I was wading through the gazillion blogs and articles about the Hokies today and of course, I stopped on Kyle Tucker’s blog, because, well, Kyle gets paid to know stuff that the rest of us don’t. And here’s the mini-shocker of the day … highly recruiting 4-star freshman runningback Ryan Williams will likely redshirt this season if he hasn’t seen any action by the UNC game in two weeks.

For those that don’t recall, Williams decided to come here in part because the coaches told him that he’d play as a true freshman. But, according to Hite, Williams has come around to the realization that he’s not quite ready for the college game. This is really the best thing for Williams and the program. The Hokies are just loaded in the backfield this season with redshirt junior Kenny Lewis, Jr. and redshirt freshman Darren Evans having emerged as the top two RBs, followed by Josh Oglesby, another redshirt freshman, Dustin Pickle, a fifth-year senior and Jahre Cheeseman, a redshirt junior. That’s five tailbacks and we only lose one for next season, assuming the other four return. So the backfield will still be crowded in ‘09. Playing Williams this year would just be a waste of eligibility.

Here’s the quick Q&A with runningbacks coach Billy Hite regarding Williams:

ON WHAT THE CONVERSATIONS HAVE BEEN LIKE LATELY BETWEEN HIM AND FRESHMAN RYAN WILLIAMS: “He and I have had quite a few talks. And Ryan understands right now … I told him if I haven’t played him by the Carolina game, and it’s going to be his decision … right now he knows he’s not ready to play. But he’s made more and more improvement. Every pass route today, he knew exactly what he was supposed to do. The protections, he’s gotten so much better at that. But again, I told him I don’t want to waste him. I could be a selfish coach and play you and not worry about wasting you for 200 plays in a season. He understands that part of it. I told him, ‘Think about it tonight.’ He came back and talked to me the next day and said, ‘I know I’m not ready to play right now.’ What he would like to do is keep working at it and see if something doesn’t happen here in the next week. If something doesn’t happen, then I think he’s set on redshirting.”

ON WILLIAMS REALIZING IT’S HARDER TO PLAY THAN HE THOUGHT: “Yeah. And I told him, I would never want you to be in a situation where something embarrassing could happen to you as a young player. I don’t want you to lose your confidence by putting you in a situation where maybe we lose the game because of something you did wrong. He understands that, and he’s really been very good about it.”

ON THERE STILL BEING A CHANCE WILLIAMS PLAYS, THOUGH: “Still a chance. After Carolina, that’s it. I won’t go after that – unless something happened and there was an explosion in the backfield. If a grenade went off, then obviously he would have to take the shirt off.”

Read more good stuff like this over at Kyle Tucker’s blog.

Game Recap | Box Score

Box Score | Game Film

The good news? The Virginia Tech Hokies (1-1) won their game today against Furman University (1-1), 24-7. The bad news? They didn’t look very good doing it. More specifically, the offense didn’t look very good, even with Tyrod Taylor making his season debut. I know a win is a win, but I don’t think there are many Hokies fans feeling too good about next Saturday’s home game against Georgia Tech … not after today’s performance.

“The good thing is, we won,” said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer in his post-game press conference. “We know we’ve got to get better; there’s no question about that. I thought our football team hung in there. And they play hard. We just don’t always play as well as we need to.”

Breaking Down the Offense

First, let’s highlight the positives. Virginia Tech rushed for 261 yards, the most in a single game since the Hokies piled up 284 against Southern Mississippi on Oct. 21, 2006. Tyrod Taylor, minus his red shirt, rushed for 112 yards on 14 carries. That’s an 8 yard per carry average. Even if you take away his 50-yarder, he still averaged 4.76 yards per carry. And finally, Sean Glennon threw a touchdown pass while being flushed out of the pocket. He didn’t look too bad today, though he did throw an INT, but we’ll get to that later.

The first half was an abomination. Sean Glennon started the game, but played only four snaps before Tyrod replaced him. Glennon handed off three times, but also completed a 13-yard pass to Dyrell Roberts that gave the Hokies a first down on 3rd and 3. Taylor came in and led the Hokies down to the Furman 7 yard line, but just as they did with the ECU game, Beamer elected to go for it on 4th and 1 at the 3 yard line instead of kicking the field goal. And, just like the ECU game, Tech got stuff and actually lost two yards.

The other questionable call of the first half was on the Hokies’ final drive of the half. Tyrod started the drive at the Tech 21 yard line with 6:33 to play. Tech ran 11 plays (10 rushing, 1 passing) and were just wearing down the Paladins defense, driving down to the Furman 5 yard line. Then, facing 3rd and goal, Stinespring brings in Sean Glennon. What? You just churned out 74 yards, 63 of which came on the ground, and now they bring in Glennon and run a pass play on 3rd and goal. The pass … was incomplete and the Hokies elected to kick the field goal. Dustin Keys booted his first collegiate field goal to give Virginia Tech a 3-0 lead with :29 left in the first half. Poor play calling.

That’s two games in a row in which the Tech offense drove down inside the red zone early and came away with virtually nothing. At least this game they got 3 points, though it should have been 14-0. Outside of the aforementioned two drives, the offense looked pretty bad. In the first quarter, they had two of their three drives go three-and-out; and Glennon and Taylor both got sacked. The offensive line really struggled against the blitz packages thrown at them by Furman.

The second quarter was a little better, but not by much. Glennon threw a great pass to Ike Whitaker, who made an incredible catch along the sidelines for a 33-yard gain - but, the play was called back for an ineligible receiver downfield penalty. On the next drive, Glennon threw an interception, though it should have been caught, but instead popped up and was picked off by Furman. That one wasn’t on him, though he still got booed … repeatedly.

The second half was a little encouraging, but it took some help from the defense to give the offense some good field position. And if you were still standing in line at the concession stand in the third quarter, you missed most of the scoring.

Tech’s first possession of the second half began on their own 36. Facing a 3rd and 10, Tyrod busted loose for 50 yard gain down to the Furman 14. Tyrod was winded after the sprint that went from sideline to sideline, so he called for Glennon to replace him. Good thing we have another “starting” QB. Three plays later, 3rd and 6 at the Furman 10, Glennon got flushed out the pocket and rolled to his left before firing a sidearm pass in the endzone to Kenny Lewis, Jr. for the touchdown. The boos gave way to cheers and the Hokies led 10-0.

On Furman’s first play on the ensuing drive, Cody Grimm forced a fumble that was recovered by Kam Chancellor and the Hokies offense was back on the field. Lewis did the rest, picking up all 31 yards on the 3-play drive, including the 23-yard TD run to put the Hokies in front 17-0.

The defense gave the offense the ball back on the Paladins next drive when Stephan Virgil picked off a pass and returned it 18 yards to the Furman 9 yard line. Two plays later, Darren Evans scampered into the endzone to give the Hokies a 24-0 lead. That was it offensively.

Breaking Down the Defense

Again, let’s start with the positives. I can’t recall a single missed tackle today. Perhaps there was one or two, but compared to last week, it was negligible. The defense gave up just 34 rushing yards and forced two turnovers that led to offensive touchdowns. And, the first-team defense didn’t give up any points. The late Furman TD came against the second team.

The glaring issue facing the defense is the lack of penetration by the front four, which managed only one sack today. The Paladins sacked Tech QBs four times today. Furman’s QB was only “hurried” three times. That lack of pressure certainly has to be a concern for defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

A minor area of concern is the coverage in the secondary, which looked shaky today. The Paladins passed for 213 yards. In the third quarter, Furman QB Jordan Sorrells completed a 57 yard pass to Adam Mims down to the Hokies 4 yard line, but the play was called back for an ineligible receiver downfield.

Then, late in the third quarter, the Paladins put together a solid drive picking apart the Hokies secondary with complete passes of 22, 14 and 11 yards. The defense held Furman to a 32-yard field goal attempt that was blocked. After that, the first team defense came out.

So, while Foster is probably concerned about his D line’s lack of disruption and his secondary’s coverage; he’s going to be thrilled with Stephan Virgil, who had a key INT in the third quarter. Cody Grimm also forced a fumble that led to a Tech touchdown and DT John Graves blocked his second kick of the season. And on that note, let’s focus quickly on the special teams.

Breaking Down the Special Teams

For the second week in a row the Hokies blocked a kick and DT John Graves has both of them. The Hokies punted six times for a 43 yard per punt average, yet the Paladins only had one return for three yards. And on kickoffs, Tech held Furman to 14.7 yards per return. I didn’t see any glaring mistakes in this game, though I was surprised that the Hokies didn’t put more pressure on Furman’s punter. It seemed that for most of the the Paladins seven punts that the Hokies were more concerned with falling back and blocking for Victor Macho Harris, who had four punt returns for a total of 30 yards. Certainly not the explosive returns Tech fans were hoping for, but it’s hard to tell how much pain Macho’s foot is still giving him.

Looking Ahead to Georgia Tech

After watching the Georgia Tech vs. Boston College highlights, I’m very concerned about next Saturday’s game. Georgia Tech’s offense seems to be very dynamic and unpredictable. Even worse, they run a nice little slant over the middle with either a fullback or tight end and any Hokie fan who pays attention know that that play kills us every time. I’ll never forget what Heath Miller did to us in 2002 … 13 catches, almost all of them were over the middle. The Hokies’ defense might be able to keep the Yellow Jackets in check to a certain degree, but if the offense can’t put up more than 24 points against Furman, a I-AA school, it is definitely not looking good for next Saturday.

HokieSports.com Injury Report

Defensive end Jason Worilds suffered a left shoulder sprain early in the game and did not return. Linebacker Cam Martin suffered a left groin strain in the third quarter and did not return to the game. Both will be re-evaluated on Sunday.

Hokie Playback

The Virginia Tech vs. Furman game (Tech won 24-7) will be replayed on WDBJ7 in the Roanoke and New River Valleys at 11 a.m. tomorrow (9/7) and on Comcast SportsNet (DirecTV 629, Dish 424) at 1 p.m. We’ll have a recap and analysis of today’s game later tonight. For more times and channels, click here. Until then, enjoy this video of the Enter Sandman entrance, and these photos from today’s game.

Have you heard of Get Jacked? The ACC has partnered with Jacked, a Web site that provides real-time interactive stats during the game. Click on the “Get Jacked” link to learn more. It looks pretty cool!

It’s game day! The Hokies are playing a Division I-AA school, but it’s still technically game day! And yes, we are aware that it’s not called Division I-AA anymore, but we’re zealots here at VTHokieFans.com and we think the new name is complete joke. But that’s a column for another day. On to the preview!

Today is not so much about the opponent as it is about working out the kinks. Even as poorly as the Hokies played last week against the ECU Pirates, Tech should be able to sleepwalk through this game. But, they’re not going to. There are far too many kinks to work out and we almost feel a little bad for the Paladins because Beamer and the boys are really using this game a like a live scrimmage.

Usually when Tech plays this type of game against a smaller school, the Tech coaching staff is more concerned about keeping the starters healthy, but giving them just enough snaps to stay game-ready. Not today, at least not for the majority of the game.

Breaking Down the Offense

The red shirt is off and Tyrod Taylor will make his 2008 debut. He is not officially a sophomore and playing in his second season. That means we only have two more years with him, barring injury. As you’ve probably read on this site (and many others, I’m sure), don’t think for one second that Beamer didn’t give this decision a lot of thought and I’m sure it was one of the toughest he’s had to make in his career at Tech.

Tyrod’s family has said that he agreed to redshirt because he didn’t want to split playing time again this season. So if you are looking for Sean Glennon and Tyrod to split time equally today, I wouldn’t count on it - at least not in terms of quality snaps. Tyrod hasn’t played in a live game since the Orange Bowl when he was benched early for throwing a couple of INTs, so he’s going to get a ton of snaps today to help him develop timing and rhythm with the offense.

I’m not sure how the game plan will be any different from last week against ECU because during an interview with Kyle Tucker, Hokies’ offensive coodinator said that he wouldn’t change anything about his strategy last week. This concerns us. Greatly. Tucker asked him, “So there was nothing, going back looking at the ECU game, that you would’ve taken back or changed?” Stinespring responded, “No. Uh-uh.â€�

Still, look for Tyrod to make some big plays with his feet as I’m sure he’s going to take advantage of a much smaller and slower Paladins defense. I expect he’ll throw a few passes, too, but that part has us a little worried. We’ll be holding our collective breaths every time he puts it in the air.

As for Glennon, I think he’ll have a solid game. He’ll put up good numbers and look pretty sharp, but it’s against Furman, so I don’t think it will tell us much about his psyche after being benched. We’ll see. Let’s hope both guys play a solid game because that’ll give Georgia Tech something to think about next week. Shoot, I’m sure they remember what Glennon did to them last season … with THEIR jersey on his back!

Breaking Down the Defense

The news out of Tech’s practices this week was the Bud was working on tackling, more tackling, tackling, and, oh yeah, tackling. They were also working on angles and trying to slow those young guys down when making their angles of a attack. Last week, Foster credited youth and being too amped up about their first starts with a lot of the missed tackles. Apparently the guys were a little to geared up in their first start that they were taking the wrong angles to the tackle, thus missing them … a lot of them. This is one area that I think we’ll see considerable improvement on. Bud’s been down this road before and he know how to fix the problem. The question is, can he fix it in a week? More importantly, can he fix it before the Georgia Tech game and their crazy modified single wing type of offense? Ugh, don’t even get us started on THAT game preview! Tech will dominate on defense today, but I think they’ll give up a couple of big play and possibly even a field goal or late touchdown.

Breaking Down the Special Teams

Beamerball had mixed reviews from the ECU game. On the one hand, they blocked a PAT and returned it for a 2-point conversion, but they also missed a FG and a PAT. The kick return coverage was outstanding, limiting ECU to just 11.5 yards per kickoff return, including a fumbled kickoff that the Hokies recovered. I’d look for Tech to focus on protecting the kickers (though I’m not sure how many punts we’ll have today) and trying to get in a little closer than 44 yards for Dustin Keys’ first FG of the season. They need to give him a confidence boost, badly. The question is, if the offense is crushing Furman, there might not be many FG attempts today.

What does it all mean, Basil?

This will be a like the second-to-last NFL exhibition game of a preseason. You leave your starters in for a full half because you need to get them ready for the regular season, but you don’t want them to get hurt. You also want to get your backups some quality playing time so if they’re needed, they’ll at least have some game experience.

Tyrod will play and will probably make some mistakes, but that’s to be expected. I think he’s also going to “wow” us with some of this playmaking ability. Our only concern is the field conditions. It rained in Blacksburg last night and the weather service is calling for additional rain throughout the day, which could make it tough for Tyrod to put the moves on the defenders. We’ll just have to wait and see.

See you at the game and GO HOKIES!

I read an outstanding column today by Will Stewart, General Manager at Techsideline.com, about the irrational fan hatred that seems to have grown out of control with regards to Hokies’ QB Sean Glennon. I read this article and there isn’t a single point with which I disagree. Will hits it dead on. If you’re thinking about booing Glennon at Saturday’s game, then you should be ashamed of yourself.

Read Will’s column: To Err is Human, to Boo Repellent, to Cheer Divine

Those that know me, know that I’m not a fan of Glennon’s inconsistent performance on the field. I have never and would never boo him or any college athlete unless they did something completely heinous like intentionally attempt to injure another player.

QBs are most often the face of the offense for any team. Glennon has struggled to find consistency in his four years of playing at Virginia Tech, but he has never struggled to give every ounce of his will, preparation and heart to the game, to his team and to his coaches. During his five years at Tech, have you ever once heard of him being arrested? Investigated? Suspended for violating team rules? No. He is the consummate team player and a coach’s dream when it comes to preparing himself.

Even Glennon’s problems in the games aren’t entirely his fault. Sure, he has trouble reading defenses and coverages quickly enough which means he often misses the wide open receiver, but Virginia Tech’s offense has struggled in recent years no matter who has been at QB. Even with Bryan Randall and Marcus Vick at the helm, Tech’s offense never finished higher than 38th in the nation (2003). In fact, here’s how Tech’s offense has ranked since Bryan Stinespring took over in 2002:

2002 - 64th
2003 - 38th
2004 - 65th
2005 - 57th
2006 - 99th
2007 - 100th

Even with Tyrod playing in the majority of Tech’s games last season, the offense still ranked 100th in the nation … out of 119 teams? It’s not the QB per se, it’s the system that the Hokies run.

So don’t boo Glennon. He’s done nothing but be a model student athlete and represented our University proudly. Sure, he’s struggled on the field at times, but what player doesn’t. I don’t see anyone ripping Rashad Carmichael for all his blown coverages, or Kam Chancellor for his missed tackled on ECU’s touchdown. These guys make mistakes, too. All athletes make mistakes. Good grief, Brett Favre threw six INTs in a single game and he’s a future Hall of Fame QB.

I’ve said before the Glennon is a fifth-year senior making rookie mistakes and that’s true, but it doesn’t mean he deserves to get booed. If he was a problem player that has been in and out of trouble, I might be able to understand that contempt that so many fans seem to have for him. But he’s a good kid that takes this game and his performance very seriously. He takes the losses very personally and I think he has a difficult time shaking the negatives and it affects his game.

We all saw what he did against Georgia Tech last year. That’s the Glennon at his best. He was near perfect. Nearly 300 yards passing, two TDs in the air and one on the ground. He blitzed the Georgia Tech defense on THEIR field. One great game doesn’t make a QB, but everyone was singing his praises then. It’s shocking how fast the tide can turn.

Like Will says in his column; when you go to the game and Glennon takes the field for the Hokies, cheer him on and let him know that through it all we appreciate his heart and dedication and everything that he has given to the team. He deserves at least that much.

I went back and watched the only four plays that Blake DeChristopher was involved in against ECU before being injured. Blake didn’t touch anyone on the first play. Play No. 2, he blocks someone, but nothing violent. On the next two plays, he just falls down in front of his man, but the fourth play was the Glennon INT and during the return, Blake was trying to chase down the ECU player when he was blocked in the back. As he was getting blocked in the back, another ECU player tried to hit Blake from the front, but appears to have missed. Blake then lands on his side/back … and that’s the only point in his four plays that he could’ve possibly been injured. I’m not questioning Blake at all, I’m just trying to find out where the injury occurred.

VT.Fanfoc.us’s VTinOC wrote the following in regards to Blake’s injury and I think he makes a valid point:

“Haven’t heard anything solid on it, but to me, it definitely looks like the interception play with the hit from behind. If you keep pausing it as it happens you can see he is upended and slammed down on his right rib/shoulder/back area. At 299 lbs, I could imagine there is a lot of force when that body hits the ground. Seems to be the only thing to me that could have done it.

I’ve watched it probably 20 times, and nothing else could have possibly done it. I would assume though, from the video, that it can’t be too terrible of an injury. I would say the biggest reason it is keeping him out is the fact that hes such a big guy that when he goes down in his stance he is having trouble getting up into position or something similiar.”

Take a look for yourself…

For those that haven’t heard, we could be getting a lot of rainfall from Tropical Storm Hanna for Saturday’s game against the Furman University Paladins. There’s a chance we’ll get some thunderstorms, too. That being said, I am going to Dick’s Sporting Goods today to pick up some rain gear because if Hanna hits as predicted, we’re going to get completely soaked on Saturday - and when I say “we” I mean everyone who is brave enough to come out in the weather.

But, if you remember Hurricane Isabelle five years ago, more than 65,000 Virginia Tech fans defied wind gusts over 50 mph and torrential downpours to see the Hokies beat Texas A&M 35-19 on national TV.

I’d like to say I would expect the same turnout for this Saturday’s game against Furman, but I’m not sure that will happen because, well, it’s Furman, not Texas A&M. Either way, I plan on having a great time with whomever decides to brave the weather. Look for me on the field … in the yellow rain slicker.

If you don’t read TailgateFever.com, you are really missing out! Here are the first couple of paragraphs for their most recent post:

From TailgateFever.com:

How does one even begin to discuss the events of last Saturday? It would be insulting to the game to describe the garbage on display against East Carolina as football. Ridiculous, embarrassing, what a freaking joke all come to mind. The more time that goes by the more difficulty we having believing we lost. To a directional school. A good directional school, yes, but a directional school nonetheless.

In theory, our offensive plays could develop more slowly. In theory, opposing defenders won’t your fifth year senior starting quarterback telegraphing every play. In theory, our play calling isn’t really just writing plays on a slip of paper and pulling them out of a hat. In theory, we didn’t spend $700 flying to Charlotte to view the game live, in-person from rows 1A and 1 of Bank of America Stadium. In theory, our offensive coordinator learned from the Orange Bowl that abandoning the run when it is working is stupid. In theory, when a team presses on us we will throw downfield instead of flare passes to running backs for 10 yard losses. In theory, we are better than Duke.

In reality, this is going to be a long, long season.

Oh, but it gets better! Read the rest at TailgateFever.com!

One of our Twitter followers shared this with us last night and we wanted to pass it along. What follows is a short intro to the article followed by the link to the full article. Let us know what you think.

The Vocal Minority
By Aaron Pyre
SouthernPigskin.com mid-Atlantic Columnist

As everyone is aware, Virginia Tech took one on the chin from East Carolina this past weekend. ECU dominated the Hokies on both sides of the ball. At this point after years of fielding very good defenses and having eight new starters on the field for Bud Foster, that unit gets a pass. The focus for this column is the offense and its ineptness.

Frank Beamer is old school, he likes power running and then play action passing off the established power running game. When all else fails, have a mobile quarterback to cover up offensive gameplan or player execution failures. Whoever is the offensive coordinator for Virginia Tech takes his lead from Frank, be it the current coordinator Bryan Stinespring or the past coordinator Rickey Bustle. Bustle left after the 2001 season to become the head coach at Lousiana Lafayette. At the time fans were excited, hoping for a more opened up offense under Stinespring. Unfortunately that has not been the case. While there have been a few new wrinkles, general preparation, execution and play calling are worse. As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it.�

Here is the NCAA end of year total offense ranking for the Hokies under the Stinespring era:

2002 - 64th
2003 - 38th
2004 - 65th
2005 - 57th
2006 - 99th
2007 - 100th

Read the rest here!