Game day is here and with it comes a moment of truth for Frank Beamer and his beleaguered offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring. By now, knowledgeable Hokie football fans have heard about the infamous Jason from Arlington incident on Beamer’s weekly radio call-in show. Since that call, Beamer has gone on the offensive and has made it clear that he’s tired of people questioning him, his offense and his staff.

Today is a watershed game for Beamer and the Hokies. If they win, Beamer can effectively tell his crititcs (it’s strange to talking about Beamer’s critics) to shut up and it’ll give him another reason to justify his offensive game plan. If the loses, make no mistake that the heat will be turned up a notch on one of the most successful college coaches in the last 15 years. Beamer hasn’t felt this kind of heat since his last losing season when the Hokie swent 2-8-1 in 1992.

This game also have significance in the ACC Coastal Division race. The Hokies have struggled and not looked impressive on either side of the ball in it’s first two games, limping to a 1-1 record. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets are 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC after beating Boston College in Chesnut Hill. A Georgia Tech win puts them in the driver’s seat for the division lead; a Virginia Tech win gives the Hokies control and a renewed sense of confidence.

Breaking Down the Offense

It hasn’t looked good for Virginia Tech’s offense through its first two games. It managed just one touchdown against ECU and wasn’t able to get into the endzone until the third quarter against Division I-AA Furman last week at home. The problems with the offense begin and end with the offensive line, which has not played well this season. They gave up four sacks last week against a Furman defensive line that gave up about 40-50 pounds. Bryan Stinespring blamed the breakdowns on some unexpected blitzes Furman threw at them. Not many fans are buying that excuse.

The Hokies’ passing game has been non-existant, mainly because the QBs haven’t had much time in the pocket. Tyrod Taylor alone had about seven passing plays broken up because of a breakdown in pass protection. However, the reason Beamer took the redshirt off Taylor so quickly was evident last week as “T-Mobile” rushed for 112 yards, 50 of which came on a busted play.

According to offensive players, Stinespring challenged their manhood this past week of practice and if you listen to the players, they’re not happy with their performances and have re-dedicated themselves to “fix it.” The coaches are also responding to the fans unhappiness with the performance thusfar, working the players hard this past week and even Beamer has come down from his coaching tower to work side-by-side with Stinespring and the offense.

VT is going to have to play up to their potential today if they want to get any kind of offense going against what will likely be the best defensive front they’ll face all season. The good news is that the Ramblin’ Wreck aren’t really a blitzing team, so maybe that’ll give VT’s QBs more time to make some plays. If that is the case, we could see more of our young receivers and hopefully more of TE Greg Boone, who has been the focus of the offense in practice, but hasn’t seen many touches in games.

The Jackets’ defense is more of an assignment-based scheme, relying on patience and discipline from its players. This is a smart and very quick defense that will make the Hokies earn every yard it gets. Points will be tough to come by for Stinespring’s crew today, even moreso than in its first two games. The key for the Hokies will be to establish dominance on the line and get the power running game going. But based on the O-line’s performance in the first two weeks, it is hard to imagine that they’ll “fix things” in just one week of practice. I’m not saying that it can’t be done, but it would take a minor miracle.

Breaking Down the Defense

Just when we thought that the Hokies’ young defense was making strides and getting better (and they are), they have to take on Georgia Tech’s crazy, or as Beamer would probably call it, “out of whack” offense. Whether you want to call it a triple option or a modern/modified version of the Double Wing, regardless of what you call it, it is tough to defend and Bud Foster’s young lunch pail defense is going to have to play disciplined defense today if it wants even a shot at stopping down this complex offense.

Bud’s guys made huge improvements from the ECU game to the Furman game, so hopefully they’ll have made the same level of improvement coming into today’s game - they’ll need it. The biggest concern will likely be the defensive line’s inability to get pressure on opposing QBs. The defense has only one sack this season, Orion Martin last week. But, even if the D-line gets it going today, don’t look for a lot of sacks because of the type of offense that GT runs, a slashing, sideline-to-sideline offense.

The key for VT’s defense is to stick with your assigments, keep their angles and hold the Jackets to as many three and outs as possible. The longer the Hokies’ D stays on the field, the more fatigued they’ll get and that’s when GT will just run all over them. This might be the toughest offense VT’s defense will face all season.

Breaking Down the Special Teams

The Hokies have the edge here and after last week, they looked pretty solid. It might take a herculean effort from Beamerball to make the difference in this game today. Whether it is a kickoff/punt return for a score, or a block FG or punt attempt. Whatever it is, the Hokies will need all the help they can get today.

What does it all mean, Basil?

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit picked the “upset” in this game saying that Georgia Tech would beat the Hokies. This surprised me based on how the two teams have played so far this year. Any educated college football fan can look at each team’s two games and tell that the Wreck have the better team on both sides of the ball. They may not have the better athletes, but as a team, they have played better. GT and VT have played similar opponents; one weaker team and one tougher team. The difference is that GT won against its weaker opponent in convincing fashion and did just enough to beat it’s tougher opponent. The Hokies lost to its better opponent and managed just a field goal in the first half against its weaker opponent before scoring three TDs in the third quarter.

The bottom line … Georgia Tech has played better this year and unless the Hokies have made significant improvements in the last six days, the Yellow Jackets could easily hand the Hokies one of its worst home losses in recent memory. Obviously we’re hoping that VT’s offense has made the necessary adjustments and that the defense has matured in just six days, but we won’t be surprised if they don’t.

After a dazzling NFL debut, Eddie Royal has been nominated for the NFL’s Rookie of the Week award. In his first NFL game Monday night against the Oakland Raiders, Royal caught nine passes for 146 yards and had a 26-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. The former Hokies racked up 185 total yards and made former All Pro and Hokie cornerback DeAngelo Hall look silly in the process. Though Royal had an incredible debut, he’s up against some tough competition as there were several impressive rookie performances in week one of the 2008 season.

Watch the nominees in action.

For the first time during his streak of 15 straight winning seasons and bowl appearances at Virginia Tech, coach Frank Beamer seems to be feeling some heat in regards to fan and media criticism facing his team. Beamer first went on the defensive when a caller identified as “Jason from Arlington” got through on Beamer’s weekly radio show. Jason took Beamer to task about the offensive woes; here’s how the exchange went:

Jason from Arlington: “We talk about winning 10 games a year and winning ACC championships, but I mean, who are we kidding? We’re not going to achieve our goal of winning a national championship in football with the offense we’ve seen over the past seven years. I mean, [defensive coordinator]Bud [Foster] does a great job, but he can’t give us a top-10 defense every year.

“I hope we don’t miss, haven’t missed, our window of opportunity of winning a national championship. I’m just thinking like if we don’t make a change here, like an overhaul, I’m thinking VT football has hit the ceiling. You’ve brought us to a really good place but in order to get to the next level, we’re going to have to get an offense to go with that defense or ACC champs is the best we’re going to get.”

Frank Beamer: “I think you’re all wrong. You know if you go back, and I didn’t bring my stats here with me tonight. When you say seven years, some of those teams have been some of our better-scoring football teams. And then, I look at it putting a football team together and sometimes and we haven’t always talked about inexperience for seven years. That’s not been the case. Now if you can’t look at us and tell what’s going on right now, I’m not sure you know a lot of football.

“I’m gonna say this. We’re gonna get better. When we win two ACC championships and play for a third, and understand, I’ll be the first to tell you a couple of those offensive teams weren’t as talented as we wanted. I said last week, you know the talent on our offense hasn’t been as good as the talent on our defense. We got behind in a couple of areas, and that’s just a fact. But what we did, we put together two ACC championships and played for a third one, and I think you’re kind of getting it out of whack when you start talking about it because we want to win a national championship.

“But I can assure you. We’ve got good coaches, the players are going to get better and we’re going to continue to win, and I think you’re out of whack.”

Yikes. If you heard the tone of Beamer’s voice, you could tell he was very defensive and annoyed. That was on Monday. During today’s press conference, Beamer was even more riled up and this time, he brought stats to defend his beleaguered offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring.

Beamer pointed out that four of the Hokies’ top eight scoring seasons of all time, and four of their top eight seasons for scoring touchdowns have occurred in the past five seasons. What he failed to mention was how many of those touchdowns were defensive or special teams scores. He also failed to address that his offensive has been ranked 99th and 100th in the past two seasons, and is currently ranked 100th … out of 119 teams.

Beamer also invited Stinespring’s critics to schedule appointments with him to prove that they know more about the offensive than he or coach Stinespring. In today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, he was reported as saying, “If anybody can come in there and convince me that they know more than Bryan, I’m gonna listen to them. Until then, I’m gonna listen to Bryan. We’ll set aside an hour. I’m gonna tell them in about the first 10 minutes whether they’re smarter than Bryan or not, or smarter than our offensive staff.”

I wonder how many calls he’ll get? I’m sure the fans could think of a few offensive coordinators at other schools that they’d like to schedule a meeting with Beams on their behalf. But, the fun isn’t over yet! Next up, the players talked about the pressure they’re feeling and how they’ve noticed a change in the coaches’ attitudes.

On Kyle Tucker’s blog today, he posted quotes from interviews with players and it was clear that they have noticed that the coaches are getting fed up with the lack of performance and the criticism.

Orion Martin on Beamer blowing up a little bit in practice: “I thought he seemed a little mad. Gosh. He seemed a little pissed yesterday. At the team meeting, in practice. Our practice was a little harder yesterday. He seemed demanding, like, ‘We’re not going to take this crap anymore.’ You could just tell. He just kept saying, ‘We’re going to get it right. We’re going to get it right.’ ”

Said RB Kenny Lewis, Jr., about whether the fans should lay off: “I feel like we need that. We need somebody to get up in our face and tell us it’s time. If we don’t get that, then we might just sit back on our heels and it might just pass us by. He’s told us that. Coach Stinespring, he wanted us on a different level. I haven’t seen him snap too much or get too riled up, but yesterday he was at his breaking point. He’s had enough.”

The heat is on in Blacksburg and if the Hokies can’t get things going against the Yellow Jackets on Saturday, expect the burner to get turned up another notch. The Hokies, based on their play in the first two games, have a legitimate shot at losing their next three games and starting the season 1-4, which would mark their worst start since the 1988 season, Beamer’s second season as coach, when the team started 1-4 and eventually finished 3-8.

If you missed the Denver @ Oakland game last night/early this morning, Eddie Royal had one of the single greatest NFL debuts by any Hokie in history. He absolutely lit up the Oakland Raiders secondary last night in the second game of ESPN’s Monday Night Football double header. Royal was the go-to guy for Denver QB Jay Cutler. Royal accounted for 185 total yards including 9 receptions for 146 yards, 1 TD, nine rushing yards, 19 punt return yards and 11 kickoff return yards.

Royal should be a strong favorite for NFL Rookie of the Week. Through week one, he leads all NFL receivers with 146 yards, and set the Broncos record for most receptions by a rookie making his debut. Below is a video highlighting Eddie’s amazing NFL debut. Scroll down a little further for updates on all the Hokies currently in the NFL.

Link to official NFL.com Eddie Royal highlights from the game.

Here is a quick recap of former Hokies in the NFL and how they did in week one of the 2008 NFL season. There are 32 former Techsters currently in the NFL according to CBSSportsline.com’s Alumni Tracker. This list is updated to the best of my knowledge, but if I’ve missed something, e-mail me at gary@vthokiefans.com.

Xavier Adibi | Houston Texans | OLB
Week 1 @ Pittsburgh (L, 17-38)
Inactive

James Anderson | Carolina Panthers | LB
Week 1 @ San Diego (W, 26-24)
Inactive

Duane Brown | Houston Texans | OL
Week 1 @ Pittsburgh (L, 17-38)
Started at left offensive tackle (Note: Matt Schaub (Texans QB) was sacked 5 times)

David Clowney | New York Jets | WR
Week 1 vs. Miami (W, 20-14)
Inactive (listed as injured)

Andre Davis | Houston Texans | WR
Week 1 @ Pittsburgh (L, 17-38)
6 punt returns for 112 yds; 18.7 ypr; long of 28 yds

Anthony Davis | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | T
Week 1 @ New Orleans (L, 20-24)
Played, did not start

John Dunn | Detroit Lions | T
Week 1 @ Atlanta (L, 21-34)
PUP List (physically unable to perform)

Chris Ellis | Buffalo Bills | DE
Week 1 vs. Seattle (W, 34-10)
Listed as Active, but did not play

John Engelberger | Denver Broncos | DE
Week 1 @ Oakland (W, 41-14)
4 tackles (all solo)

Brandon Flowers | Kansas City Chiefs | CB
Week 1 @ New England (L, 10-17)
6 tackles (5 solo, 1 assist)

Brandon Frye | Houston Texans | T
Week 1 @ Pittsburgh (L, 17-38)
Inactive: Cut by the Texans on 9/2, added to practice squad on 9/4

Vincent Fuller | Tennessee Titans | DB
Week 1 vs. Jacksonville (W, 17-10)
4 tackles (2 solo, 2 assists)

Shayne Graham | Cincinnati Bengals | K
Week 1 @ Baltimore (L, 10-17)
1/1 FG - 43 yards; 1/1 PATs (4 points)

Eric Green | Arizona Cardinals | CB
Week 1 @ San Francisco (W, 23-13)
2 tackles (both solo)

Jake Grove | Oakland Raiders | C
Week 1 vs. Denver (L, 14-41)
Started, 1 fumble recovery

DeAngelo Hall | Oakland Raiders | CB
Week 1 vs. Denver (L, 14-41)
7 tackles (all solo)
2 personal fouls (both against Eddie Royal)

Vince Hall | St. Louis Rams | LB
Week 1 @ Philadelphia (L, 3-38)
Injured Reserve

Justin Hamilton | Washington Redskins | CB
Week 1 @ New York Giants (L, 7-16)
Played, did not start, no stats

Kevin Jones | Chicago Bears | RB
Week 1 @ Indianapolis (W, 29-13)
13 carries, 45 yds, 0 TDs, 0 fum, long of 12 yds

Jeff King | Carolina Panthers | TE
Week 1 @ San Diego (W, 26-24)
1 rec., 4 yds, 0 TDs, 0 fum

Matt Lehr | New Orleans Saints | G
Week 1 vs. Tampa Bay (W, 24-20)
Cut by the Bucs on 9/7

Jonathan Lewis | Jacksonville Jaguars | DT
Week 1 @ Tennessee (L, 10-17)
Injured Reserve

Will Montgomery | New York Jets | G
Week 1 vs. Miami (W, 20-14)
Listed as Active, but did not play

Josh Morgan | San Francisco 49ers | WR
Week 1 vs. Arizona (L, 13-23)
Played, but no stats

Jason Murphy | Tennessee Titans | G
Week 1 vs Jacksonville (W, 17-10)
Cut by Titans 8/31, signed to practice squad 9/3

Carlton Powell | Denver Broncos | DE
Week 1 @ Oakland (W, 41-14)
PUP List (physically unable to perform)

Pierson Prioleau | Jacksonville Jaguars | DB
Week 1 @ Tennessee (L, 10-17)
Played, but no stats

Aaron Rouse | Green Bay Packers | S
Week 1 vs. Minnesota (W, 24-19)
2 tackles (both solo)

Eddie Royal | Denver Broncos | WR
Week 1 @ Oakland (W, 41-14)
Receiving: 9 rec., 146 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: 2 attempts, 9 yards
Passing: 0/1
Returns: 2 punt returns, 19 yds; 1 kickoff return, 11 yds
Total Offense: 185 yards

Nick Sorensen | Cleveland Browns | DB
Week 1 vs. Dallas (L, 10-28)
1 tackle (assist)

Darryl Tapp | Seattle Seahawks | DE
Week 1 @ Buffalo (L, 10-34)
3 tackles (1 solo, 2 assist)

Ernest Wilford | Miami Dolphins | WR
Week 1 vs. New York Jets (L, 14-20)
Played, but no stats

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.