2006-07 Hokie Hotline Notes for 9/18/06

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.

• Foster said the plan for the Duke game was to get their quarterbacks
  looking at the rush rather than looking downfield. It worked perfectly.
• William Wall was Co-ACC Rookie of the Week. He responded very well after
  sitting out the UNC game for disciplinary issues. He’s a very good
  prospect at defensive end.
• Nekos Brown will be the fifth defensive end the rest of the year. Jason
  Adjepong will be out the rest of the season with shoulder injuries. Brown
  has experience at defense end, and he can be a good end or a good
  linebacker.
• The first two roughing the passer calls were questionable. The last one,
  Rouse’s second foul, was not. If you have to take more than one step to
  the quarterback, you should pull off.
• Carlton Powell is the bell cow of the defense. Barry Booker has been the
  most improved defensive tackle. Kory Robertson was much improved during the
  Duke game, and Cordarrow Thompson is capable of making plays.
• The defense is playing great, but they can be more consistent. They are
  running to the ball and playing fast, but sometimes certain players miss
  assignments. They have some things to clean up, but they are playing well.
• Cincinnati is very much like UNC from a talent standpoint. They have some
  good players on their team. They finally stuck with one quarterback for
  their recent game against Ohio State. He can get outside the pocket and make
  some plays.
• The biggest concern on defense right now is depth at certain positions. It’s
  good that they’ve been able to get playing time for some backups during
  the first three games of the season.
• Torrian Gray has always been a player that Foster wanted to add to the
  staff if they had the opportunity. He has a lot of experience as a player
  and as a coach.

• The lines at the gate were much better at the Duke game. There are a few
  ushers who still don’t realize that anyone with a ticket can go in at any
  gate, but overall, things went much better than the Northeastern game.
• The Hokies Respect campaign is in full force because there were “lots
  and lots of bad reports last year of disrespectful behavior in the stadium.”
• There is a slight change in the 2007 football schedule. Tech and ECU were
  supposed to play in Charlotte next year and in Blacksburg in 2008. Those
  dates have been switched. ECU will come to Blacksburg in 2007, and the teams
  will meet in Charlotte in 2008. Weaver said they wanted to play a home game
  before they go to LSU. It gives the fans seven home games in 2007.
• Lot 5 will not be paved because it could potentially be used for a parking
  garage or a new coliseum. That is the location on campus that has been
  assigned for a new convocation center at some point down the line.
• Weaver said Tech nets $1.5 to $1.6 million for each home game. It’s
  financially better to schedule a lot of home games. Other teams do the same,
  and that’s why it’s hard to schedule a one and one with a big name
  opponent.

• Beamer told the team Monday that the best thing he is seeing is that they
  are playing very, very hard. As long as that is the case, they will keep
  getting better.
• Beamer spoke on Aaron Rouse’s hit, and basically echoed Foster’s
  thoughts. You can find helmet to helmet on basically every play, but you can’t
  hit the quarterback with your helmet.
• They will try Ryan Shuman on field goal protections. He is very powerful
  and they expect him to do a good job in there.
• The Hokies are getting great effort on special teams. Dustin Pickle, Cam
  Martin, Dorian Porch and Brandon Flowers are doing a really good job.
  Flowers sprung Eddie Royal on his punt return for a touchdown.
• Whether the Hokies are a top 10 team will be decided in the coming weeks,
  starting with Cincinnati on Saturday. Virginia Tech is an improving team,
  that’s for sure.
• Beamer wants to work Cory Holt in at wide receiver. He has potential
  there. He is a very big target and he can run. He can help the team, and
  himself, at wide receiver at some point. He’s a good kid who puts the team
  first.
• Larry Coker is a good coach. They will probably get on a roll soon.
  Someone is going to have to beat them to play for the ACC Championship, and
  they are going to be very tough to beat.
• The official said he warned Branden Ore about his chinstrap during the
  game. When Ore didn’t leave the game to get it fixed, they charged
  Virginia Tech with a timeout.
• Beamer kept reiterating that the team, and the offensive line, is getting
  better. They improve in some facet every week. They just need to stay
  healthy and keep playing hard.
• George Bell plans to rest his knees over the course of the next week.
  Right now he just doesn’t have the explosiveness and acceleration that he
  needs.
• Elan Lewis keeps losing weight, but he still needs to lose more. He’s a
  good back when he’s in shape. Kenny Lewis has done well also. Playing
  Jahre Cheeseman at tailback is a possibility in the future. Dustin Pickle
  does a nice job as well.
• They want to continue to get the ball outside to the receivers and backs
  when they face inside pressure. They will face a lot of inside pressure this
  year. Also, it helps the offense to get Brandon Frye and Duane Brown
  blocking in space. They are the most athletic tackles the Hokies have ever
  had.
• Sometimes the Hokies go to the line of scrimmage without a play. After the
  defense shows their formation, and possibly what type of play they are
  running, the offensive play is called in from the sideline.
• Cincinnati did a good job of bottling up Ted Ginn for most of the game.
  Ohio State has a lot of guys who can make big plays, but they didn’t make
  a lot of big plays against the Bearcat defense.
• Jason Adjepong will have shoulder surgery. They will seek a medical
  redshirt for him, and they are confident that he will get it. He is going to
  be quite a player in the future.
• Roland Minor did a little practice work on Monday. It will probably be a
  couple of weeks before he plays. Brett Warren could be out for two weeks or
  more as well. Andrew Bowman and Demetrius Taylor will get increased reps at
  mike linebacker.
• Cincinnati isn’t that big defensively, but they know how to get to the
  football. It’s a game that you have to be mentally prepared for.

Monday was Day 660 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.