2007-08 Hokie Hotline Notes for 10/8/07

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, and you can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.

Hokie Hotline Notes, sponsored by Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech

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Jim Cavanaugh

• It was a great win on Saturday night. Tech got off to a good start, which
  was very important.
• Cav has never coached in a game with an interception return for a
  touchdown, a punt return for a touchdown and a kickoff return for a
  touchdown.
• When you jump out to a big lead, you make the other team one dimensional.
  The defensive linemen can start to turn up the heat on the quarterback.
• Vince Hall is a big loss. He led the ACC in tackles last year. They feel
  bad for Vince because it’s his senior year. But with every injury, someone
  else gets the opportunity to shine. Brett Warren will get his chance.
• Jonas Houseright went in for Vince Hall against Clemson because Warren had
  tweaked a hamstring. Houseright played well.
• Cam Martin and Kam Chancellor are doing a good job. Lorenzo Ferguson and
  Pierson Prioleau are the only sophomores to play those positions before
  Martin and Chancellor. Tech generally has experienced guys at whip and
  rover.
• Bud Foster and Torrian Gray came up with some great coverages. Sometimes
  they were able to free up the cornerbacks for big hits.
• Branden Ore is banged up, but if you’re going to play running back in this
  league you’re going to be banged up.
• Recruiting is going very well. Recruiting has changed. They are in on many
  younger players now. The parent of a sophomore called Cav recently wanting
  to know why his kid hadn’t been offered yet.
• Cav is currently in favor of an early signing period. That’s a big change
  from the past.
• Saturday night’s win was tremendous. Clemson has a different personality
  at home. They were ready to play.

• Oliver Weiss has done a great job with the men’s soccer program. They are
  ranked #9 in the country.
• They have a goal for all 21 teams to finish in the top four in the ACC.
  Tech is steadily improving in all sports. They aren’t there yet, but they’ve
  taken huge steps since joining the ACC.
• The band isn’t going to Duke because they couldn’t find any buses. They
  were working on it as late as Monday morning, but couldn’t find any. They
  are still going to Virginia later this year.
• Tech needs a special traveling band like most other teams in the
  conference. They’ll travel more times if they can get less people. Tech is
  still learning about the ACC, and this is one thing they’ve learned.
• Tech gets 4300 tickets for road games, including player comps. The band
  takes up over 400 seats. That weighs in on that decision making process. A
  travel band would have between 90 and 115 people, and it would be much
  easier to travel.
• Hokies All Access is the only legal way to listen to Tech programming
  online. Stations are not allowed to broadcast the Hokie Hotline or Tech
  games on their websites.
• There were a lot of Clemson people sitting around Weaver who were
  questioning some of the calls made by their coaches.
• Weaver said he has tried on several occasions to schedule Penn State, but
  he hasn’t been successful.
• Other schools play music over their sound system to create energy. There
  is already plenty of energy in Lane Stadium.

• It was a great win on Saturday. He’s proud of Tech’s players and coaches.
  Clemson is a talented team, and the Hokies handled it great.
• Tech has a chance to be very good. The kicking game obviously played very
  well. Jud Dunlevy is kicking field goals very well. He has made two pressure
  field goals in the last two weeks.
• With similar personnel in the past, Tech’s offense has been very
  successful. They are playing well in practice, but they need to play well in
  games.
• Getting Ed Wang back at tackle allows them to move Nick Marshman back to
  guard, and that should help things out.
• Wang scrimmaged some on Monday, and with a full week of practice,
  hopefully he’ll be much closer to where he was before he got hurt.
• Vince Hall will be back as soon as he possibly can. Clemson didn’t have an
  X-ray machine down there and they didn’t realize how serious the injury was.
  For him to go back in the game shows his toughness and desire.
• Jonas Houseright came into the game and played very well. He had to go in
  and play not only defense, but also special teams, and he did a great job.
• Brett Warren will start on Saturday, and Houseright will back him up.
  Warren’s hamstring was bothering him against Clemson, but he felt very good
  on Monday.
• Tech didn’t turn the ball over against Clemson. They didn’t do anything to
  help Clemson get back in the game. They need to get more first downs, but
  they did what they could on Saturday.
• Tyrod Taylor played much better against Clemson. He’s talented and smart,
  and he’ll get better each week. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Week on
  Monday.
• Xavier Adibi played a great game on Saturday. He had over 100 plays, with
  defense and special teams. He also gave up his body to recover that onside
  kick.
• When Wang was in there back in the spring, the offensive line was clicking
  very well. When Marshman had to move to tackle, and they had to get a new
  guard, things started going downhill.
• Clemson changed their punt protection team a bit to make sure they could
  prevent the block. As a result, they didn’t get down the field on coverage
  very well.
• Brett Warren has always been a very good run stopper, and he’s improved
  his coverage skills.
• Ore’s ankle is still bothering him a bit. He had to miss practice on
  Monday because he was sick. The staff tells Beamer that he’s okay, so he
  assumes that’s the situation. He’s not far away. He’s another piece of the
  puzzle that’s ready to break out.
• When Ore came back, he wasn’t in the shape he needed to be. He’s worked
  his way back into shape. He says he’s fine, the trainer says he’s fine, so
  Beamer is going to say he’s fine. They just have to block a little better
  and get him some room.
• When Beamer recruited Macho Harris, he told him he’d like to get to the
  point where he could play on both sides of the ball. Next year will be that
  opportunity, as a wide receiver on offense. He’s explosive with the ball in
  his hands.
• Tyrod Taylor is an exceptional quarterback. He’s having trouble reading
  coverages, but he improves all the time. He’s going to be a great player.
• Duke has been in every game they’ve played. They were very close against
  Miami and Wake Forest the last two weeks. Navy beat them on a last second
  field goal. Duke beat Northwestern, who beat Michigan State over the
  weekend.
• Duke is a capable team. Just look at Stanford and USC. USC was favored by
  41 points, and Stanford hadn’t been close to beating anyone. Duke has been
  very competitive.
• Ike Whitaker is back with the team. He’s got a chance to help the team in
  the future. He’ll probably be at Duke on Saturday.

Monday was Day 1,038 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.