Tech Talk Live (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 Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg.
TSL Welcomes Bull and Bones as Sponsor of our Tech Talk Live Notes
The
new Tech Talk Live show is broadcast from Bull & Bones Brewhaus and Grill in
the First & Main shopping center in Blacksburg, and TechSideline.com is
pleased to welcome Bull & Bones as sponsor of our Tech Talk Live Notes. Bull
& Bones Brewhaus & Grill is a brewpub with both an upscale dining room
and a separate sports bar with a casual dining area
- Call Ahead Seating: 540-953-BULL(2855)
- Hours: Sun.-Sat. 11am-2am, Sun. Brunch 11am-3pm
As a special treat for TechSideline.com readers, each
week we’re giving away one $50 gift certificate to Bull & Bones
to the reader who wins bourbonstreet’s weekly football game score prediction
contest. Just watch the TechSideline.com football board for bourbonstreet’s
weekly prediction thread, and you could have a shot at dinner on us!
Jim Weaver
- Virginia Tech will be playing Cincinnati at FedEx Field in 2012. That game
was originally a home game for the Bearcats. The people at FedEx Field
really wanted this game. Tech didn’t have anything to do with this, other
than agree to the move. - Weaver is making progress on the fourth non-conference team for next
season. They are very close, and they hope to make an announcement in the
next two weeks. - Representatives from the Chick-fil-A Bowl will be in Blacksburg this
weekend. The Gator Bowl will likely send someone as well. - Senior Day is always a tough day. It will be a little nostalgic on
Saturday when the seniors are honored. - Tech is doing some budget cuts, including the athletics department. For
example, they saved $80,000 by busing to Maryland instead of flying.
Seth Greenberg
- Tech did some good things against Brown. Their on-ball defense was good,
they contained the ball and contested passes. They only turned it over eight
times, and that’s a positive. - Dorenzo Hudson and Terrell Bell really did a nice job. They were more
active. The big question is how well Tech can guard the post. - Brown isn’t an easy team to defend against because of their system. They
make you guard for 30-35 seconds and wait for you to make a mistake. The
perimeter defense was pretty solid, but Greenberg was not pleased with post
defense. - UNC-Greensboro is an interesting team. Kyle Randall is a freshman guard
who is a very good player off the dribble. They’ve got some guys who can
play inside, and some guys who can shoot from the outside. - Ben Boggs was pretty solid in his debut. He knocked down a jumper, and he
was pretty active defensively. - Tech is playing at Campbell next week because Seth Greenberg is doing a
favor for Campbell’s head coach. They have been friends for 20 years. The
Camels are opening a brand new arena. - Next season the Hokies will play in ESPN’s Disney Classic in Anaheim.
- After Tuesday’s game, Tech’s next four games will be away from Cassell.
That includes the Campbell game, two games in Philadelphia against Temple
and Delaware, and the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at Iowa. - Tech is playing the UNC-Greensboro game for a couple of reasons. First,
the return game is at the Greensboro Coliseum, which is where the ACC
tournament is held very often. Second, Greenberg wanted the game on a
Tuesday so his team could have one quick turnaround game before conference
play begins. They need to learn how to play with just one day of
preparation. - The recruiting calendar moves up all the time. Tech got their 2010 class
done early, and they already have one commitment for the 2011 class. - Jarrell Eddie had 33 points in each of his first two games this year. He’s
a 6-7 wing who can post up. He can shoot it with range, and he’s strong. - Ty Garland has a great feel for the game. He just knows how to play. He
can score the ball, and he has a good feel for getting the ball to open
people. He is only 16, so he is a very young high school senior. - Greenberg made a mistake in Saturday’s game. He should have played Erick
Green more. Green has been battling a deep thigh bruise all preseason. He
played well in Tech’s two scrimmages. - Manny Atkins is a little behind right now. He’s making the transition from
4 to 3. He is being asked to pass and catch more now. He has to learn the
little things. He has to be a little more verbal and get a little more
swagger. - Greenberg is doing Chalk Talks with students at D2 on campus this year. He
is going over scouting reports for the upcoming opponent. He’s teaching them
matchup zones, stagger screens, etc. - It’s hard to find point guards, and it’s hard to find 6-9, 6-10 centers.
It’s hard to find 6-9 guys because there just aren’t that many 6-9 guys. You
have to find guys who fit in with what you are trying to do. - Greenberg is getting negative emails about the Cassell Guard. People are
saying they are too much like Duke and too generic. All they are is a group
of kids who want to make a difference. Greenberg would rather have them than
a bunch of folks who sit on their hands. The program appreciates their hard
work.
Bud Foster
- Tech did a great job stopping the run against Maryland, but Jamarr
Robinson made it look otherwise. He did some good things with his legs. He
is a dynamic athlete. - Tech has played two games in a row on the road, and they’ve allowed zero
offensive touchdowns. That’s a great number. - Lyndell Gibson has steadily improved. Jake Johnson had sort of leveled
off, and that’s why Bud Foster made a change. Johnson did play a great game
against Maryland. - Jason Worilds has been playing very well. He doesn’t have the sack numbers
that he had last year, but he’s playing very fast. - Tom O’Brien and Dana Bible do a great job with the NC State offense. They
are averaging 31 points per game. Russell Wilson is a great player. He’s
like Tyrod Taylor moving around, except he might be a little bit quicker.
This might be the best offensive football team in the ACC. - From what Foster has seen on film, Wilson is the most dangerous
quarterback the Hokies have faced or will face this year. - Tech has a lot of great seniors on this year’s team. They have given a lot
to the program, and Foster is very proud of them. - Foster hasn’t heard from Memphis. He doesn’t know if he’d be interested in
that job or not. All he is focusing on is Virginia Tech. He could spend the
rest of his life at Tech and be totally happy. - There’s a fine line between keeping your players healthy and making them
tough. You don’t want to overwork them because you don’t want the injury bug
to kick in, but you want them to be sharp tacklers as well. - Quillie Odom is a good prospect. He is still a ways away from being a
complete player, but Foster still has hope for him. - Foster thinks Tony Gregory can be a special player. Andrew Miller is an
outstanding prospect. Ben Barber is a very good prospect. Foster’s defense
faces these offensive scout team players each week. - Foster believes Logan Thomas is a special athlete. He has the demeanor you
look for at the quarterback position. He has played just one year of
quarterback. He threw more passes in two-a-days than he did in his senior
season at quarterback in high school. Regardless of position, he’s going to
be a special player.
Jaymes Brooks
- There was a lot of trash talk at the coin toss at the Maryland game. You
never know why some people like to talk trash. Nekos Brown was involved a
little bit, probably because he’s from Maryland. - It was a good overall team win. The offense had good production, and the
defense shut down the Terps. - Tech threw two touchdown passes in the red zone. That will open up the
running game in the red zone. - The offensive line has been pretty good, but there are better days ahead.
Some things have been good, but some things have been bad. - Brooks didn’t hesitate to say that Nebraska’s Ndomukong Suh was the best
player he has faced this year. He’s really powerful, and he’s quick with his
hands. - Brooks had offers from Florida, Tennessee, NC State, UNC, Maryland, South
Carolina and some others. Phillip Fulmer came to Brooks’ high school to
recruit him. That’s how Brooks knew that his recruitment was for real. - He picked Tech because it was close to home. His family comes to all of
his games, and he didn’t want to make it hard on them. - The Hokies have a good team. They have good players on both sides of the
ball, and on special teams. They can’t let that go to waste. They can still
have a great season.
Greg Nosal
- Nosal’s left wrist is in a hard cast. It’s just a sprain. He hurt it
against UNC, and reinjured it against Maryland. - The offensive line has done well overall, but Nosal feels that they can do
better and become more consistent. - To be a good offensive lineman, you need to play hard on every play and
stay on your blocks. You never know where Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Williams are
going. - The team is very close. Everybody is friends. Nobody points fingers at
each other, so it wasn’t hard to come back from those two losses. - Curt Newsome is a yeller. He’s a little more calm after his bypass
surgery, but sometimes his blood pressure will still rise. You have to work
hard to stay on his good side. - Nosal is one of several Tech linemen who are former tight ends. They get
to eat whatever they want now that they are offensive linemen. - Demetrius Taylor is the strongest player Nosal has ever seen. They played
on the same team in high school. Taylor flattened Nosal on one play when
Nosal was a freshman. - Nosal was recruited by Big East schools and most of the ACC. He only took
one visit, because he always knew he was coming to Tech. - NC State will be tough. Their defense is better than people think. They’ve
given up a lot of points because of bad field position.
Frank Beamer
- Beamer is proud of the players and coaches for coming back from two
losses. They played very hard and very tough against Maryland. - Maryland has had some injuries, but they are still a capable team. They
played very hard, but Beamer is proud of the way his team played. - The Hokies hit some big plays early against Maryland. Overall it was a
good day. - Tech needs to keep mixing in the pass in the red zone. It always helps to
be able to throw the ball near the goal line. - NC State is a dangerous team. The offense is very good. They throw the
ball extremely well and score a lot of points. They have big, tall wide
receivers. Toney Baker is an experienced running back. They can score. - The points scored on them is deceiving. NC State is “very, very
good” up front. They have some young guys in the secondary. They gave
up 31 points to Maryland, but one touchdown was an interception return and
one was a kickoff return. They have given up some big plays, but when you
see them on film you appreciate how good they are. - This NC State team beat Pittsburgh, and that’s the only game Pitt has lost
this year. The Wolfpack are very, very capable. - David Wilson is becoming more of a threat on the kickoff return team. He
is really a threat. Beamer sees him getting better and better all the time.
Before it’s all over, the Hokies will have two great kickoff returners. - Maurice DeShazo will be inducted into the Tech Hall of Fame this weekend.
He was a huge recruit at the time, and he had a great career. - Beamer’s pet peeve when he first started coaching at Tech was the gear
that people wore around campus. They would wear Miami, Notre Dame, Alabama,
etc. hats and shirts. Now they are wearing Tech gear. - Tech wanted to get one more touchdown after halftime and then try to get
Ju-Ju Clayton in the game. The Hokies didn’t want to risk Tyrod Taylor
getting hit. But Maryland’s quarterback was making plays, and the Terps got
a defensive score, and Beamer just wanted to make sure the Hokies held on. - Pass protection was pretty good against Maryland. The offensive line,
tight ends and running backs all did a good job. - Beamer is getting a good vibe from the team. To come back and win the last
two games says a lot about the coaching staff and players. You have to come
back and be the best you can be. Just keep winning and see how everything
turns out. - The ACC is stronger this year. Wake Forest beat Stanford and NC State beat
Pitt. Those are two very good wins from ACC teams that aren’t even going to
bowls. - Tech fans need to send the seniors out in style. NC State is good, and the
Hokies have to play well.
Monday was Day 1,815 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.
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