Jim Weaver
Thursday night games have been great for Virginia Tech throughout the years. They have played 26 Thursday night games, which is most of any team.
The athletic department made a deal at one point with the University that they would play one Thursday night home game per year. Thursday night games can mess up some things academically, but they were fine with one game.
Weaver anticipates Tech having a home Thursday night game next year. In fact, he’s already had conversations with the appropriate people.
Weaver is very happy about how the field held up during Saturday’s rainy game.
Weaver is very pleased with how Logan Thomas performed down the stretch of the last two games. He did a great job in that part of those two ball games.
Weaver is all for having a night game this year, but the times and TV are handled by the networks.
Lester Karlin
During the course of the game, Karlin is always watching for equipment malfunctions. But there’s generally not much going on.
Tech’s uniforms against Alabama were going to be gray jerseys with gray pants, but somebody (that somebody being Chris Coleman of TechSideline.com) leaked the pics of the uniforms a couple of days before the game, so they decided to wear maroon pants instead.
Karlin’s favorite uniform combo is maroon on maroon. It doesn’t show grass stains as much.
Tech will wear maroon jerseys and Hokie Stone helmets for Georgia Tech. You’ll have to tune in to find out what pants they’ll wear.
The Hokie Stone helmets will feature the number “430” on the back. That’s for the 430 names on the War Memorial who were killed in battle.
Herma’s Readers buys Tech’s special uniforms. After the game, VT auctions off the uniforms and the money goes to Herma’s readers.
There’s a secret committee of 3-4 people who decide what uniforms Tech will wear each week.
Mike Gentry
In the last year, Tech has really upgraded their strength and conditioning facilities for Olympic Sports. They also upgraded their equipment in the Merryman Center weight room. It’s something they are really proud of.
You have a very limited amount of time to train athletes, with all their classes, study hours, etc. You need to be very efficient. They’ve been able to do things recently to make themselves more efficient from a time standpoint. That’s a big deal.
Strength and conditioning is about mental toughness as well, and Tech has shown mental toughness late in their last two games.
Logan Thomas is a superior leader and a champion. He’s bringing the young guys along. Defensively, the Hokies a pretty dialed in. There are some really good players on that unit.
Derrick Hopkins is a great strength athlete. He has the front squat record of 510. That’s so much harder than a back squat. Luther Maddy is another impressive defensive tackle in the weight room.
David Wang is the best athlete on the offensive line. He has good power, and he’s flexible. Hopefully he can stay healthy.
Wyatt Teller has tremendous potential. He’s best suited for offensive line. He can make an impact in the future. Deon Newsome is also impressive. He’s very explosive. Woody Baron is another guy.
There are several ways to measure toughness. There’s a kind of fistfight toughness, and then there’s the toughness where you show up every day ready to work and grind. They are both very important. This summer was tougher in terms of toughness. Gentry really likes the toughness of this team. There are some guys who are banged up who still played 90 plays this past week.
Gregory has become sort of an assistant to Shane Beamer during practice this year.
It’s tough having four ACL tears. Cutting in football puts stress on the knee, and it can happen to anybody. It is what it is. It’s hard to rehab, make it all the way back, and then have it happen again.
There is also cartilage damage under his kneecap. He may or may not have to go through another surgery. The surgery and rehab are the worst parts.
Gregory is considering getting into coaching. Helping other players is something he would like to do.
Georgia Tech is a tough environment, but it’s fun to play in places like that. If you when, it’s really fun.
Gregory graduated last December in Human Development. He’ll graduate in Sociology this coming December.
The Hokies have to take advantage of their opportunities during the game. Georgia Tech won’t give them many chances, but when they get one, they must take advantage and score touchdowns.
That was a fun game on Saturday. Edwards likes playing in sloppy, rainy games like that.
Rakeem Cato was really good at the beginning of the game. He could run, and he could put the ball in the right spot. Later on in the game, the defensive line did a great job getting pressure, and Jack Tyler and Tariq Edwards spied him more.
It’s a big transition from going from ECU and Marshall to Georgia Tech. It’s going to be a very physical game on Thursday night. The Georgia Tech option is more difficult because sometimes you don’t know where the ball is going.
Edwards will play an outside linebacker type role, and he’ll have responsibilities against both the quarterback and the pitch man.
The defensive line is playing great. J.R. Collins is very productive. They are all doing a great job getting to the football.
Edwards’ father (Bo Campbell played for Virginia Tech). His first game at Tech was back around 1999. He always looked up to Xavier Adibi. That’s who he wanted to play like.
Tackling has been a big emphasis this year, because the Hokies didn’t tackle well to start last season.
Tech wants to be the #1 defense in the country. They aren’t there yet, so they have work to do.
Frank Beamer
It was a strange Saturday. Beamer doesn’t think he’s ever played a game, graded a video, and then started watching tape on the next game all in the same day.
Offensively, Tech could have had quite a few more yards. They didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities they got. They have to do a better job of taking care of the little things.
Ethan Keyserling was put in a tough situation on Saturday. It was raining, and he didn’t find out he was playing until shortly before the game.
Tech has to execute better in the redzone. Every play will work if it’s blocked properly and the proper routes are run. The Hokies have some young players on offense who have to develop. That’s just the way it is.
The block in the back wasn’t much, but it could have been called, and it was called. But more times than not, that call is not going to be made. Overall, the officials are doing a good job.
The Hokie Stone helmets mean a lot. The “430” for the names on the War Memorial, and the Hokie Stone, they are the foundation of Virginia Tech.
Tech had already started preparing for Georgia Tech, but watching all the film on Saturday after the Marshall game helped them catch up some. Beamer is glad that Marshall game was at noon. It’s going to be a fast week.
Rakeem Cato was very good against Tech. He knew where to go with the ball, and he knew when to run. He’s a very heady player, and he’s accurate. He’s got “it” as a football player.
J.R. Collins had a fantastic game. He scored the most points of any defensive player in Tech history in the Marshall game. He passed Corey Moore’s game against Clemson in 1999.
Georgia Tech is very good. They have improved their defense a lot. Their offense and defense have a lot of seniors, and their offensive line is very experienced. They will be tough to beat.
The offense has to be effective against Georgia Tech. They can’t have a lot of three and outs because they won’t have as many possessions as usual. The offense has to pick up some first downs and score some point.
Monday was Day 3,223 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of The Commonwealth Cup.
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I meant to say 2 out of 3 on College Football Live.
2 out of 3 just called the Hokie Stone helmet horrid for tomorrow night. We got enough problems without worrying about what Clowns the Football Team looks like as they make their Stadium entrances. Like one guy said, the Traditional powers don’t F with their Unis. Success or no success, I think Oregon, Maryland, etc. look ridiculous. At least they don’t have to worry about Turkeys on their helmets. Quit lookin stupid as all get out, and just Win. But quit lookin like fools! Can We put Kalvin Cline on the Committee, I think He’s earned it.
Alabama, auburn, LSU , Michigan, Ohio state, Michigan state, Tennessee, so cal, Nebraska, Texas Norte dame, rarely and in some cases never fool around with their uniforms. I know the conventional wisdom is that its big in recruiting, but if you have a untrue on your team that is “this is our uniform at Tech” the recruits will pick up on that and the unis won’t be a factor in a recruits decision. Toss in the fact that our “alternate ” unis rarely look good such as that awful helmet we wore vs Rutgers last year or the dreaded Boise State outfits, we’re better off with standard home and always.
Enough with the helmets already. Really, who knows or even cares about Hokie Stone outside of the VT community and fan base? And a TURKEY on the side of the helmet, as in the bowl game, looks just plain stupid. Stick with the all maroon VT helmet for most games with the white VT helmet as the alternate. They look clean, crisp and portray continuity and tradition in the VT program. The throwball unis with the shoulder stripes of the last several year look sharp with these helmets and should be the mainstay of battle attire throughout the season with maybe ONE special occasion uni thrown in.
We have probably the most important game of the year. Short time frame between games, big underdogs, winner has huge advantage for Coastal title. About every comment has to do with what kind of uniforms design we will be wearing. Sorta a synopsis of where our fan base is at this point.
I believe the only people who care about the uniforms are the folks coming up with the nutty ideas. Fans just want the team to play better and could care less about uniforms/helmets. Lets just stay with our traditional uniforms. The Hokie Stone helmets are terrible. It was embarasing to watch the ESPN show PTI tonight. They really did a job on Tech and thought the helmets were awful.
Go back to the simple but classy uniforms we had in 1999, 2000 etc. All maroon helmets with all white for away and for home same helmets with maroon top and white pants. Remember we should be representing a university, not what 3-4 people (who are these people and how did they get picked) think is appropos.
Mike
4 team captains. Frank has always said the players choose.
I think those 3-4 are Nike, Nike & Nike.
I do like our Bama uniforms as an away staple. Are those 1 and done or will we see them again?
I wonder if the players and coaches know that the unanimous opinion of the fans is maroon on maroon with maroon helmets?
Woa that is a big freaking deal scoring more points the Corey “Terror Dome” Moore. No wonder Frank addressed him as Mr. J.R. Collins. Jeez J.R if you keep this up you might just get drafted…and maybe even stick on a roster somewhere. Good Job!
Bring back the all Maroon uniforms with the Maroon helmet. And you can bring back the all Black uniforms (Boise Game) to spice things up a little.
All Maroon, +10.
What ever happened to the results of Coleman’s uniform survey (the one the left out all Maroon!).
Seems to me the programs descension parallels the tinkering wth the uniforms. From 200-2005,I felt we had the classiest uni’s in football. Now, we are like a vaudeville act in the Catskills.
mike b
2000-05; 1 conference championship; 2006-2013; 3 titles and 4 bcs bowls. I dont understand ur math. 93-99 for good meaure 3 titles and bcsnc appearance. maybe we should keep changing those uniforms.
Those ugly jobs with the ingle orange sleeve in 2004? Agree with the statement, but not the years
So Chris, did they actually call you out on the radio show, or was that just your editor’s note fessing up to it? 🙂
I enjoy brining out a special uniform every now and then but I do believe that most games should be played in the home maroon or away white though.
we need to bring back the maroon on maroon for big games. enough with the silly custume show!
Another tradition we have lost this year is wearing “white” unis for away games and “maroon” (dark) unis at home. Why was Marshall wearing full green? It was not a home game for them. I am so confused…everything is out of whack.
I guess we will never again see maroon jerseys and white pants at home or full shite away.
BTW, the special committee on uniforms has to include Nike, After all it’s their nickle that provides all these non-traditional unis. Talk about selling your soul to the devil.
Couldn’t agree more. If there’s one single thing that I wish I could change about the way our program is being run these days, it’s the constant screwing around with the uniforms. It makes us look like a circus act.
I know that recruits like it and I know that Nike gives us money to allow them to do it. But I can’t help but notice that the true powerhouses in college football very rarely, if ever, screw around with their uniforms. I just think it makes us look so very amateurish …. not to mention the fact that we actually played a lot better before we started trying to make fashion statements every week.
So apparently Oregon is not a powerhouse…
The Marshall Game was the White Out for Herma’s Readers. It was tough to tell because the rain brought out the grab-bag of colored ponchos and rainjackets.
Ok, fine. But it was also military appreciation with the camo helmets and shoulders. What the hell else could they throw in there? Jeez, it’s all so damn confusing. and I wonder how much this crazy uniform stuff may affect play? Yeah, they’ll tell you it doesn’t, but damn it, all the attention paid to uniforms is taking away from attention somewhere else.
Karlin loves the maroon on maroon and we haven’t seen it in years. Hmmm
My guess– VT will be using those gray pants on Thursday to go with the helmets. Awesome!
Yes, wish we could just keep that combo maroon on maroon, but I guess the kids like the wild unis.
Well apparently Lester Karlin isn’t on that secrect committee b/c we never wear our basic maroon on maroon combo.
Exactly agree with Vtmatt04 & 11hokie: “Karlin’s favorite uniform combo is maroon on maroon” but we haven’t seen it in years. Lester Karlin or somebody in the VT organization is full of bologna and you know what. Beamer points his finger at Lester and the Seniors as uniform decision-makers until the Seniors stated on record that “Nobody asked us” and Lester now points to a Secret 3-4 person committee. It’s the customary “Do not Confirm-Do not Deny VT Two-Step. I am so sick of uniform changes having to be a paramount decision in our week to week preparations for gridiron football. Uniform changes does not fill our empty Championship Case nor give us the skill to soundly win Kickoff Classics, Bowl Games or beat Legitimate Top 10 programs at the drop of a coin toss. I will take Annual 10-Win Seasons over Annual 10-Game Uniform Changes any day!