Hokies a shot at the title.

However, if a major injury were to happen, having it happen at one of our deepest positions saves us from losing all hope. Sophomore Josh Oglesby will now inherit the leadership role from Evans, as Josh is the only back left that has any game experience whatsoever.

The Hokies do have two promising freshmen in Ryan Williams, who dazzled the crowd in Lane Stadium back on April 25th, and High School All-American David Wilson.

Also, the coaches did receive some positive news about Kenny Lewis, who should be able to play after week 8 of this season if need be. Lewis is coming off a 4th surgery on his Achilles (1 major one to repair the tendon, 3 to deal with infections) and barring any setbacks; Lewis could provide a small role on this team this fall.

Even with the loss of Evans, the Hokies should still be able to manage a solid ground game this season. Williams and Wilson are talented enough to become impact players as the season goes along just like Evans did last season.

The big question will be, how will these kids fair against an Alabama defense that will be light years quicker than anything either one of these guys have ever faced?

That will be a hard question to answer until around midnight eastern standard time on September 6th.

Until then, I have no doubts this team will prevail through any adversity they face. Just like Nikki Giovanni said, “We Will Prevail, We Will Previal, We Are Virginia Tech!”

Hokies Lose Darren Evans For Season

2009-08-11T20:48:00.006-04:00

Sometimes life isn't fair.

The Hokies starting running back Darren Evans was helped off the field for the 2nd time this preseason on Tuesday.

“He was running a route, planted, and just went down," said Billy Hite who had tears in his eyes after practice.

"The boy’s put so much into it. It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s not fair. It is part of the game. I told him that. We’re going to fight our ass off and he’s going to be back out there next year.”

Running Back's coach Billy Hite has every reason to take this injury hard as he lost his starting tail back last season, Kenny Lewis, to a blown Achilles.

"The last two years: For Kenny Lewis to go down the way he did, and now Darren Evans, it’s a damn shame. Two great kids. You can’t find two better kids. This game is crazy sometimes. I’ll never be able to figure it out.”

Darren will have surgery within the next few days to repair the muscle and spend the next 4 months rehabbing the knee.

With Evans now out, Sophomore Josh Oglesby, and Freshmen Ryan Williams and David Wilson will handle the ground attack for the Hokies this season.

(Thanks to Kyle Tucker of the VA Pilot for the Quotes)

Virginia Tech Articles

2009-08-10T18:12:00.002-04:00

Here are a few stories you might want to check out, written mostly by various newspapers throughout the state.

Hype Surrounds Tech's Wilson - Roanoke Times

Bama Awaits Hokies - Roanoke Times

Hokies say Johnson will settle in--if not settle down--as LB - Fredericksburg

New Menu for Cordarrow Thompson - Roanoke Times

No Mixed Signals at Quarterback for Hokies - Richmond Times Dispatch

Enjoy

Daily Discussion # 3: Quarterback Breakdown

2009-08-09T18:58:00.005-04:00

The quarterback position may be the most important piece of the puzzle when trying to make a run at the mythical BCS National Championship these days. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the last 10 BCS National Champions and who the leader was behind center.

2009 - Florida - Tim Tebow
2008 - LSU - Matt Flynn
2007 - Florida - Chris Leak/Tim Tebow
2006 - Texas - Vince Young
2005 - USC - Matt Lienart
2004 - LSU - Matt Mauck
2003 - Ohio State - Craig Krenzel
2002 - Miami - Ken Dorsey
2001 - Oklahoma - Nate Hybl
2000 - Florida State - Chris Wienke

After looking at this list, there are two distinctly different quarterbacks that win you national titles. There are the Matt Lienart's and Tim Tebow's that are your on the field generals, with strong arms, and an understanding of the game that is beyond top notch. Then you have your Craig Krenzel's and your Matt Mauck's, good college quarterbacks that don't make mistakes and do what it takes to get their team a "W".

The Hokies haven't possessed a true strong-armed quarterback since Jim Druckenmiller in 1995. However, the Hokies do continually recruit kids that would fit into that second tier of quarterbacks, which means Tech does have a chance to win a national championship with Tyrod, JuJu, Logan Thomas, or Marcus Davis at the helm.

So, let's take a look at each one of these players and discuss their roles and contribution to the Hokies this upcoming season.

Tyrod Taylor

After two years of battling Sean Glennon for playing time, Tyrod finally has the team all to himself. This should lead to Tyrod being the sole vocal leader on offense this fall, which in return should lead to a more coherent and focused offense. Taylor has two years left and with a large amount of talent coming back in 2010, Tyrod will have two good chances at winning a national title before leaving Tech with a degree.

JuJu Clayton

JuJu was brought in last season in August and benefited from having Sean Glennon and Tyrod as a teacher while he redshirted. This year, JuJu is expected to be Tyrod's backup, only seing the field if Tyrod is having to get helped off of it. Clayton has a bright future at quarterback but he still has some work he needs to do before he could be trusted to take of the reigns full time.

Logan Thomas

Logan Thomas is a once every 10 years kind of athlete. He is starting off the fall at quarterback but he will more than likely move to wide receiver or tight end following the Hokies first fall scrimmage on the 15th. Thomas is a very intelligent player and could easily succeed at any position on the field.

Marcus Davis

Davis is almost in the same mold as Logan Thomas only Marcus is a bit more of a true wide receiver. Davis played quarterback this past spring and showed some promise if he wanted to stay there full time but he would see the field a lot sooner at wide receiver. Davis has spent the first 2 practice sessions at wide receiver so it looks like the quarterback experiment is over with.

Will Cole

Will is going to be a player that nobody should sleep on. Cole will more than likely redshirt this season before battling JuJu, Ricardo Young, and possibly Mark Leal in the spring for a spot on the three deep at QB. If quarterback doesn't work out for Will he could easily bulk up some and move over to Rover where he could be a Vincent Fuller esque nickelback in Bud Fosters defense.

A Hokie In The Hall: Bruce Smith Inducted into Hall of Fame

2009-08-08T22:53:00.000-04:00

Bruce Smith was truly one of the All-Time Greats, not only at Virginia Tech but also in the NFL where he played 15 seasons with the Buffalo Bills and four seasons with the Washington Redskins.

Smith achieved the ultimate goal in 2003 as he passed Reggie White on the career sacks list, with his 199th sack in the 13th week of the 2003 season. Bruce went on to finish his career with 200 sacks, a record that still stands today.

So, today we honor Bruce Smith and salute him for being the first ever Hokie in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Congrats Mr. Smith!

Watch Bruce's Hall of Fame Induction Speech Here

New Kroger Roth Report

2009-08-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

"Confident Taylor ready to lead Hokies in 2009"

Click the link below to view the full article on Hokiesports

The Kroger Roth Report

Daily Discussion # 2: Matt Waldron or the Field?

2009-08-08T19:12:00.000-04:00

November 6th, 2009 will mark a 10 year anniversary of the "Miracle in Morgantown" as dubbed by the voice of the Hokies, Bill Roth. I was nine years old at the time, sitting on my brothers bed as we gazed at the TV, watching Shayne Graham lineup to kick the game winning field goal from 44 yards out. Ten seconds later I leaped up off the bed and celebrated as Tech remained undefeated and crushed one of our arch rivals in the must gut-wrenching and heart breaking ways possible.

Since that magical 1999 season, Tech has gone through four kickers, none of which have really stood out as much as Shayne Graham did during his four years on campus. Some would argue Brandon Pace, but Pace never possessed a strong enough leg to make it in the NFL.

After Pace, the Hokies have traded out senior kickers each year as Dunlevy consumed the kicking role in 2007 and Dustin Keys was Frank Beamer's chosen one this past season.

Heading into fall practice, it appears that Beamer is leaning towards starting another senior kicker in Matt Waldron, who transferred to Virginia Tech 3 years ago from Penn State.

Matt has come a long way from high school where he was selected as a High School All-American according to Tom Lemming and Scouts Inc. Matt traveled with the team at the end of last season and was placed as the no. 2 kicker on the depth chart. This past spring, Waldron separated himself from the pack after not missing a field goal in the spring game or in any of the spring scrimmages.

If Waldron plays well in next weekend's scrimmage then it could be Matt's spot to lose.

Even though Matt appears to be the front runner, the field boasts two qualified challengers in sophomore Justin Myer and freshman Cody Journell.

Myer was the Hokies kickoff man last season, handling 59 of the team's 67 kickoffs. Justin has a strong leg but has missed a few short field goals this past spring and even had a few blocked in the spring scrimmages. Coach Beamer described Myer as a "line-drive" style kicker meaning that his career may just consist of kickoffs, unless he can add some more height on his kicks.

Journell was a highly touted kicker out of Giles county, who has a career long of 54 yards (made a 54 yard field goal in his junior season). Cody is going to be a future starter here at Tech but with Myer covering the kickoffs and Waldron covering field goal duty, it may be wise to redshirt him this fall.

The good news for Hokie fans is that after this season, Tech no longer will have to jump from kicker to kicker each season as Journell is a future star in the making.

However, this season, I'd put my money on Waldron lining up for field goals, not the field.

Daily Discussion # 1: Logan Thomas at QB?

2009-08-07T22:40:00.000-04:00

After a few years of running my Myspace site I have decided to branch out a bit and open this blog here on Blogspot, mainly to get away from the flailing Myspace who needless to say, is nowhere near as safe now as it was a few years ago. Daily spam messages has forced me away from the site and you loved reading what I posted on there, well I welcome you over here for hopefully a little bit better coverage of the team I know and love.

I'm always looking for people to help out with this site so if you have a writing background and want to help out on this site, you can send me an email at Hokieguru1@yahoo.com.

Alright now that that's out of the way, let's turn out heads to one of the more surprising turn of events that have come from the first two days of preseason practice. Logan Thomas, who was recruited as an Athlete, is going to spend the first 10 days of Fall practice behind center, competing with JuJu Clayton for the backup quarterback spot.

Now the first thought I had was that maybe the coaches wanted to give JuJu somebody to compete with to help push him along in his development. This is probably the case but as I thought about it, It seems like the coaches are going to do their best to prepare for the inevitable, Tyrod getting hurt.

Let's play the if...then game for a second. If Tyrod would go down, say in the Alabama game, who would come in to replace him?

After his Spring Game performance, it seems as if the coaches would probably send JuJu in but put him on a short leash and limit the playbook to help simplify things for him. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see Boone take the majority of snaps from center either.

Of course, Marcus Davis and now Logan Thomas have a quarterback background as well so Tech has a plethora of options, just none of them have much in-game experience.

So back to my original question, should we be surprised that Logan Thomas is starting off his college career behind center. No. The 6'6" phenom needs to be on the field and with Tech being stacked at wide receiver and tight end, it makes sense to put him at the one position where depth is a little thin.

Coach Beamer did mention on Wednesday that Logan will be at Quarterback for the first 10 days, then the coaches would reassess and decide whether or not to move him back to his more natural position, wide receiver. So, this question could be nullified at the end of the 2nd week of practice but until then, this will be an interesting story to follow.

HokieNation Welcomes The Return of Blogman

2009-08-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

Kyle Tucker has returned to Blacksburg to cover the Hokies 24/7, 365 days a year for the foreseeable future. His blog can be found at the link below and if you are a Hokie fan in need of a daily football fix until Septemeber 5th, you might want to check it every night from now until then.

Kyle Tucker - Hampton Roads Online

Kenny Lewis, Perez-Means scheduled for surgery

2009-07-31T11:23:00.000-04:00

After tearing his Achilles last season, Kenny Lewis has gone through two surgeries to help heal the torn muscle but now Lewis will have to go through another surgery before the season starts. What exactly he's having surgery on wasn't discussed but it appears likely that Lewis's playing days at VT are over. Tough break for a kid who was a good RB for us last year and a helluva leader on the sidelines.

Also Duan Perez-Means, who is an incoming freshman messed up his shoulder in the Virginia All Star game a few weeks ago and has decided to have surgery before enrolling at Virginia Tech. Means will now greyshirt and enroll this coming January.

Hokies Keep on Rollin, Land big time Linebacker out of VA

2009-07-17T10:21:00.000-04:00

Brian Laiti, LB out of Robinson High School, has committed to Virginia Tech.

More coming soon.