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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.

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Sean Glennon (r-sr.) seemed to take the edge in the quarterback battle following Saturday’s annual Maroon vs. White spring game at Lane Stadium. Glennon led White to a 24-3 win over Tyrod Taylor’s Marron squad by completing 9 of 15 passes for 120 yards and tossing a pair of touchdown passes – one to Brandon Dillard on a triple pump fake, and the other to former QB Ike Whitaker, who laid out in the corner of the endzone to make a spectacular catch.

Sophomore Tyrod Taylor wasn’t as impressive and struggled at times to find wide open receivers down field. He completed 11 of 19 passes for just 67 yards and one interception that was returned 55-yards by Kam Chancellor. He did have a touchdown pass called back because of a holding penalty. He didn’t get much protection from his offensive line and was sacked three times, including an unblocked corner blitz by Macho Harris. Taylor showed some elusiveness, but otherwise his performance was uninspiring.

Frank Beamer said after the game that the quarterback battle would continue through the fall, but when asked about the possibility of redshirting Tyrod this season if Glennon wins the QB battle outright, Beamer did not rule it out.

The Lynchburg News & Advance quoted Beamer as saying, “We’ll evaluate it. That will continue. The good thing about us is we’ve got two really good quarterbacks.”

The backfield battle is no closer to being settled. Redshirt freshmen Darren Evans and Josh Oglesby both turned in respectable games. Evans scored the game’s first touchdown when he pounded in a 1-yard TD run to give White a 7-0 lead. Evans finished with nine carriers for 24 yards and two catches. Oglesby rushed for 40 yards on seven carriers. Dustin Pickle (r-sr.) was listed as the No. 1 RB, but only got one carry for four yards. While he didn’t get many snaps, his leadership and work ethic earned him the honor of being a co-captain for White.

Without seeing Kenny Lewis or Jahre Cheeseman in the spring game and knowing that they’ll both likely be back for the season opener, or in Lewis’ case, possibly the Furman game, it’s tough to get a sense of who will be the guy come the ECU game in Charlotte on Aug. 30. The good news is, Oglesby and Evans looked serviceable.

The special teams came up with a blocked punt by Prince Parker that was recovered by Nekos Brown; and Macho Harris returned a missed field goal for 36 yards, using a pretty spin move to gain an extra 10 yards or so. Macho clearly has emerged as the leader of the defensive unit.

The kicking game wasn’t anything to write home about, but it wasn’t horrible either. Kickers combined to make 2 of 3 field goal attempts with the lone miss coming on a 52-yard attempt in which the snap was bobbled by the holder. The result was the 36-yard return by Harris. Chris Hazley connected on a 42-yarder while Dustin Keys hit an 18-yarder.

Wrapping Up…

Macho Harris did not see any snaps on offense, which was a little disappointing. But, Dillard – a non-scholarship player – looked pretty good at receiver and certainly made his case to be among the top three receivers (and possibly earn a scholarship). Dillard caught a 25-yard TD pass and rushed for 49 yards on a reverse.

Tight end Greg Boone, who looks like an undersized offensive lineman, caught two passes for 27 yards and saw one snap as a fullback that saw him lose two yards. Boone was also named the offensive MVP for the spring practice session.

Read more recaps:

• Lynchburg News & Advance
• Roanoke Times
• Daily Press

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I like Virginia Tech’s chances against undefeated and No. 2 ranked Boston College Thursday night, but I am honestly surprised, given the Hokies struggles on offense, that they opened as a 3-point favorite. There can be only one explanation for the line … Lane Stadium.

If this game were at Boston College, the Eagles would most certainly be favored. The only reason, in my mind, that the Hokies aren’t the dog in this game is because of the fans that will pack Lane Stadium Thursday night and make it damn near impossible for the Eagles to hear anything.

And it is no secret that the Hokies, particularly their defense, feed off of the crowd’s energy. I have seen many games at Lane over the last 15 years, but I can’t recall a game in which the Hokies defense responded more to the Hokie faithful than the 1999 demolishing of Syracuse. The Orangemen (at the time) were talking trash during the week before the game about how they were going to be the team that made redshirt freshman Michael Vick look like the freshman he truly was. Uh huh.

Tech proceeded to place its hand on the forhead of the Orangemen and kept them a safe distance away whilst they swung furiously, yet fruitlessly at the Hokies. Tech merely hopped and skipped its way to a 62-0 beatdown in the “Terror Dome.” I remember the crecendo of the crowd’s excitement building with each big sack, each interception, each bone crusching hit. And watching the defense build on the crowd noise to make even bigger plays. It was one of the most amazing home games I have ever seen in terms of a team feeding off of the crowd’s energy.

I hope that the Tech defense – and the fans – come to play Thursday night. The offense is in flux, especially with the quarterback situation being what it is, so I have a feeling that the defense will determine the outcome of this game. If they show up and play like they’ve been playing since the LSU game, then BC is likely in for a long night. But if they struggle, I am not so optimistic about our odds.

I do take solice in the knowledge that Tech is 13-2 (if memory serves correctly) on Thursday night ESPN football games. Of course, in the same breath, both of the those losses came against Boston College; once in 1995 at home and again last season at BC.

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