Tech Talk Live Notes for 9/20/10

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.

• There was a lot of energy on both sides of the ball in the second half
  against ECU. The fanbase was terrific on Saturday.
• Weaver and Bill Roth both received a lot of emails from ECU fans who said
  they had a great trip to Blacksburg.
• Virginia Tech will host Liberty in 2016. It’s a done deal, and the
  contract has been signed.
• If Tech plays a 1-AA opponent, they prefer it to be an in-state school.
  Weaver would rather keep the money in-state. Tech played JMU $400,000. Tech
  pays the average of what other ACC schools have paid those teams.
• Tech always wants to schedule a BCS conference opponent in their
  non-conference schedule. They also want a MAC team if they can get it, a
  CUSA team if they can get it, and a 1-AA team if they can get it. It makes
  no sense to schedule two BCS opponents when other teams in the conference
  are just scheduling one. Weaver doesn’t want to play two 1-AA teams in one
  year.
• Tech hasn’t had discussions about returning to the Chick-fil-A kickoff
  game next year. Weaver has had brief discussions about returning a couple of
  years beyond that.
• Weaver doesn’t see the NCAA ever allowing a preseason game unless teams
  give up one of their regular season games. Weaver doesn’t see schools giving
  up one of their regular season games.
• Florida’s athletics budget is now $95 million. The Florida volleyball
  coach makes $360,000 per year. Florida and Tech have the same number of
  sports, but Tech only spends half of Florida’s budget. Florida gets their
  capital projects funded by the state, and that’s why they have so much money
  left to pay coaches. In the state of Virginia, capital projects must be
  funded by the school and their organizations, such as the Hokie Club.

• Foster
  really likes how his team responded in the second half. They had a lot of
  freshmen on the field in key situations, and they did a lot of growing up.
  They played better as the game went along.
• Tech is as young defensively as they’ve been in a long time. They’ve made
  a lot of mistakes early, but that’s something that young players do. The
  only way they’ll get better is to play football.
• Bud Foster talked to Texas a lot about the Texas Tech offense, which ECU
  ran.
• Tech didn’t play well in space against JMU, and they had to play in space
  against ECU. They got Antone Exum into the game, and the extra snaps were
  very good for him. Eddie Whitley also played the nickel position.
• Foster got his 30 package (3 linemen) from the Saints over the summer. It
  gives them more versatility in coverage.
• Tech had 20 mental errors against ECU, and 15 came in the first half. The
  players had to get used to playing against the speed of that offense. They
  grew up a lot in the second half.
• In the second half, Tech brought their inside linebackers right up the
  middle on the blitz. They dropped the defensive ends into the passing lanes,
  and used the defensive tackles to pursue the quarterback laterally if he
  scrambled.
• Dominique Davis, the ECU quarterback, is the brother of Desmond Clark of
  the Chicago Bears. Foster talked to Davis after the game, and Davis said
  "Coach, you got me again."
• Kyle Fuller has a chance to be a dynamic football player. He has a great
  football IQ. Foster trusts him on the field. Fuller played very solid
  against ECU.
• With Fuller getting so many snaps and getting more experience, it gives
  Tech more nickel options down the line.
• Tech can’t get anyone else hurt at defensive tackle. They were going to
  play Isaiah Hamlette against ECU, but he sprained his ankle. Dwight Tucker
  did a pretty job against ECU, and the Hopkins brothers did well. Defensive
  tackle is a concern against BC, because the Eagles have a big, physical
  offensive line.
• BC running back Montel Harris ran for more yards in the first two years of
  his career than any other back in ACC history. He’s a really good back.
• Dwayne Harris is as good a receiver as Tech will face this year. Jonathan
  Lewis is as good a running back as Tech will face this year. ECU has a
  talented offense.
• Foster is very pleased with Eddie Whitley. He’s become one of Tech’s
  leaders in the secondary.
• Barquell Rivers scrimmaged one series with the young players on the team
  on Monday. He can run straight ahead, but it’s tough for him to put on the
  brakes and change direction right now. He suffered a very nasty quad injury.
  He tore the tendon completely from the bone.
• Bud Foster is going to give Chase Williams another look. He’s back to full
  speed. Foster is trying to bring him back along to see if he can play this
  year.
• Rashad Carmichael did a great job in the second half. He got beat a couple
  of times in the first half, but he came back strong. His second interception
  was even more impressive than his first. Tech got good pressure on that
  play, with Lyndell Gibson hitting the quarterback as he was throwing.
• Dave Shinskie is BC’s 26 year old sophomore quarterback. Tech confused him
  last year with a lot of their coverage schemes. BC is keeping things very
  simple for him right now. They want to establish the run and take the
  pressure off him.
• Tech has to play well up front. They have to control the line of scrimmage
  and make the Eagles a passing team.
• The Eagles are a much better team when they are at home playing on turf.
  They look quicker and faster on film at home than they do on the road.
• It felt better going to practice after a win. The last couple of weeks
  were tough, not only because of the losses but because of the short time
  between games.
• Foster told his team they played very well in the second half, and now
  they have to start playing four quarters.

• Taylor
  had some miscommunications with his defensive signals in the first half. The
  pace of the ECU offense was very fast, and you have to think quickly. He got
  it straightened out in the second half.
• Things just started to click in the second half. It seemed like guys were
  tired of losing.
• The mental prep for 2010 wasn’t bad. He came to Virginia Tech to play a
  lot of snaps of big time football. He knew he was ready to play this year
  even before Barquell Rivers got hurt.
• The first two games were heartbreaking. The JMU was bad, but the Boise
  State game was really tough. They put so much into it.
• Taylor thought his late hit against Boise State was a "close
  call". Against ECU, he just hit the guy late. Rock Carmichael gave the
  team a really good speech before the game, and Taylor was really hyped up.
• Bud Foster was a little more agitated in Monday meetings after the Boise
  State and JMU losses. Taylor was a little late to this Monday’s meeting, so
  he got to do some extra conditioning after practice.
• Practice was good on Monday. It was a fast practice and the execution was
  good.
• BC is a much different team than ECU. The offensive line is big and
  experienced. The game plan is pretty simple. Taylor has to get downhill and
  stop the run. If Tech can stop the run, they have a great chance to win the
  game.
• The Tech seniors got the team together after the JMU loss, and each said
  what they had to say. It helped to refocus the team.
• Taylor is from Myrtle Beach, and he chose Virginia Tech. He was an early
  commitment to Tech. He is from the same high school as Brandon Frye, and
  Taylor liked the way Frye was treated at Tech. He could tell there are good
  people at Tech. He also liked the Tech staff a lot, and he knew he’d be
  playing for the same coach his whole career. Also, the in-state teams
  (Clemson and South Carolina) didn’t recruit him as hard as the out-of-state
  schools. He also wanted to get away a little bit, but not too far away, so
  Tech was a good choice.
• Taylor visited UNC, Florida State, South Carolina and teams like that.
• Taylor didn’t move to Myrtle Beach until the seventh grade. He was born in
  Georgia and grew up there. He’s not really a beach guy, he’s more of a pool
  guy.
• Taylor is majoring in human development. He might want to do something
  with kids, or maybe coach. He’s thinking about teaching.
• Taylor prefers rushing and knocking people down to dropping back in
  coverage. In high school, there isn’t a lot of passing, so you can just pin
  your ears back.
• Roth told Taylor that he thinks he would be a good coach, Taylor responded
  "I think so too."
• If Taylor was recruiting a high school linebacker to Tech, he would tell
  him that VT has a rich tradition, a great coach in Bud Foster, Blacksburg is
  a great place and Lane Stadium is amazing.

• Wilson
  showed up to Tech Talk Live in a shirt and tie, and he wears the same thing
  to class every day.
• The coaches told Wilson to go full speed in the preseason and then they’d
  see what happens. His plan was to play well in the scrimmages so the coaches
  didn’t want to redshirt him.
• He didn’t play as much as he wanted in the first two games. He did get to
  return kickoffs against Boise State. One of his goals for the year is to
  return a kickoff for a touchdown.
• Wilson is fired up for the Boston College game. When you know for a fact
  that you are going to get a lot of touches heading into a game, you approach
  it with a different mindset.
• Wilson feels like he still hasn’t gotten into the open field and shown
  Tech fans his top gear. Hopefully that happens this weekend.
• In football, you have to take care of the small things. In the first two
  games, the Tech offense didn’t take care of the small things.
• It was very good to see the older teammates step up and talk to the team
  after the JMU loss. The coaches can only say so much. When you hear those
  same words from your own peers, you take it a different way.
• It was important for David Wilson to play tailback. Urban Meyer told him
  that Florida would use him like Percy Harvin, but Wilson wanted to be a
  traditional tailback.
• Wilson started wearing the shirt and tie during his senior year in high
  school. He wanted to look and dress like a scholarship athlete. Wilson owns
  about 50 ties. Wilson wants to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated and GQ.
• Wilson kept wearing the suit and tie because he figured a professor might
  be more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s doing well right
  now, and he’s in the Champion Club. It’s about character on and off the
  field, and about academics.
• Wilson likes the plays that go towards the edge. He has the option to turn
  it inside, or keep going outside.

• Nobody
  panicked at halftime against East Carolina. They made some good adjustments.
  It was a very productive halftime and it showed in the second half.
• Tech brought more pressure in the second half and got Davis moving his
  feet more.
• The offensive line played with more effort. He was pleased with that
  group. They have to keep going in that direction. They can’t just start
  blocks, they have to finish blocks. That’s the key.
• It was unsettling to start so many freshmen on defense, but they all did a
  good job. You never know how it’s going to go, but they played well.
• Beamer told Fuller on Monday that he did a good job. He stepped up and
  played well on Saturday.
• James Gayle plays with great effort. Sometimes he doesn’t have his
  assignment right, but he’s always going hard.
• Tech is a little more flexible defensively after playing East Carolina.
  That game is going to be helpful.
• Tech will make the Ryan Williams announcement on Thursday. They want him
  to be well if they are going to play him.
• David Wilson and Darren Evans played very well on Saturday, and Tony
  Gregory showed some speed at the end also.
• Beamer is planning on writing Michigan State coach Mark D’Antonio a note
  after his mild heart attack after Saturday night’s win over Notre Dame.
  Beamer has had his own heart issues in the past.
• Logan Thomas has some real skill. Right now Tech is trying to make him the
  best quarterback he can be. He’s got a great future there.
• Marcus Davis has improved. Beamer would like to see him block more
  consistently.
• Beamer hopes than Randall Dunn can become a factor at tight end next year.
  He can run, and he’s a good receiver. He needs to improve his blocking.
• David Wilson has the ability to run tough and run fast. Beamer probably
  hasn’t been around a faster tailback. He’s got a bright future.
• Carmichael never turned around to look at the ball on that one pass
  interference penalty, and he had both hands up. That’s why the penalty was
  called.
• Beamer hopes the Hokies grew up a little against ECU as a football team.
  The offense and the defense can both build on their performance against the
  Pirates.
• Justin Myer is very talented. He has a strong leg, as we saw on kickoffs
  against ECU. If he can ever find his consistency, he can be a great field
  goal kicker.
• Chris Drager is a very unselfish player. They’ll worry about whether they
  can move him back to tight end after the season.
• The entire offensive line played well against ECU. Nick Becton played 25
  plays and did a good job. He’s coming around. Andrew Miller is working at
  guard and center, and Beamer thinks he’s ready to help the team. Beamer
  hopes Michael Via will get a little better each week coming off the knee
  injury. The line played better against ECU, and they need to continue to
  stay on blocks.
• Chase Williams was running around very well on the scout team last week.
  He feels good right now. Linebacker depth is an issue, so they are going to
  give Williams a shot this week and then make a decision.
• Beamer and the staff talked about Twitter a lot during the preseason. They
  told the team to be very, very careful about what they post. They don’t want
  anything affecting team chemistry.
• Boston College is a tough place to play. BC always has good players. The
  Hokies have to play better than they did the last couple of times up there.
• Frank Spaziani is a good coach who has coached against Tech since the
  early 80’s when he was at UVA. He’s a really good defensive coach, and his
  teams always play tough.
• BC has more team speed than people give them credit for, and they also
  have a big, tough offensive line. The line has also been together for a long
  time.
• Beamer is thankful that Mark Herzlich is back, though he doesn’t really
  want to face him.

Monday was Day 2,123 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.