2006-07 Hokie Hotline Notes for 12/27/06

The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)

When: Every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during basketball season.

Where: Click here for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you click the link). You can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.

• The players are really excited about being in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. It shows
  up in the practice sessions, and the players are really working hard.
• Georgia Tech has very good practice facilities, and that has really helped
  the Hokies get prepared.
• Brandon Gore will start at left guard. Ryan Shuman is healthy, but he’s not
  quite in playing shape because of all the time he missed due to his injury. He
  doesn’t quite have the stamina right now. He and Gore will rotate.
• The Hokies have been doing a lot of conditioning. It gets hot on the playing
  surface in the Georgia Dome, and it will be a fourth quarter game.
• The Georgia defensive line is very formidable. The Tech offensive line needs
  to be quick off the snap and they need to use their technique. The Hokies will
  also use the double team.
• The game on Saturday night will be very, very loud. The offense has been
  working on their communication all week in practice.
• The surface in the Georgia Dome is fast, and both teams will benefit from
  that. The Tech players seemed to like the surface when they practiced there on
  Monday.
• The offensive line is the toughest position to evaluate when recruiting. You
  have to gauge not only a player’s talents, but what blocking system he has
  played in. It seems like a lot of teams are having offensive line problems this
  year.
• Tech has commitments from five offensive linemen this season. The coaching
  staff is hopeful that this incoming group will develop and play very well
  together in the future.

• The Tech defense has shut out at least one team each year since 1995, and
  that’s something the defensive staff is very proud of. They pitched four
  shutouts in 2006.
• Ever since the defense was tweaked after the 2003 Insight Bowl, the defense
  has been playing really well. Foster is really proud of the players and how they
  have executed their assignments so well.
• The 2006 season has been a team effort, especially down the stretch. The
  defense has shut down teams, and the offense is making the most out of their
  scoring opportunities, and doing a good job of not turning the ball over.
• Foster wishes they could play the Georgia Tech game over again. But when they
  look back on this season down the road, it will be very special.
• Foster said he has the best corps of linebackers that he’s ever coached.
  With Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall, he has two of the best linebackers in the
  country. They could be the most highly-touted group of linebackers heading into
  2007.
• Despite the depth problem on Georgia’s offensive line, they did a great job
  of protecting the quarterback. They allowed just 15 sacks on the season.
• Mark Richt of Georgia is the former offensive coordinator at Florida State.
  The Georgia offense is similar to the old Florida State offenses under Richt, so
  Foster has been going back and looking at old Tech-FSU games. But Foster thinks
  the Hokies have better personnel now than they did in the past.
• The players have practiced very well. They were good in Blacksburg last week,
  and have been very good since they arrived in Atlanta. They have a lot to play
  for.

• The Chick-fil-A Bowl has done a great job hosting the players and coaches.
  There are a lot of great activities, and the Hokies are enjoying their time in
  Atlanta.
• Weaver thinks the defense is playing at a very high level this week during
  practice. They are looking very fast, like it’s the beginning of August.
• Virginia Tech sold 18,750 tickets to the Chick-fil-A Bowl. They think Tech
  fans could have bought as many as 5,000 tickets through other outlets. Weaver
  estimates that the Hokies will bring 22-23,000 fans to Atlanta.
• Gary Stokan and his staff have done a great job with the Chick-fil-A Bowl. It
  has really developed into a high-profile bowl game.
• The Chick-fil-A Bowl people think Saturday night’s game could be a new
  attendance record for the bowl. The Hokies already hold the record for largest
  crowd at FedExField and Virginia’s Scott Stadium, and they are going for the
  Georgia Dome now.
• This is a big game for the Hokies. They are going for 11 wins and a shot at a
  top 10 ranking for the third year in a row. This team came back at the end of
  the year, and it would be very fitting to finish it off with a win in Atlanta.

Wednesday was Day 760 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.