HokieSports.com is reporting on its Web site that Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer has suspended QB turned WR Ike Whitaker indefinitely for violating team policies, which of course, were not made public. Whitaker, a redshirt junior from Germantown, Md., has played in three games this season, catching three passes for 14 yards against East Carolina.

Bad news for the Hokies. Sophomore starting rover Davon Morgan will miss the rest of the 2008 season after tearing the ACL in his right knee in Tech’s 35-30 win over Nebraska. Morgan was returning a kickoff with 10:40 left in the second quarter when he planted to make a cut and his knee buckled. Morgan went down immediately without contact and began clutching his right leg. Trainer Mike Goforth said after the game that Morgan will have surgery to repair the torn ACL. If all goes well, Morgan should be back to 100% by fall practice next season.

Good news. Victor “Macho” Harris is listed as “probable” for saturday’s game. Also, fullback Devin Perez is also back from a foot injury and listed as probably. For those that hadn’t heard, offensive right tackle Blake DeChristopher is out 2-4 weeks with a deep thigh bruise and a bruised kidney (ouch).

In Kyle Tucker’s blog today, he posted interview Q&As with Virginia Tech defensive coordinator. Check it out here. There is one Bud quote that I wanted to highlight and address:

Bud said, “We blow quick whistles when we’re scrimmaging against ourselves. There’s just a lot of things that can form bad habits. The only way you can do it is get out there and do it live. In college football, a lot of times early you see sloppy tackling – in most programs.“

On the surface I can understand that. It makes sense … but two things jump out at me. One, most of these guys have been playing football since they were 5 or 6 years old, so you’d think that tackling (more specifically wrapping up) being a fundamental football skill, that these players would have it down pat by now. Two, ECU didn’t seem to have any problems tackling in that game. Nor did any of the other teams that I watched during week one of the college football season. I’m not saying that Bud’s reasoning isn’t true, I’m just asking why it didn’t seem to happen the other teams I watched, especially ECU … they seemed to tackle just fine.

That’s all for now Hokie fans! Check back with us before the game for some last minute updates, news and notes.

From HokieSports.com:

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech Athletics Department announced Wednesday that Tech has agreed to push back its scheduled 2009 football opener against the University of Cincinnati to 2012 in order to accommodate a made-for-television game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.

Talks are currently underway with the University of Alabama. In the event an agreement cannot be reached with the Crimson Tide, Tech’s opponent will likely be another Southeastern Conference team.

“Both Coach (Frank) Beamer and I believe that participating in this made-for-TV encounter represents an excellent opportunity for our football program and a great event for our fans,” Tech Director of Athletics Jim Weaver said.

From HokieSports.com:

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech Athletics Ticket Office announced Tuesday that approximately 1,400 tickets for the Hokies’ season-opening football game against East Carolina University in Charlotte, N.C., will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, July 16 at 9 a.m.

The tickets for the Aug. 30 game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte became available after returning Virginia Tech student season ticket holders failed to purchase their entire allotment. The tickets cost $55 plus handling charges and can be purchased by calling the Virginia Tech Ticket Office (1-800-828-3244; 540-231-6731) or by logging on to www.hokietickets.com/.

East Carolina will serve as the home team, but a ticket for the game is included in each Virginia Tech season ticket packet.