The
Roanoke Times has reported that Virginia Tech tailback Branden Ore has been
suspended for the first quarter of next week’s Orange Bowl for showing up late
to practice. Ore reportedly showed up 45 minutes late to last Friday’s practice,
and running backs coach Billy Hite recommended a one quarter suspension to Frank
Beamer.
This is the latest problem for Ore, who always seems to test the boundaries
of what he can and can’t do. He began practice in August at third on the depth
chart because he didn’t spend the offseason properly preparing himself for the
upcoming season. Earlier in his career, he was in and out of Billy Hite’s
doghouse.
Ore is Tech’s leading rusher on the season, running for 876 yards on 244
carries (3.6 ypc), scoring eight touchdowns in the process. He will be replaced
in the starting lineup by Kenny Lewis, Jr., who ran for 183 yards with four
touchdowns this year. Jahre Cheeseman, who was very impressive in limited action
in the regular season, could also see time. Cheeseman averaged 6.6 yards per
carry on 20 carries, scoring one touchdown.
Hokies Leave for Miami
The football team departed Blacksburg early this morning for the Roanoke
Airport. Their flight from Roanoke to Ft. Lauderdale left at 10am. The Hokies
arrived at Ft. Lauderdale at 12:15 and headed to the Westin Diplomat, the team
hotel.
The team will have a walk through today, and will begin regular game week
preparations on Saturday in preparation for Thursday night’s game.
Kansas has a different approach. The Jayhawks arrived in Miami on Thursday,
and they’ve already installed most of their game plan. They’ll spend the next
few days getting their timing down and fine tuning the game plan.
Kickoff for the Orange Bowl is set for 8:25pm on Thursday night. The game
will be televised by FOX.
TechSideline.com will run our game preview Monday, December 31st, and
“Keys to the Game/Matchups to Watch” on Tuesday, January 1st.
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