A decade of change in recruiting

I was working on a look back at the 2005 WVU game, but a section I was doing for that article turned out to be too big.  Thus, it’s getting an article all to itself.

Every single defender in this picture is a Virginian.

Virginia Tech’s 2005 defense was comprised almost entirely of in-state players.  All of the starters – save one – hailed from the state of Virginia.  Nine of those 10 starters were from the Tidewater area, or the 757 as we traditionally call it: Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, etc.

Actually, if you think about it, most of the main offensive guys were from Virginia as well: Marcus Vick, Cedric Humes, Mike Imoh, Eddie Royal, Jimmy Martin, Will Montgomery, Jeff King, and probably a couple of others that I’m forgetting about.  However, for the sake of the length of this article, we’re just going to focus on the defense.

Here’s a list of the 2005 defensive starters:

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