Tech Talk Live Notes for 11/8/10

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.

• It’s great that the Hokies are the only ACC school to have both their
  men’s basketball team and football team ranked in the Top 25. However, both
  coaches will tell you that it only matters where you finish.
• The ending of the Georgia Tech game was as exciting as it gets. November
  will be as exciting as it gets around the ACC.
• Three reps from the Independece Bowl were on hand on Thursday, as well as
  a rep from the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Champs Sports bowl people were
  there, two reps from the Orange Bowl attended, and the president of the
  Chick-fil-A Bowl was also in town.
• It’s too early to think about whether the Chick-fil-A Bowl would take Tech
  after the Hokies playing in Atlanta twice last year, but Gary Stokan
  wouldn’t have been in Blacksburg on Thursday if he wasn’t interested.
• Texas will be making more money off their secondary television contract
  than other BCS schools make off their primary contract. There are certainly
  some other conference members who have some hard feelings, but the other
  schools voted to allow that to happen. It was important to keep the Big 12
  together.
• Weaver doesn’t see the ACC changing teams’ cross divisional rivalry
  anytime soon. However, if the league goes to nine conference games it will
  change the scheduling model.
• From what Weaver has heard, a Big Ten team has a strong chance to end up
  in the Orange Bowl this season, matched up with the ACC champion.
• Weaver thinks the only time Tech has had to return their ticket allotment
  as a visiting team was at Miami in 2008, which was on a Thursday night.
• It’s a legit concern for ACC athletic directors that people can buy bowl
  tickets from other parties and get better seats than they get through their
  own schools. AD’s are very frustrated. They think the bowls should provide
  better seats to the schools if they expect those schools to sell their
  allotments.

• Foster
  is very proud of the defense. They played extremely hard for all 60 minutes.
• They gave up a couple of big plays early, but Foster said that was
  probably his fault. He tried to be too aggressive and bring too much
  pressure early in the game, and Georgia Tech made them pay.
• After the first quarter, the Tech defense played a great game up until
  that last scoring drive.
• Tech squeezed their defensive ends a bit more in this game in an effort to
  keep the linebackers clean.
• They gave up too many big plays, but they were able to make more plays at
  critical times than they did in 2009.
• Bruce Taylor was phenomenal. He was a little banged up heading into the
  game, but he was a warrior.
• John Graves and Antoine Hopkins played very well. The defensive line was
  good for the most part.
• Foster has a lot of respect for Josh Nesbitt. He takes a lot of shots, but
  he’s very tough. Foster also has a lot of respect for Paul Johnson’s
  offense. They do a great job. It’s a pain to prepare for.
• You don’t want to do too many things defensively against Georgia Tech,
  because it could expose you. The Hokies had a good game plan, and the only
  time it didn’t work was when Foster got greedy.
• Quillie Odom is still in the program, but the Hokies have some younger
  players developing faster than he is.
• Foster was planning on playing Jack Tyler and Tariq Edwards on Thursday,
  but that offense is so fast and difficult for young players. They didn’t
  even play their backup defensive linemen much.
• T.J. Yates is playing well. He’s playing like a r-senior. He has seen a
  lot in his career, and he’s very well-coached by John Shoop.
• UNC has lost some players, like Greg Little at wide receiver and Zack
  Pianalto at tight end. However, they’ve had backups step up and play well.
• North Carolina has some good backs. Anthony Elzy has played well against
  Tech in the past, and Shaun Draughn is very good. Foster doesn’t know
  whether they will pull the redshirt off Ryan Houston, but the Hokies will
  prepare the same way.
• It doesn’t surprise Foster that UNC is so good despite their suspensions
  and injuries. They have recruited some talented depth in Chapel Hill.
• Foster doesn’t teach players to collision tackle. He teaches them to wrap
  up. Some of Tech’s tackling attempts this year have been very frustrating.
• Georgia Tech has improved their passing game, and they used it to beat
  Wake Forest early in the year. Rock Carmichael made a great play in the end
  zone to make sure that didn’t happen to the Hokies.
• Tech has to win the line of scrimmage against UNC. They can’t let them
  establish the running game. The Hokies also have to limit the big play. The
  Tar Heels will use a lot of motion and try to get players out of position.
  It’s kind of a unique offense. John Shoop does a great job with that
  offense.

• Practice
  was eventful on Monday. The Hokies had a hard time throwing the ball to the
  right team. Bud Foster would have enjoyed practice, because there were a lot
  of interceptions.
• Cadarian Raines, who will not play Friday night against Campbell, has made
  great progress. He’s not quite there yet. He’s probably about 80-85%.
  However, Greenberg isn’t going to risk playing him until his foot is
  completely healed. It could be a week, it could be two weeks, it could be
  three weeks. Tech needs him, but his health is a concern since he has had so
  much trouble with that foot already.
• No Raines will mean some more pressure will be put on some other players.
  The post players will have to stay out of foul trouble, and Manny Atkins
  will get some time at the "4" spot, as well as Terrell Bell.
• This is a resilient team. When Malcolm Delaney was out for Seton Hall,
  Dorenzo Hudson stepped up. When Dorenzo was out for Georgia Tech, Manny
  Atkins stepped up. That needs to happen again.
• When it comes down to it, Tech just has to compete harder to make up for
  the lack of bodies on the inside. No matter how big you are, if you play
  hard enough you can find a way to win.
• Tech has a terrific starting group, and Jarell Eddie and Erick Green are
  playing at a high level. Greenberg hopes Raines plays at that level as well
  when he gets healthy.
• Jeff Allen is one of just four players in the nation who have 1,200
  points, 600 rebounds and 100 blocks. He’s the ACC’s active leader in steals.
  He’s a very good player. They need him to be really good right now, and stay
  out of foul trouble. He doesn’t need to think too much. He needs to play
  within himself, but play well.
• Tech has to defend differently right now. They aren’t going to trap ball
  screens as hard, and they’ll probably help in the post quicker than usual.
  Ultimately they just need to keep the ball in front of them. That will help
  Jeff Allen with his fouls.
• Allen is really competing hard in practice. However, Tech just doesn’t
  have the matchups that Greenberg would like in practice. Ideally, Allen
  would be playing against Allan Chaney and Greenberg would have a better idea
  of where they are as a team.
• It’s nice and flattering that other people think Tech have a chance to be
  good, but it means nothing. Tech has to keep doing things just like they’ve
  done them in the past. If they do that, they’ll have success.
• Friday’s opponent Campbell has a very good backcourt. They return three
  starters from a very solid team last season. They’ll probably play a great
  deal of zone. Tech didn’t play particularly well against them last season,
  and the Hokies were fortunate to win the game. Campbell won 19 games a year
  ago. They are good.
• Campbell is a little undersized, but they play very hard and very smart.
  They try to use their quickness, and they have some toughness about them.
• ESPN approached Tech to play Kansas State. It’s part of ESPN’s 24 Hours of
  Hoops. It’s a home and home series, which means Kansas State will come to
  Blacksburg next year for the 24 Hours of Hoops special.
• Greenberg doesn’t recall Kansas State losing at home last year. This will
  be a big game for them. He doesn’t expect all the season ticket holders to
  show up, but the students will be there and they will be loud. They are very
  good. They are ranked #3 in the country. They are a very physical team.
• It will be a really interesting opening month of the season. Kansas State,
  Purdue, Virginia, Penn State, etc. Greenberg can’t imagine a more
  challenging schedule. However, this is a veteran team. Tech’s seniors should
  be better than other team’s younger players this early in the season.
• Victor Davila has to defend the basket and rebound the ball. He’s not
  finishing as well as he has in the past right now, but he should be fine.

• No
  matter how much you practice against the scout team, you can’t get an
  accurate feel of the speed of the Georgia Tech offense until you actually
  play against them. Once the Hokies got their feet under them on Thursday
  night, they were fine. It took a couple of series, but they played well.
• Nesbitt going out was good for the Hokies, but the backup did a good job.
  He gave them a chance to win the game.
• Tech has a young team, especially on defense. Carmichael thinks that has
  contributed to the tough starts at times. However, they are a defense that
  plays better as the game goes on. They certainly don’t have any quit in
  them. They hang in there together.
• Tech played zone most of the game, but at times they would switch to man
  when Georgia Tech sent a guy in motion. The GT coaches picked up on that and
  started running guys in motion to get more man coverage. They got caught
  going from zone to man on Carmichael’s interception, and he was able to make
  the play.
• Bud Foster was very intense last week. Carmichael would have liked to have
  seen Foster get a chance to come in the game and play a few snaps at
  linebacker.
• Josh Nesbitt is a competitor and he has a lot of heart. He’s not a
  prototypical quarterback, but he’s a guy Carmichael wouldn’t mind having on
  his team.
• T.J. Yates is very good. Carmichael owes him one for throwing a touchdown
  pass on him last year. They like to go for the big play downfield, with
  double moves and triple moves. He does a good job of giving his receivers a
  chance of making a play. With the way the Tech secondary is playing, it
  should be a great game.
• Carmichael’s message to the younger players is that football is a team
  sport. Everybody has to do his job. That’s how you play defense.
• When Carmichael first game in, guys he looked up to were Josh Morgan,
  Xavier Adibi, Brandon Flowers and Macho Harris. Josh Morgan did a lot for
  him, and he’s tried to do the same for the younger players, whether it’s
  advice on the field or a ride to class. It’s tough making that transition
  from high school to college, and somebody has to be there for them.
• When Carmichael first got to Tech, he spent a lot of time with Vincent
  Fuller, who was around for the summer. He learned a lot from Fuller, and now
  he’s getting a chance to repay him by mentoring his little brother, Kyle.
• There’s a tight bond amongst the players, all day long. That’s the key to
  being successful, especially on defense. It’s an 11-man machine.
• After the two losses, Tech wanted to take it one game at a time. They’ve
  done that, and because of that it makes the next game even more important.
  They competition is definitely about to step up.
• UNC came in and did the right things in last year’s game. Tech has to come
  out and play VT ball. Carmichael is going to ask Foster to show the team
  some film of the old school Tech defenses, with Cornell Brown and that
  group. He’s shown them film of the Jimmy Williams era of the early days of
  the ACC already.
• Carmichael graduated last spring. That was big for his family. With the
  degree in his pocket, this year has been more a relaxed time. Basically all
  he does now is practice and play football. That’s a perfect day for him.
• Thursday was fun, and it was fun to make that big play, but he’ll look at
  that film and enjoy it after the season. Right now they still have a job to
  do. Hopefully he’s got a few more like that left in him.

• Tech
  had a very good practice on Monday, and it certainly needs to be very good
  all week. This will be a major challenge on Saturday.
• The win on Thursday was very satisfying. Anytime somebody beats you the
  year before, and it’s a division game, it makes it even bigger the next
  year. It was a great win.
• The Georgia Tech offense moves off the ball very quickly, and they run
  that offense very efficiently. It’s very difficult to simulate in practice
  with Virginia Tech’s scout team. It makes it difficult to prepare for.
• The offensive line graded out well against Georgia Tech, and they
  continued to improve. The big thing VT was missing on Thursday were big
  plays, those 20+ yard plays. But overall, the offense continues to improve.
• Al Groh and Frank Spaziani had the same kind of philosophy against the
  Hokies. They schemed to keep Tech’s talented athletes in front of them and
  not give up the big play. They are both very good defensive coaches.
• Guys like Michael Vick and Tyrod Taylor are very good quarterbacks, and
  when you throw in their athletic ability, it’s a very hard thing to defend.
  Do you blitz them? Do you try to keep them in the pocket? Do you spy? It’s
  very difficult. Taylor is very good at finding guys downfield when he’s
  scrambling.
• Beamer is a semifinalist for the first annual Joe Paterno Award for Coach
  of the Year. Beamer was a GA at Maryland, and not much good was said about
  Paterno because Penn State would constantly beat Maryland. However, when
  Beamer and his wife Cheryl went on their first Nike trip, they had a layover
  in California, and they ran into Paterno and his wife in the airport and
  they spent a lot of time with them. Beamer likes him a lot. He’s got a great
  way about him, and he’s been great for college football. He wins football
  games, and he stresses academics.
• There is always a very thin line between being very good and not so good.
  Texas played for the National Championship last year, and handed Nebraska
  their only loss of the season so far. Yet the Longhorns are only 4-5, and
  they were trailing Kansas State 39-0 at one point last week. There are good
  players and good coaches on that team, but there is a very thin line.
• Beamer talks to his team a lot about what should happen isn’t necessarily
  what always happens. They prepare for that each and every week.
• Dyrell Roberts is in the hospital with compartment syndrome. He’s going to
  be okay, but it will probably be late in the week before he gets out of the
  hospital. Beamer plans to go see him a couple of more times this week.
• Beamer hasn’t talked to Butch Davis since the preseason, before all the
  UNC news broke. Saturday will be the first time they’ve talked to each other
  since then. Stuff like what happened at UNC can happen anywhere. You just
  have to educate your kids about agents, and then trust them to do the right
  thing.
• Beamer said he has never had a handler approach him and tell him that he
  could have a recruit for a certain amount of money. He hopes he has the
  reputation that he’s not the type of guy that you can say that to.
• T.J. Yates is playing great this season. He was very accurate and in
  control against Florida State, as you’d expect from a r-senior. He’s got
  some receivers, but Dwight Jones is the real deal. He’s a tall guy who can
  run and make tough catches. UNC is a very talented football team.
• UNC basically has everybody back now, except for a few guys on defense and
  a couple of injuries. They are hitting on all cylinders right now. They have
  talent, and they are playing well as a team. This will be a major challenge.
• If you are going to have a good season, you have to play well in November.
  It doesn’t matter what other teams do. If the Hokies take care of their own
  business, they will play for the ACC Championship.
• Rashad Carmichael is a talented guy, and he has a big heart. He cares
  about the team very much, and his teammates know that.

Monday was Day 2,172 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.