Blog Nation, it’s time to say goodbye to 2007. What a year, huh? Thanks for another season of sticking with me, clicking here often and nearly doubling the numbers from last year.
 
I expect 2008 to be full of interesting moments, starting with the Orange Bowl in three days and continuing right on through a whole other football season – one in which Tech will be trying to replace A LOT of talent and experience.
 
Don’t think too hard on that tonight, because it’ll drive you to drink. Oh, wait …
 
Well, you should just raise a glass to a pretty impressive bunch of seniors, and at least one stellar underclassman who might be leave … but all of whom have contributed to what I think is a surge in Tech’s program.
 
In fact, I’ll have a story on game day about what these seniors have meant to the Hokies. Remember, before they came in and many of them started playing right away in 2004, Tech had been on a disappointing skid.
 
Collapses of 2002 and 2003 had some wondering if the program had leveled off after the 1999 national title run. This group, though, sparked a streak of success that was unprecedented in Blacksburg.
 
42 wins. Two ACC titles. Another title game appearance. Two BCS bowls. Time in the top-10 national rankings every season. With that success, recruiting has also seen a spike. The Hokies are getting more top-tier prospects than ever before.
 
It’s an amazing period of prosperity at Tech, and I’d say this senior class has a lot to do with it.
 
As for the most likely non-senior to leave the fold (sorry, I know it’s a sore subject) … I’ll have a story on corner Brandon Flowers tomorrow. Until then, ring in the new year with some of the interviews for that story.
 
And some quick stuff from QBs Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor – including their thoughts on Kansas players saying Tech’s two-QB system is predictable. Interesting …
 
*** CB BRANDON FLOWERS
 
ON KANSAS’ DANGEROUS SCORING CAPABILITIES: “Some people just drive down and don’t have a good red zone offense, they get threes. But put 76 points on Nebraska just shows what they’re capable of. They can put points up quick, and we don’t want to get behind early. So we have to come out ready to play in the first quarter.”
 
ON PREVENTING TOUCHDOWNS: “If they get down there, just don’t let them get in the end zone. That’s our territory. We’ve got to man up and protect it. We pride ourselves in that, even in training camp and in practice, we don’t want the offense in the end zone, because seven and three is a big difference.”
 
ON WHAT IT MEANS TO PLAY THIS GAME IN, ESSENTIALLY, HIS HOME TOWN: “It feels real good. Some of my family weren’t fortunate enough to drive to every game like my dad. So just to have the rest of my family here with my dad, it’s going to feel like a homecoming. It’s going to feel real good to look up in the stands knowing my whole family’s supporting me. I can’t wait until Thursday.”
 
ON HOW MANY FAMILY MEMBERS WILL BE THERE: “I’m not even sure. I need like 60 tickets, but I haven’t gotten near as many as I need. Hopefully a couple guys will have extra tickets for me later on this week.”
 
ON WHETHER HIS FAMILY WILL WITNESS HIS FINAL GAME AS A HOKIE: “I don’t know if this is going to be my last game or not. I haven’t talked to my family about this decision yet, and I haven’t talked to the coaches.”
 
ON GETTING HIS PAPERWORK BACK FROM THE NFL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WHICH SLOTTED HIM AS A SECOND-ROUNDER IF HE COMES OUT: “I don’t know if they were grading hard, or if that was my exact grade, so I didn’t really pay attention to it. I’m just going to go out here and try to make plays like I always make plays, and everything will fall in place.”
 
ON PLAYING A TOP OFFENSE ON A BIG STAGE LIKE THIS BEING A GOOD NFL AUDITION: “Definitely. If I wanted to go out, I would want to go out playing against an offense like this, to see where I’m at. The best always want to play the best, and I feel like Kansas is one of the best offenses in the country – if not the best. All of us are looking forward to taking the field, just to see where we’re at.”
 
ON THINKING ABOUT HOW A BIG GAME COULD AFFECT HIS DRAFT STATUS: “I’ve thought about it, but I’m not trying to think about it too much. I don’t want to press, like I have to make this play, I want to make this play here. If plays come, I’m going to try to make them.”
 
ON THIS PROCESS BEING A DISTRACTION: “It could get distracting but … my mom, she tells me just settle down, take it one game at a time, and we’ll get through this after the season, when you’re done. So I’ve just been listening to her, keeping my head on my shoulders. I owe it to my brothers on this team to be focused all on the game, not whether I’m going to leave or not.”
 
ON WHETHER HE’LL SIT DOWN WITH BEAMER AND/OR FOSTER: “I will. I want to discuss it with my coach. I want to discuss it with my family. I want everybody there at one time. I’m just going to try to figure out what’s in the best interest for me and for my family.”
 
ON BEING HAPPY IN BLACKSBURG, THOUGH: “Definitely. That’s why I’m not really rushing to get out of here. My grades are fine, I’m close to getting my degree, I love my coaches, I love the way the team plays. I’m definitely not rushing to get out of Blacksburg. I love it in Blacksburg. I wouldn’t have any problem coming back if I had to.”
 
ON WHETHER THERE’S APPEAL TO COMING BACK FOR ONE MORE YEAR TO STUDY UNDER SECONDARY COACH TORRIAN GRAY: “Definitely. With Coach Gray, you know every year you’re going to get better and better. He’s definitely going to be hard on me next year if I decide to come back, and that’s what I like.”
 
ON THE EVENTS OF APRIL 16TH: “You don’t expect stuff like that to happen in Blacksburg. You’ve probably heard that a million times, but you just don’t. Once it happened, reality set in. We just started thinking every day is not promised. Spirits were down around there, and we felt like it was on us to pick the spirit back up. Winning this game in the Orange Bowl, topping it off with a BCS bowl game, I think we could raise the spirit even more around Blacksburg.”
 
ON A DREAM GAME TO WRAP UP THE SEASON: “Just playing in Dolphin Stadium, period. I used to come to the games down here when I was young and watch the Dolphins play. Just going out on a big stage, playing against a high-powered offense let’s you know where you’re at. I’m looking forward to it.”
 
ON A FAVORITE GAME HE WATCHED AT DOLPHIN STADIUM: “I used to just love when the Raiders would come to town. Most of my family were either Dolphins or Raiders fans. So it was just a rivalry our family had.”
 
ON TALKING TO HIS PARENTS ABOUT HIS DECISION TO GO PRO, AND WHAT THEY SAY: “They’re going to be alright. Whatever decision I make, they’re going to support me 100 percent. We said we’re going to pray, and God’s going to make the decision clear about it, whatever I should do. When it comes time to make my decision, I’m going to be 100 percent with it, because all I’m going to do is pray about it and everything should fall in place.”
 
ON RELISHING THE CHALLENGE OF THIS GAME: “I think anybody in the secondary who loves to take on challenges … I just love playing against real good competition. I can’t wait to go out there.’
 
MORE ON DOLPHIN STADIUM: “It’s crazy. For us, a dream come true. Just knowing that I’m playing in the stadium where I used to go as a little kid to watch football. It’s definitely special. I used to go to two or three games every year. I think my dad wanted to take me to Dolphins games just to see what the atmosphere was like, keep me driving, trying to get where I want to go. Just to see it in person, I think that just stuck with me forever. I just loved it. Everybody dreams about going to the NFL.”
 
ON BEING GLAD HE NEVER HAD TO DEFEND DAN MARINO: “Oh, yeah, Marino could thread the needle. But I love playing against the best, so I’d have loved to see how it worked out.”
 
*** MACHO HARRIS
 
ON NOT CUTTING HIS HAIR UNTIL A NATIONAL TITLE, AND WHETHER HE’LL BE HERE NEXT YEAR TO CHASE ONE: “That’s my plan. I was just trying to see where I stand (with the NFL). Other than that, I’m looking forward to playing for Virginia Tech next year.”
 
ON WHETHER FLOWERS WILL LEAVE: “You know, he’s got his own situation. Whatever he needs to do, he’s got to do. I don’t know what he’s going to do. He can’t make a bad decision.”
 
*** BUD FOSTER
 
ON FLOWERS, SUPPORTING HIM IF HE GOES TO THE NFL: “Without a doubt, I’m going to support him. He’s been an All-American for us, he’s been a consistent player, a playmaker. We’re going to miss that.”
 
ON SAYING HE’LL MISS HIM, AND WHETHER THAT MEANS HE THINKS FLOWERS IS GOING TO LEAVE: “I think he is. I don’t know that. We have not sat down and talked about it. But from everything I’m hearing, it wouldn’t surprise me if he does that. If not, I’m going to be happy as heck to have him back.”
 
ON HOW READY FLOWERS IS: “It’s hard to say. Do I think he’s an outstanding football player for that level? Yes, I do. There’s a lot of factors that go into being able to continue to play at a high level at that level, but he has all the tools to do that.”
 
*** QB SEAN GLENNON
 
ON HIS LATE-SEASON SURGE, AFTER BEING BENCHED IN WEEK 2: “I’ve never doubted my ability to play at this level. How I’ve been playing lately is how expected to be playing. I don’t look at it as this magical performance. I’m blessed to be out there playing well, but it’s definitely not a surprise to me.”
 
ON SUBMITTING PAPERWORK TO THE NFL ADVISORY COMMITTEE: “I think people make a big deal … I was just curious to see where I stand with the NFL, to see my current status and how much harder I need to work to get where I need to be. That’s all it really is, to know where I stand, maybe know what their critiques are for me. I have a goal for myself, so let’s see how close I am to that goal.”
 
ON THE DRASTIC REDUCTION IN INTERCEPTIONS THIS SEASON: “Just evolving as a quarterback. Last year was my first year starting. I’m going to make some mistakes. But the key is to learn from them. Since I came back, it feels like all the pieces of the puzzle are falling in place.”
 
ON LOOKING AT KANSAS’ DEFENSE ON FILM: “They’re an underrated unit. The whole season, all I knew is everybody keeps talking about their offense. But you never heard anything about their defense. Come to find out, they’re top-15 in the country in scoring defense. They’ve got an All-American corner, an All-American defensive tackle, and to be honest, their other corner covers almost as well as Talib. They’re just so solid. They’re definitely an underrated unit. When people talk about Kansas, they should give a little more props to their defense.”
 
ON KANSAS CORNER AQIB TALIB SAYING IT WAS EASIER TO PREPARE FOR THE TWO-QB SYSTEM BECAUSE EACH ONE ONLY DOES SPECIFIC THINGS, ONE A RUNNER, ONE A PASSER: “(Grinning) If they want to think when Tyrod’s only going to use his feet, and when I’m there, I’m only going to use my arm, that will work to our advantage. Both of us have shown that, although we might be strong in one area, we can do both. If they want to defend only the run on Tyrod … I think he can complete a pass or two (grinning). If that’s how they want to prepare for us, that’s fine.”
 
ON HAVING TO GUARD AGAINST PREDICTABILITY, THOUGH: “Obvioulsy, there are certain plays you’d classify as Tyrod plays and certain plays you’d classify as plays for me. But the key is to not give them a 100 percent dosage of it, keep them on their toes. If they want to defend 100 percent against the run on Tyrod, that could come back to bite them.”
 
*** QB TYROD TAYLOR
 
ON KANSAS CORNER AQIB TALIB: “Reminds me a lot of a guy we have on our team, Brandon Flowers. A good playmaker. Just have to watch out for him.”
 
ON THE TWO-QB SYSTEM: “It’s very difficult to prepare for us, because we’re two totally different quarterbacks. He’s more of a pocket passer and I can run around a little bit. Game time, we don’t know when we’re going in and they don’t either.”
 
ON TALIB FROM KANSAS SAYING THE TWO-QB SYSTEM IS ACTUALLY EASIER TO DEFEND BECAUSE THEY’RE PREDICTABLE: “I’m very glad they think that. Some people could look at it like that, but certain games I did go in there and pass for a lot of yards.”
 
ON HAVING TO GUARD AGAINST PREDICTABILITY: “Yes, we do. And that’s what we’re practicing on this week, and we’ll continue to practice to throw off the Kansas defense.”