Kyle Tucker

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Category: Va. Tech football

Scrimmage No. 2 not so ugly as the first ...

Aug 08

7:34 PM

((EDIT: Wow. I just realized I posted a massive collection of notes with only passing mentions of the QBs. Well ... the way I see it ... they're still dead-even. They haven't done anything, nor have the coaches said anything, that would lead me to believe either has a significant edge. Both threw the ball very well today. Tyrod Taylor had a potential long run negated by a hold (and his yellow jersey), but Sean Glennon actually moved around very well in the pocket and even scrambled for a good gain himself. These two are in a tighter race than Olympic Legend Michael Phelps' nail-biter last night.))

I’ll be back in a bit to post reaction from coaches and players after today’s scrimmage, but I wanted to go ahead and clean out my notebook first … get you the meat and potatoes, so to speak, as quick as possible.

So below these quickie stats, courtesy VT sports info, you’ll find all the notable stuff I jotted down during Tech’s second game-like workout, a 96-play affair that mostly pitted the first offense against the second-string defense, and vice versa.

PASSING: Tyrod Taylor 10-14, 101 yards, no TD, no INT; Sean Glennon 11-16, 63 yards, no TD, no INT.

RUSHING: Ryan Williams 7 carries, 23 yards; Josh Oglesby 8-21; Kenny Lewis 7-19, TD; Jahre Cheeseman 7-17; Greg Boone 3-12, 2 TD.

RECEIVING: Ike Whitaker 4 catches, 39 yards; Dyrell Roberts 3-13; Xavier Boyce 2-18; Greg Boone 2-17; Andre Smith 2-10; Jarrett Boykin 1-17; Zach Luckett 1-14.

PUNTING: Brent Bowden 4 punts, 42.5 average, long of 60; Brian Saunders 4-41.0.

DEFENSE: LB Brett Warren 6 tackles, DE Jason Worilds 4 tackles, 1 for loss; CB Eddie Whitley 4 tackles; LB Jake Johnson 4 tackles; DE Nekos Brown 4 tackles, 1 for loss; DE Orion Martin 2 tackles for loss, one sack.

FIELD GOALS: Matt Waldron made 28, missed 25; Dustin Keys made 26, 31; Tim Pisano made 24, missed 39.

* Ervin Garner is probably too small (both height and weight) to be a big-time threat at receiver, but he can help in the return game. He’s ultra fast and on the day’s first punt, he side-stepped Orion Martin, who had Garner in his cross-hairs. Garner broke loose, made three guys miss and took it back 31 yards. But Garner later hurt his bid for playing time when he muffed another punt. He tried to fair-catch it inside his own 10-yard line, but it doinked off his chest. TE Greg Boone, the star of the day, was there to pounce on it in the end zone for a touchdown.

* Speaking of Boone … The first loud “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!” chant – from a crowd of probably 4,000-6,000 – came early, against the second-team defense, when Boone snagged a short pass, turned up field and rumbled forward for 11 yards. It took about five guys to tackle him. Later, he took an inside handoff, exploded through the hole and trucked safety Dorrian Porch, lowering his shoulder to pick up eight yards. At different points today, the 275-pound Boone lined up out wide, in the slot, at H-back, tight end and as a fullback (I think). He caught three balls and scored on RUNS of 1 and 3 yards … cutting back inside on the second one, lowering his shoulder and deflecting a defender on the way to the end zone. What a weapon this guy could be for the Hokies.

* Ike Whitaker, the former QB, is really making a bid to play at receiver. He is seizing an opportunity presented by all the uncertainty at the position. The highlight of his four catches: against the first-string defense, Whitaker made a leaping grab at the sideline on a high throw from Tyrod Taylor. It was good for 13 yards and a first down. He didn’t have a drop all day.

* PENALTIES: Boy, there were a lot. Twelve for 80 yards, to be exact. Most were on the second-string offensive line. Tech’s starting defense threw a lot of movement and blitzes at the youngsters and they were flagged for several false starts and a couple of holds. That second unit, on consecutive plays, was whistled for two false starts and a hold. The first-string line wasn’t immune, jumping a couple of times, too. Because of this, rushing stats are skewed. The backs were all better today and some of their runs – or plays that would’ve been runs in short-yardage situations – were wiped out by all the flags.

* Punter Brent Bowden is going to get some national recognition this season. That kid crushes the ball. Hits ‘em long, hits ‘em high, hits ‘em consistently. On Garner’s gaffe, Bowden hung it up so long, the coverage team was thundering down on the poor return guy, which probably contributed to the mental lapse.

* RB Ryan Williams was much, much, much better today. Along with his 23 yards rushing, he caught two balls, one of which was a screen he turned up the field for eight yards. I’ll post quotes from him and RB coach Billy Hite in a bit, but they both felt good about his day. I think he’s back solidly in the mix to play this year. He was shifty, speedy and managed to run successful right up the gut a few times, too. Bigger still: Only one mental mistake. He went the wrong way on one play but redirected himself and still made the block. Solid day. BUT … he continues his rude introduction to college football. Twice, Williams put on nifty juke-moves to elude a defender … only to get HAMMERED by another. Matt Reidy popped Williams the first time. The second time? Just WOW. Williams had a video-game-like spin move to lose one guy. Almost instantaneously, though, DT John Graves (yep a D-TACKLE), came flying in and leveled the rookie. It was nasty.

* It looks more and more likely that three true freshmen will play at receiver: Dyrell Roberts, Jarrett Boykin and Xavier Boyce. They all had impressive moments today. Boyce caught two passes, one of which was a leaping grab from Glennon at the sideline. He showed good hands and body control on the play. He made another nice catch and shed a defender to pick up double-digit yards, but it was wiped out by a block in the back. Boyce is a towering target with good hands and smooth moves after the catch. Not a dancer, just very fluid in motion. The other guy who’s name starts with “Boy” … Boykin … had just one ball thrown his way, but he made the most of it. Sat down hard on a comeback route, got open, made the catch, turned it up and made CB Eddie Whitley miss, picking up 17 yards. Maybe if Boyce and Boykin hit the big-time at Tech, they could be called the BOYS. Get it? Eh. Onward … Finally, Tech tried to get the ball in Roberts’ hands a lot today. He caught three passes and ran a reverse, which DE Orion Martin sniffed out. But he made the play of the day in the return game. Taking a kickoff from the goal line, Roberts got to top speed in a hurry – only slowing up briefly to follow his blocks – and ripped down the left sideline for 55 yards. He’s definitely a playmaker in the making.

* I mentioned Whitley a moment ago, and while he got beat on that play, it was the only such instance I saw today. There hasn’t been any talk of Whitley playing this year, but that’s probably only because Tech is fairly deep at corner. Whitley is a guy who regularly stands out. He’s like a baby Brandon Flowers – a corner who seems to LOVE hitting. Three times today, Whitley closed on receivers just as they were making a catch and smacked them. He also won an in-air battle with Roberts. Looks like he’ll be a good one for Tech down the road. (Or maybe this year, should there be an injury two.)

* The running back race is as muddled as ever after today. The good news, though, is that Billy Hite was happy with all his guys after this scrimmage. Not so after the first one. Hite said all the tailbacks ran more north and south than sideways this time out – with the exception of a goal-line situation where Josh Oglesby seemed to have an easy touchdown but stretched it out to wide and was knocked out of bounds by corner Rashad Carmichael. But that just set up Boone for a 1-yard TD plunge. All the backs picked up their blocking assignments today and each of them had at least one nice run. Kenny Lewis needed just two carries to score from the 5-yard-line. At this point … I have absolute zero idea who (or how many) will be toting the rock for Tech in the opener.

* LB Purnell Sturdivant and SS Davon Morgan were the day’s wood-layers. Popping people, standing up ball-carriers and driving them back. Sturdivant was more vocal than I’ve ever seen him. Screaming, talking to the offense and encouraging his fellow defenders after almost every play. Looks like he’s loving every minute of his one and only year as a starter.

* If you’re wondering about the veteran receivers … your penciled-in starters … Danny Coale had a pair of drops. One was a nice ball from Glennon in the back of the end zone. Hit Coale in the hands. In fairness, Morgan was draped over his back when the ball arrived. Meanwhile, Zach Luckett didn’t get a lot of looks but made one really nice grab. Glennon threw a strike on an out route and Luckett hauled it in, all hands, in stride at the sideline, sprinting ahead for a 14-yard gain.

OK, that’s all for now. I have to crank out something for the actual newspaper. (Did you guys know we still print those?) Then I’ll return with interviews.

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