Hokies Ranked 6th in Preseason Coaches’ Poll

The
first USA Today Coaches’ Poll of the 2010 season was released on Friday, and the
Hokies are ranked #6 in the country. That is the highest preseason ranking in
school history, and Tech will begin practice today in preparation for a much
anticipated opener against #5 Boise State.

Virginia Tech was ranked #7 in both the AP and Coaches’ Poll prior to the
2005 and 2009 seasons. In both cases, they finished the season ranked slightly
lower in the final polls. In 2005, they finished #9 in both polls, and came in
at #10 following the 2009 season.

The Hokies aren’t the only ACC team starting the 2010 season in the Top 25.

That’s four preseason Top 25 opponents, three of which come from the ACC. Tech could also end up playing Florida State in the ACC Championship Game. With a
total of five teams in the preseason Top 25, the ACC is expected to be a much
improved conference in 2010. Four of those five teams come from the Coastal
Division. If the Hokies can run that gauntlet and make the ACC Championship
Game, they’ll have faced some excellent competition along the way.

Atlantic Division teams Clemson and Boston College also received votes for
the Top 25, but #20 Florida State is the only team from that division that
begins the season ranked. Click here
for a look at the complete Top 25.

Hokies Begin Practice Today

The football team will begin practice on Friday, and there are plenty of
storylines to follow.

• How much defensive line depth can Tech develop?
• Will David Wilson redshirt?
• Will Logan Thomas win the backup quarterback position?
• Who will take over at whip linebacker?
• Is Darren Evans 100% healthy?
• How good is the left side of the offensive line?
• Will Tech’s kicking game be effective?

Those are the major questions that we hope will be answered in the next
month.

Here are some key dates for Virginia Tech for the month of August.

Scrimmages on August 14 and August 21 will be held in Lane Stadium, and they’ll
be open to the fans. Times will be announced at a later date.

TSL will provide a weekly practice reports, as well as scrimmage reports
following the two open scrimmages.

Updated Heights and Weights

Beamerball has released updated heights and weights for all players who
reported yesterday. You can view the complete list here.

Here are the players that caught our eye at first glance.

Some notes for each player …

Antone Exum has put on 12 pounds since spring practice. Considering he’s
only a r-freshman, he’s quite impressive. He is Tech’s top backup at free
safety, and could get work at rover as well.

Logan
Thomas has filled out a bit more since the spring, and he is expected to win
the backup quarterback position.

Marcus Davis has dropped five pounds since spring practice. His new
weight could make him a bit more athletic and fluid in the open field.

Tony Gregory lost four pounds since the spring. He’ll need to put on more
weight in the future in order to develop into an every down back.

Alonzo Tweedy seems to suffer a bit from Steven Friday syndrome. He just
can’t seem to keep weight on. He dropped from 191 to 188 since the spring.

Darren Evans was at 223 during the spring, and is now listed at 220. That
seems to be a good weight for him.

Ryan Williams was 211 during spring drills, but has now dropped to 202.
Williams entered the 2009 season at a listed weight of 206.

Joe Jones is up from 265 to 277. That will greatly increase his chances
to win the #4 defensive tackle position.

Bruce Taylor is down from 252 to 247. That’s probably a good playing
weight for him. Taylor is expected to start at mike linebacker this year, as he
had a good spring and 2009 starter Barquell Rivers is still recovering from a
torn quadriceps.

Blake DeChristopher is up from 304 to 320. He probably doesn’t
need to get any bigger than that.

Michael Via won’t return from injury until later this August, but he’s
done a lot of upper body work. He was 287 in the spring, and he’s now an even
300.

Greg Nosal put on some much needed weight, going from 278 to 293. He’ll
start at left guard for the Hokies.

Steven Friday has finally been able to put on some weight. The r-senior
was 235 in the spring, and he’s 250 now.

And finally, a note on Tech’s young defensive ends: Zack McCray, Duan
Perez-Means, J.R. Collins and James Gayle all have very good size to be so
young. The next generation of defensive ends at Virginia Tech will be bigger.

Please note that TSL will updates its 2010 Football Roster page with the new heights and weights after they are posted on hokiesports.com’s roster.

Vote for Queen Harrison

Virginia Tech’s Queen Harrison is up for The Bowerman, which is awarded to
the nation’s top track & field athlete. Fans can help decide who wins the
award by voting here.

Harrison currently trails Iowa State’s Lisa Koll by just 5%, so make your
votes count.