Hokie Hotline Notes for 8/25/08

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 see the show in person at Awful Arthur’s in Blacksburg.

• It’s been a long evaluation process of the quarterbacks. The staff has
  talked it over for the last couple of days, and they’ve made a decision. It
  will be announced Tuesday at 1pm.
• All of Virginia Tech’s wide receivers have combined for 15 career snaps in
  a college football game. Receiver is the big unknown heading into the ECU
  game.
• This year the Hokies have experience up front on the offensive line. They
  worked hard together in the offseason, and it’s paid dividends.
• Dyrell Roberts (true freshman) and Danny Coale (r-freshman) will start
  against ECU. Roberts is explosive, fast, and he’s got a lot of athletic
  talent. He doesn’t have any experience, but he’s going to get it on
  Saturday.
• Danny Coale is a competitor who understands the game. He’s a great route
  runner, and the staff has a lot of faith in him.
• Kenny Lewis will start at tailback, but there will be a committee in the
  backfield. We’ve got a chance to see three, four or five tailbacks during
  the course of the game.
• Lewis
  is a very consistent player. He has game experience, he has great work
  ethic, and he is a team leader. He’s run the ball well in scrimmages.
• Darren Evans started out slow, but he took it up a notch over the last
  couple of scrimmages. He is hard to tackle. He reminds the coaching staff of
  Cedric Humes. Josh Oglesby had a great offseason, and he’s running the ball
  very well. The staff plans to play Ryan Williams as well.
• With so many new receivers and backs, there will be miscommunication in
  the passing game this year. The Hokies have to keep their mistakes to a
  minimum. That will set you behind as an offense.
• Kenny Lewis is the best combination of speed, blocking and skill. At wide
  receiver, it’s Danny Coale.
• Greg Boone is an H-back type. He’s a very multi-dimensional player. Tech
  has never had a guy with his overall skillset. He played quarterback and
  free safety in high school, so he has good knowledge of the game.
• Tech is deep at tight end. Andre Smith and Chris Drager are coming along
  well. They’ve had the luxury of learning behind experienced players. Sam
  Wheeler is practicing, but he’s not 100%. They’d like to get him closer to
  100% before getting him involved in a game.
• Stinespring worked the scrimmages from the press box to get used to the
  new 40-second clock rule. On average, the offense has to be about four
  seconds quicker.
• It’s a good rule, but Stinespring is a bit concerned about long plays down
  the field. That puts pressure on the offensive linemen to get down the field
  quickly for the huddle.

• This is Slater’s second year covering Tech football. He lives in
  Blacksburg during football season to cover the team.
• More stories are broken online now. The competitiveness is the same
  between the papers, but it’s moved online.
• The Times-Dispatch tries to cover UVA and Tech evenly, but it’s difficult.
  UVA isn’t as open with regards to media access. It’s hard to write as much
  when you are a UVA beat writer.
• Bud Foster told Slater that he didn’t know if they were reloading yet, but
  to ask again after a few games. Depth at linebacker is an issue.
• East Carolina will be an interesting game because they are a strong team.
  They won’t be a pushover.

• Virginia Tech got 40,000 tickets to Saturday’s game. ECU got 32,000 or
  34,000, something like that. The tickets were assigned with point priority
  of the Hokie Club, just like at home games. Tech’s allotment is sold out,
  and Weaver thinks there will be 70,000 people at the game.
• In the lower bowl at Charlotte, there are 4,000 sideline seats. There just
  aren’t as many seats to go around, especially when you only get one side of
  the stadium. If you have a club seat in Lane Stadium, you have a club seat
  in Charlotte.
• The game in Atlanta next year will not be included in the season ticket
  package. Charlotte is much closer than Atlanta.
• As far as Weaver knows, Tech will play Alabama next season. Weaver and
  Beamer made the decision back in April to play the game, if invited. It’s a
  Saturday night game on national television, a great opportunity for
  exposure.
• Weaver doesn’t know when the game will be finalized, but Tech is committed
  to play the game.
• The lower part of Lot 5 is now paved. Weaver thinks it cost Tech between
  20 and 25 parking spaces. It was an improvement that was needed.
• The SEC just signed a TV contract with ESPN worth $2.2 billion over 15
  years. That’s an unbelievable number. That’s $11.5 million per year for each
  team in the SEC. It’s staggering. The SEC has tripled its TV revenue.
• The ACC will start their television committee meetings this fall, before
  the bidding occurs. Expansion was great for the ACC in TV revenue, but now
  they need to start playing better football.
• Fox is interested in getting into the college football regular season, and
  Weaver thinks the ACC should listen to what they have to say, if they want
  to be a part of ACC football.
• The new basketball facility is going up quickly. It is scheduled to be
  open for occupancy no later than next August 15. It will be exciting for the
  basketball programs. Coach Greenberg thinks it will help give Tech a “wow”
  factor in recruiting.
• There are no plans to do away with Cassell. It’s a great home court
  advantage.

• The staff has to do some serious coaching this year. 40% of the team that’s
  traveling to Charlotte has never played in a college football game.
• There are some very talented and hard working players in the program, so
  that makes it fun. Everyone is working well together, and that’s a good sign
  for chemistry.
• ECU brings back most of their starters, and they really played well down
  the stretch last season.
• Beamer will talk about the quarterbacks at the press conference on Tuesday
  at 1pm. It’s a tough decision, because both guys are good players and good
  kids. Everybody’s heart is in the right place.
• Darren Evans has really come on the last two scrimmages. He’s going to be
  really good at tailback. He looks like the guy they thought he was going to
  be. Josh Oglesby shows some real speed out there, and you notice Ryan
  Williams as well.
• All of the tailbacks will travel to Charlotte. Most of them will play
  special teams. They’ll just have to see how the carries shake out during the
  game.
• You are making decisions today for five weeks down the road. Ryan Williams
  has to continue to improve, and they think he has a chance. He makes people
  miss, and he can make exciting plays.
• This is a young group of receivers, but they are a very good looking group
  of receivers. They are very well built and they have ability. We’ll see
  progress quickly with these guys.
• The toughest thing for freshmen receivers is route running and reading
  coverages. Adjusting routes based on the coverage is difficult for freshmen.
• Ike Whitaker is really catching the ball well at receiver. He has very
  strong hands. He’s done well overall. He’s a tough player who can really
  help the team.
• Beamer takes last season in two segments. The first segment, the offense
  wasn’t very good. When they got Ed Wang back, the offense started to play
  very well, and they finished the season well.
• They didn’t play well in the bowl game. It was a successful season, and
  Beamer is proud of that team. They responded to tough losses. However, they
  aren’t happy about how they’re playing in bowl games.
• The offensive line is going to be more consistent. Football all starts up
  front. If you’re good there, you can be good everywhere. The offensive line
  stayed in Blacksburg all summer. That’s a great indication of their desire
  to be a good offensive line.
• Freshmen who could make an impact this year: the wide receivers, Jake
  Johnson, Quillie Odom, Bruce Taylor, Lorenzo Williams and Eddie Whitley.
• Even the freshmen who aren’t playing are impressive. Nick Becton and
  Michael Via are going to be very good linemen. Antoine Hopkins is going to
  be a really good defensive tackle.
• Eddie Whitley is similar to Brandon Flowers. He’s not the fastest guy, but
  he’s fast enough. He plays fast, and he plays smart.
• Ju-Ju Clayton got some reps in Monday’s scrimmage, and he threw the ball
  well. Beamer likes him.
• Beamer likes opening against a quality team. It helps motivate the team
  during the spring and over the summer. It makes you a better football team.
• Macho Harris has a shot to be a very high draft pick. Being a special
  teams standout will help. The coaching staff is talking about getting him
  10-15 plays per game on offense.
• They’d like to start that this Saturday, but he’s banged up right now. He
  didn’t practice on Monday, and he was in a boot on Sunday.
• Greg Boone lost some weight, and he’s playing great. He’s the most
  versatile player Tech has ever recruited. He had a great, athletic run in
  the last scrimmage.
• Purnell Sturdivant is about to have a great year. He’s fast, he’s strong,
  he’s active, and he’s prepared well. He was never complacent playing behind
  Xavier Adibi.
• Cam Martin is playing very fast. He’s had a great summer. He looks a lot
  bigger and stronger, he just needs to stay healthy.
• Beamer said Tech must attack East Carolina to be successful. Being
  conservative won’t beat them. They are so good up front defensively. Their
  offense is very good as well, and you can’t wait for them to make the first
  hit. It won’t be a conservative gameplan for Tech.
• You’ve got to establish the running game, and then work play action pass
  off a successful running game. That will be very important for Tech’s
  offense. Good football teams are able to run the football, and then pass off
  the run. It’s tough to be successful offensively if you aren’t balanced.
• Cordarrow Thompson has lost a lot of weight, and now he looks like a
  football player. He’s got quickness, and he can run people down. He couldn’t
  do that last year. Beamer is very proud of his sacrifice.
• Kam Chancellor can cover a lot of ground at free safety. He looks the
  part. He really wants to be good.

Monday was Day 1,367 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the
Commonwealth Cup.