Kyle Tucker
Need a daily Hokie football fix? Virginian-Pilot writer Kyle Tucker, in his sixth season on the Virginia Tech beat, is your man in Blacksburg. Read stories from Kyle on the college football channel.
Category: Va. Tech football
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■ 25 September 2008 | 8:44 PM
Seeing red, which is exactly what I want in a steak ...
You’re looking LIVE at the Land of Corn! Yep, I’m here in Lincoln … exhausted, sick, with a back barking over the two-connection, seven-hour flight plan. BUT … I am buoyed by my afternoon visit to Memorial Stadium.
That place, dear readers, is a concrete cathedral. I love college football and, as such, living museums like this just make me feel something special. It was a tingly sort of day. But maybe that was my bad back.
I spent a few minutes chatting with coaching legend Tom Osborne – one of the more surreal interview moments for me, since I still remember being 13, dancing around my living room when Osborne won his first national title after such a LONG wait.
Much of the rest of my day was spent gawking at the stunning facilities. The new athletic wing, named for Osborne, is absurdly nice. The sprawling new weight room is fit for beefing up the finest Nebraska cattle (one of which I will take a chunk out of for dinner tonight).
Also got some one-on-one time with Bo Pelini, who clearly understands the importance of football to the people of this state, and embraces the traditions that once made the Huskers THE most dominant program in America.
I’ll be bloggin’ all of that tomorrow. Until then, though, I’ll give you the remainder of my recordings from Blacksburg this week.
I have a story running on freshman receiver Jarrett Boykin tomorrow. Why? Because physically, he’s the most prototypical receiver Tech has right now. And because he’s getting mentally sharper by the week. And because the Hokies HAVE to find some production in the passing game to have a chance against Nebraska Saturday. And because I have a hunch Boykin is on the verge of emerging as a go-to guy.
So, there you have it. And here you have all my interviews for that story, plus a few extras. (P.S. I’d be lying if I said this story wasn’t partially hatched because it gave me an excuse to talk to Boykin’s high school teammate, Eddie Whitley, the BEST talker on the team, as I’ve often mentioned.)
I hear cow (or dinner? or both?) bells ringing, so here goes, and see you here tomorrow …
CB EDDIE WHITLEY
ON HIS OLD HIGH SCHOOL TEAMMATE, WR JARRETT BOYKIN, AND WHETHER TECH WAS REALLY AFTER HIM BEFORE WHITLEY TOLD THEM ABOUT HIM: “Not really. A little bit. Probably the middle of our junior year, Coach Sherman came down and our coach called us all in his office and we met him. And Boykin told me: I really want to go here. So I told him, yeah, I’d try to put in a good word. But I was like, ‘Look, you’ve got to come out this season and ball out.’ The first couple games (their senior year), he was scoring two, three touchdowns a game. I told Coach Sherman: Look at him. You’re looking for wide receivers. Look at him. He’s big, elusive, got big hands. And probably the middle of the season, they offered him. He came up for the Florida State game. The atmosphere was crazy. He committed maybe the next week.”
ON WHETHER HE KNEW BOYKIN WOULD EVENTUALLY BE A BIG-TIME PLAYER: “I can’t say that. I knew him since middle school. We played against each other. He was about 5-8, 140. I was bigger than him. I’m like, ‘Man, this cat? This cat is slow, he can’t play.’ Then probably after our sophomore year, he just grew. He sprouted and started working hard. He got faster, stronger. He came out our junior year and had an injury, but started making big plays by the end of the year. Then I started to think maybe he could be a real player.”
ON IT BEING A SURPRISE, THOUGH: “I did not see it coming back in the day. I wouldn’t have predicted that. Nope, didn’t’ call that one. We have a little story together. I played quarterback and he was a defensive back (in middle school). We were at the goal line in a championship game, and I ran him over. I always pick on him about that. I always say, ‘Remember, back in the day I was bigger than you!’ It was crazy. Then he just started growing, like goodness gracious.”
ON WHAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT BOYKIN BY HIS SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL: “First game, I was thinking this cat was going to be something special. I tried to put it in VT’s head, that they needed to start looking for him.”
ON WHAT’S NEXT FOR BOYKIN: “I really look at him like another Josh Morgan. Big hands, big body, can run the field a little bit. I really think he’s going to be the next big Josh Morgan on this campus.”
ON BOYKIN’S STRENGTH: “Our junior year, all the sudden, he was big and strong. I went against him in practice -- I was jamming him -- and I was like, ‘Gracious, this is not the same guy.’ And you should see his hands. You gotta see ‘em. Humongous! He can catch anything, one hand or two.”
ON THEIR MATCH-UPS AT TECH PRACTICE THIS FALL: “We’re even. He’s a scholarship player. I’m a scholarship player, so he’s going to make some plays. He’s doing real good. He keeps me on my toes. He’s making me work. I’m making him work. In the next couple years, we’re going to start dominating everybody.”
ON TRAVELING TO NEBRASKA THIS WEEKEND: “It’s going to be big. They say it’s going to be a blackout. I know the crowd’s going to be booing us. Those are the games I love. I love to step up to the occasion, step up to the challenge, and shut up the crowd. Most teams’ home crowd really roots them on, keeps them in the game. But just like Carolina, when we started shutting them down in the second down, the crowd started dying down. So we’re just going to go out to Nebraska and hit them in the mouth, keep that crowd low. It’s 239-some sellouts? Well, they can’t play for them. If we can shut them down a little bit, get that momentum on our side, we’ve got this game.”
WR COACH KEVIN SHERMAN
ON HOW MUCH MAN DEFENSE DOES NEBRASKA PLAY … AROUND 70 PERCENT OR MORE? “It’s here and there. They disguise their coverages real well, between man and zone. So we’re going to have to look at our keys and watch film and study, but I would say you’re correct: 70 percent or more. That’s just their head coach. That’s his mentality. That’s what he did when he was a defensive coordinator. And I wouldn’t expect anything otherwise.”
ON WR JARRETT BOYKIN, AND WHETHER HE WAS LOOKING AT HIM MUCH BEFORE WHITLEY GOT IN HIS EAR: “Well, I’d been watching him. Eddie committed early, and I knew Jarrett in his sophomore year was getting better and his junior year got a lot better. Then I think the thing we kept watching was his senior year, he got much, much better. That’s what he’s shown here in August and these last few weeks. He’s playing faster, playing consistent, and making plays.”
ON WHETHER BOYKIN’S RAW ABILITY AND ATHLETICISM IS EXCITING FOR HIM TO WORK WITH: “It is. It really is. All those young guys. We’re trying to mold them into what we want in our offense. Most importantly, guys who can make plays when we need them.”
ON BOYKIN HAVING THE TOOLS, BUT GETTING MUCH BETTER AS HE GETS THE MENTAL GAME DOWN: “Each week, hopefully we get better. With experience, things get better. Once he sees things and reacts to things, he’s a great talent and I think his best game is yet to happen. He’s got a bright future here.”
ON WHETHER BOYKIN IS A SLEEPER-TYPE GUY: “Oh, yeah. He didn’t pop out really until his senior year. Then everybody started to see what type of athletic ability he had. He has great hands, loves football, is tough and physical. We just need to keep getting him playing faster.”
ON WHAT SORT OF ROLE HE SEES DOWN THE ROAD FOR BOYKIN: “We’re going to try to get him on the field as much as possible. The guys that we feel like can be productive and help us win ballgames, we’re going to get them on the field.”
ON WHETHER HE’S MADE THE MOST PROGRESS FROM DAY 1 TO NOW OF ALL THE YOUNG WIDEOUTS: “I think they’ve all progressed. I think Jarrett, if you look at the other freshmen, Jarrett is really the only true guy who played receiver in high school. Dyrell Roberts played tailback. Xavier Boyce played kind of all over the place in high school. They all bring something different to the table, but we’re trying to mold them all into what we need at Virginia Tech: tough, physical football players.”
ON WHAT SPECIFIC THINGS HAVE SHOWN THAT THE LIGHT IS COMING ON FOR BOYKIN: “Once we cut some things (out of the playbook) and let them play fast, they saw it. They reacted. You could see the light coming on, them reacting, seeing things happen on the field, playing fast. We wanted to say, ‘Just run this route and play fast.’ It helps all of us. It helps our quarterbacks, helps our line, just to get better at what we do.”
ON HOW IMPRESSIVE BOYKIN IS PHYSICALLY: “He is (impressive). He’s still got to get in the weight room. There’s a lot of room for improvement, to get bigger, stronger, faster. I think he’s going to, and get better.”
ON HOW HE EARNED MORE PLAYING TIME LATELY: “Practicing better. Playing full speed. Stepping up and making plays. When we see that, we’re going to put our best 11 on the field.”
WR JARRETT BOYKIN
ON EDDIE WHITLEY’S STORY ABOUT RUNNING HIM OVER IN EIGHTH GRADE: “Yeah, I played for the Steelers. Eddie played for the Titans. It was like a game-changing play. They won the game off that, because he ran me over. But that was defense. I don’t play defense anymore.”
ON HOW MUCH HE GREW AFTER THAT: “I grew a couple inches going into ninth grade, put on extra weight. He can’t ever do that again. No way.”
ON HIS GROWTH SPURT: “I knew it was going to come, but I wanted it to come so bad, I just worked out more. I wanted to get physically bigger. I lifted my whole life, but going into ninth grade, that’s when I really got going.”
ON WHITLEY GIVING HIM GRIEF: “All the time. He always brings it up to friends, telling stories. I’m just like, ‘Man, don’t even tell that one anymore.’ We go up against each other a lot (in practice). I win now.”
ON THE BIGGEST ADJUSTMENT TO THE COLLEGE GAME: “It’s reading coverages and playing faster. Get off the ball, play fast, convert routes. Coach Sherman breaks it down in film a lot and I just watch it and apply it on the film. He always talks about mental toughness, and that’s something we’re all working on.”
ON WANTING TO BECOME ONE OF THIS OFFENSE’S PLAYMAKERS: “We need a playmaker, and I love to make plays. If it’s me that becomes the playmaker, I’d love to take that role and go do it. It’s natural for me. I would love for this to be the week that happens.”
ON WHAT THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS HAVE BEEN LIKE: “Just polishing up my skills. I was real excited to make some plays. It felt like I’m here, this is big-time football, and I’m actually making plays.”
ON WHETHER HE’D BE AT TECH IF NOT FOR WHITLEY: “I’d probably still be here because of the wide receiver situation. But him being here, that made it even better.”
ON THINKING HE NEEDED A BIG SENIOR SEASON LAST YEAR TO GET NOTICED: “I went into my senior year focusing on being the best wide receiver in North Carolina, and I came out No. 1. Carolina didn’t offer me, though. South Carolina, Illinois and a bunch of small schools offered.”
ON WHY VIRGINIA TECH: “Because they had four senior receivers leaving. Illinois was too far. I knew I’d have a chance here.”
ON HIS GOAL FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON: “To contribute. To become a playmaker. I would love for this to be the week for that to happen.”
ON THE SECRET TO HIS GAME: “My catching ability. I catch a lot of balls outside my frame. My hands are real big. I don’t know the measurements, but they’re fat. (Teammates) talk about them all the time. Guys call them meat hands. Or clubs. Yes, they’re real big, and they talk about them all the time. But this is what I use to catch balls.”
ON WHETHER IT HAS BEEN INTIMIDATING TO PLAY AS A FRESHMAN: “No. It feels normal to me. It’s a little more fast-paced, but I love football. So I’m happy to be playing. I wanted to come in and compete.”
CB STEPHAN VIRGIL
ON WAITING UNTIL THE VERY END TO MAKE A BIG PLAY IN FRONT OF HIS HOME-STATE CROWD LAST WEEK: “Yeah, it was a good time to get that. It was good. If I would’ve realized the situation, I would’ve taken a knee. I wasn’t going to knock it down, but I would’ve taken a knee. When I caught the ball and looked up, all I saw was green grass and a couple of blue jerseys, so I was just trying to make a play.”
ON HOW NERVOUS HE WAS DURING THE REVIEW ABOUT WHETHER HE FUMBLED: “I wasn’t nervous at all. I knew he took it from me when I hit the ground. (Bud) told me, ‘KNOW the SITUATION! Get DOWN! We don’t NEED a touchdown!’ But it was still a good play.”
ON HOW BIG IT WILL BE TO MAKE THOSE PLAYS THIS WEEK WITH NEBRASKA’S PASSING GAME: “We need to make those plays every week. They’re going to come out and try to hit our weak spots. The whole team is going to have to make big plays all day Saturday.”
ON WHETHER THIS IS AN EVEN BIGGER CHALLENGE FOR THE SECONDARY THAN UNC WAS: “Not really. They’ve got good receivers, but they’re not like the type of receivers UNC had. They’ve got nice, big receivers. Not as fast as UNC’s receivers, but they’re big and have good hands. It’s a different type of game from last week.”
ON THE KEY TO SHUTTING DOWN NEBRASKA’S OFFENSE: “Stopping the run. They’ve got to beat us in the air. They’re a big run team. They want to run it down your throat. We’ve got to stop the run first and make them throw the ball. Our secondary’s good enough to defend the pass.”
ON THE LATE STAND BY THE DEFENSE LAST WEEK: “That was good. Every week, you see something new in your weak spots. We just had to make adjustments, and we made the right adjustments, and at the end of the game we came out with the win.”
ON RECEIVER JARRETT BOYKIN: “He’s a good receiver. Nice, big hands, strong guy, too. He runs good routes. He’s a young guy. Coach is going to be on his back, because they expect big things of him this year.”
ON HOW EXCITED HE IS TO PLAY AT NEBRASKA: “I’m excited. Everybody grew up watching Nebraska play, that option team, them running it down people’s throat. It’s going to be a nice environment, but we’ve got to come in there and stop that.”
ON NEEDING TO MAKE PLAYS EARLY TO QUIET THE CROWD: “We’re going to have to make them early and make them often. They’re planning a blackout for Saturday, and we ain’t trying to have that. No.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRYAN STINESPRING
ON RECEIVER JARRETT BOYKIN BEING A SLEEPER RECRUIT LAST YEAR: “Well, Jarrett was a guy that really grew on us the more we were around him, the more film we saw from his senior year – what transpired from his junior year to his senior year. We just felt there was a great upside to him. There’s a size factor there. He can run. And he’s got a great set of hands. On film, everything was so natural to him catching the ball. Once he gets a little Gentry-fied around here, he’s going to get faster and stronger. There’s just a lot of upside to him. He’s probably a guy who, from the first practice session to this point, has made as much improvement as anybody on our field.”
ON THE PHYSICAL TOOLS BEING THERE, JUST NEEDING TO GET THE MENTAL PART DOWN: “The way he caught the ball in high school, the way he caught it in camp, he’s just got God-given ability, and now he’s starting to play a little faster. He’s gifted with his hands, gifted with his size. Now you see a little more confidence. We have to be very careful, though. Against North Carolina, in six snaps, we got six different coverages, which required different adjustments off every little concept that you have. We just have to be really good about keeping the package, what we’re asking the to do, simple to allow them to play fast. You saw against North Carolina: We were in and out of a lot of formations, empties, four wides, five wides, three wides. And sometimes it cost us. It shot us in the foot a couple times, got us in some really bad situations. So we have to be good about keeping it in perspective, allow the game to come to them, but still keep a thumb on them about continuing to improve and continue to ask more and more.”
ON WHETHER, AS THESE RECEIVERS DEVELOP, THE PASSING GAME WILL OPEN UP: “The passing game hasn’t been nearly as closed as everybody’s perceived it. 75 percent of our drop-back game, there’s always an alert throw for a deeper ball. Now, have we taken advantage of that all the time, as we would’ve last year? No. Have we tried to move the chains, just get profit off the passing game? Yes. Do we need to start looking, if there’s an opportunity, to get it down the field? Yes. But we have to be smart with the percentages. The deeper you throw down the field, the more the chances of long foul balls. You’ve just got to be good about picking and choosing those opportunities. We’ve got to get a little more productivity. But to answer your question: Yes, as we get more experienced, as the quarterbacks get more comfortable with the receivers, as we get more comfortable, then you’d certainly expect our passing game to start moving in that direction. This is the next test.”
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Comments
I like your article to begin with. As for Eddie's comments, well, lets just say that it's nice that people like to give the other team a comment that can be put on the Bulletin Board. From the comments I have seen from Beemer this week, I don't believe he thinks the same as Eddie, but maybe I am wrong. Good luck to you Eddie, and the rest of your team mates. I hope that you all play well, but you won't be able to "punch us in the mouth" and get us to back down. Nebraska is not north carolina... I promise you that! We are much better and knowledgable fans than any where else in the country. Just ask of your fans who happen to come to Lincoln!
EDDIE WHITLEY
Maybe Eddie needs to spend more time learning and less time talking. He's says Nebraska fans are going to be booing him, we don't boo the opposing team. Not through Switzer's Oklahoma Sooners, not through McCartney's Colorado Buffalos, not through the Penn States, Notre Dames and Florida States that we have been fortunate enough to have play on our field. And there will be no booing when Coach Beemer brings his team here. I will assure you that at the end of the game we will rise up and applaud the Hokies no matter if we win our lose. We do this out of respect for your program, your coach and your school, just like we have been doing for every program that has come to Lincoln for as far back as I can remember. See you in Lincoln, this ought to be a good one!!