Tech Talk Live notes for September 8, 2014

Charley Wiles

Tech took care of business in Columbus, and he couldn’t be more proud of the players or more happy for Frank Beamer.

You really get caught up in the game once it starts and you don’t pay a lot of attention to the crowd.  You live and die with every play.  Play the next play.  Don’t get caught up in the previous play.  The players do that, and that’s how the coaches coach.

Ohio State could never get into their sweep game.  The Hokies took it away.  They like to attack the perimeter with extra blockers, and Tech took that away.  The quarterback position is a big part of what they do there, and the Hokies knew they had to keep them off the perimeter.  Tech knew what their options would be once they took that away, and they also visited with Scot Loeffler who coached with Urban Meyer at Florida.

Tech’s corners held up really well.  They threw the ball at Kendall Fuller too much.  The Hokies had a lot of great performances on the defensive side of the ball.

The Hokies put Ohio State in a position where they had to throw the football, and then Bud Foster opened up his entire playbook of blitzes.

Tech has to move on from the Ohio State win to make sure they can build on it.

Dadi Nicolas was the 247Sports National Defensive Player of the Week.  When he plays his tail off, he’s really good.  He is ultra competitive and he has so many tools.  Woody Baron and Nigel Williams are coming along.  Williams had a solid camp.  Woody Baron joined camp late.  Wiles wants to see the second team try to go be playmakers.  They are guys who haven’t played a lot.  He has high expectations for Seth Dooley.  Dewayne Alford has been pretty good.

Tech fans were big time on Saturday night.  The Hokies took a great crowd to Columbus.  They made a difference.

The illegal hands to the face could have been a no-call.  It was more in his neck/throat area.  Wiles hates it that the call took Corey Marshall’s sack away.  That’s going to happen sometimes.

Wiles hopes Corey Marshall will be ready to go on Saturday.  He is getting regular treatment.

ECU’s quarterback Shane Carden is a senior and very accurate.  They haven’t changed.  They do what they do and do it well.  They are a little better up front this season.  They got a couple of JUCOs up front in the offseason that has helped them.  ECU always plays Tech close.  The Hokies have a lot of respect for them.  This is about Tech continuing to get better and building on the OSU win.

Frank Beamer

Beating a team like Ohio State and playing as well as the Hokies played should really boost confidence.  Beamer is really proud of how his players handled themselves, both on the trip and during the game.  There were a lot of good things to build off of.  He told the team there is no reason they can’t play like that each week.

Beamer is really impressed with Michael Brewer.  He handles himself well.  He knows how to play quarterback.  Mark Leal is really good, too.  He has to be ready to play; Brewer took some big shots against Ohio State.

Three freshmen scored touchdowns against Ohio State: Shai McKenzie, Marshawn Williams and Bucky Hodges.  This is a really good class of freshmen.  They handled themselves well in a very big stadium.

Beamer complimented the fans on their performance on Saturday night.  He is glad the students got to celebrate downtown after the game.  He is really appreciative of the fans who showed up at Cassell at 4am to meet the team.

Beamer has heard from a lot of people he hasn’t heard from in a long time since Saturday’s game.  It’s a big win now, but it will only stay big if the Hokies go on to have a good season.

They have to focus on East Carolina.  They have to take it one play at a time.  We’ll find out what kind of maturity this team has this weekend.

Beamer plans to teach Bucky Hodges some dancing moves on Wednesday morning at 6am.

Sean Huelskamp tore up his knee, unfortunately.  The walkon linebacker was making a big impact on special teams.  He’ll be back, and there will be a spot for him on this team.

Tech has to clean up the penalties.  It’s the first time since Frank Beamer has been at Tech since the Hokies have had double digit penalties in three straight games, dating back to the bowl game.  He addressed it with the team after the Ohio State game.

The OSU win is a big win if Tech builds on it.  That starts this Saturday.  They are a very good and very dangerous team.  They throw it very well.  Beamer is hoping for a great turnout at the Walk and at the game..  The team and fans are all in it together.

Monday was day 3,572 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.