Spring Bloggin', Volume 6 ...

Howdy, Hokies. Just a quick report today. Gotta hit the highway back through the mountains to the beach.

BUT ... on July 1, I will be moving to Blacksburg full-time. I’ll cover Tech sports year-round. So this blog will become much more regular. Until then, let’s finish up the spring game stuff.

Before I get to the rest of the post-game interviews, here’s a rundown of the spring awards:

* Top newcomers: RB Ryan Williams, WR Xavier Boyce * Outstanding leaders: QB Tyrod Taylor, FS Kam Chancellor * Most improved: C Michael Via, OT Andrew Lanier, OG Greg Nosal; LB Jake Johnson * Hustle in off-season workouts: C Beau Warren, LB Cody Grimm * Team-first player: OT Ed Wang, DT/DE John Graves * Exceptional spring: TE Chris Drager, DT Demetrius Taylor * Most valuable player: QB Tyrod Taylor, DE Nekos Brown

With that out of the way, I’ll finish emptying my spring game notebook. Keep checking back, though, this week for extended one-on-one interviews with RB Ryan Williams and DT Demetrius Taylor and D-line coach Charlie Wiles. (Stuff I gathered last week but have been delinquent in posting. Sorry!)

Enjoy ...

*** TE CHRIS DRAGER

ON WHETHER HE’S TRYING TO STEAL GREG BOONE’S JOB: “I’m just trying to compete with myself. I just need to get myself better. I’m not really worried about the depth chart right now. We’ve both been competing. We’ve both been pretty good.”

ON SOME TALK AFTER LAST SEASON OF MOVING HIM TO D-END: “There was talk, but it was never finalized. I prefer tight end, just because I’m more comfortable there, but I wouldn’t mind playing D-end.”

ON THE APPARENT CHEMISTRY BETWEEN HIM AND STARTING QB TYROD TAYLOR: “We came in together and we’ve been working together since we got here in ’07. We’ve got a lot of reps together, and it helps us. I don’t normally get that many passes, so it surprised me, but I just tried to take advantage of it. And I think I blocked pretty well, so it was a solid day.”

ON THE OFFENSE SEEMING TO HAVE SEVERAL MORE VIABLE WEAPONS THAN LAST SEASON: “Yeah, I think we have a lot weapons. We’ve got a compliment of running backs. Darren is more power, and Ryan has power and can fake people out. And then Boone and some young receivers coming up. Not to mention Tyrod.”

*** WR MARCUS DAVIS

ON NOT SULKING WHEN THEY TOLD HIM HE WASN’T THE BACK-UP QB ON MONDAY AND MOVED HIM BACK TO RECEIVER: “In my mind, I knew that Ju-Ju was going to be the better second quarterback, simply because he’s been there, he’s been through practices, he’s learned the system, he has that edge over me. So I was working at quarterback, doing my best, trying hard, competing and making him better. But at the same time, I was just trying to make myself better as an athlete. So when they told me they were going to move me back to receiver, it wasn’t anything down for me. That was just telling me that I can get out there and make plays now.”

ON HOW HE MADE THE MOVE SO SMOOTHLY: “It’s just going out there and playing football. That’s something I like to do. I haven’t played football in over a year (actually, just a few months) with my injury. This is my first time playing in front of all those fans. This is like my first game to me. So I just couldn’t wait to get out there and do what I do best.”

ON SPENDING SOME TIME BEFORE HIS INJURY LAST AUGUST WITH THE RECEIVERS: “That helped a lot, because when it came back time to run routes and know formations, I still remembered it from the summertime. It’s really come natural.”

ON SEEING THE MOVE AS A POSITIVE, BECAUSE EVEN IF HE’D WON THE BACK-UP QB JOB IT’S STILL JUST A BACK-UP JOB, BUT NOW HE HAS A CHANCE TO PLAY IMMEDIATELY AT RECEIVER: “Yeah, I’m very thankful. I’m a big team player. Whatever the coaches wanted me to do, that’s what I was going to do. If they wanted me to play third-string quarterback, I would’ve done that.”

*** QB JU-JU CLAYTON

ON HAVING A GREAT SPRING BUT STRUGGLING IN THE SPRING GAME AND WHETHER THE BIG CROWD WAS A FACTOR: “No, I really didn’t pay attention to the crowd. On that interception, instead of putting it to the back of the end zone where only the tight end could get it, I guess I tried to put it on him more and the DB got his head around quick and intercepted it. That’s just a mental error. I’ve just got to learn from that and know where to go with the ball in certain situations.”

ON WHAT HE TAKES FROM THE EXPERIENCE: “I take this as a learning curve. The spring game, that’s real important, but I know this is just preparing me for the season coming up. So I’m going to watch the film later this week and learn from my mistakes.”

ON THIS HICCUP BEING A WAKE-UP CALL AFTER A PRETTY SMOOTH, ERROR-FREE SPRING: “I know there’s still work to do. Like me reads, going through the mental stages. We have a lot of athletes here, so I know there’s still going to be competition at the quarterback position, from guys that are here and guys coming in. So I know I can’t just sit around. I still have to improve.”

ON WHETHER HIS FAVORITE, EASIEST PASS IS THE 2-YARD DUMP-OFF TO RYAN WILLIAMS: “Oh, yeah. Ryan’s real explosive. He said before he wants to be the most dangerous player on the field. He showed that to everyone out there today. Ryan is a big attribute to your team.”

*** CB RASHAD CARMICHAEL

ON THE OFFENSE HAVING A BIG DAY, WHEN THE DEFENSE USUALLY DOES: “We’re a full team. If the offense is getting the shine, the defense has to go out there and do it the Hokie way, keep fighting, do what we’ve been doing for years. It’s OK. It’s all good.”

ON HE AND FELLOW CB STEPHAN VIRGIL MISSING PRACTICES DURING THE WEEK TO WORK ON SCHOOL STUFF AND COMING OUT ONLY ON WEEKENDS: “I feel like I would’ve been a little bit sharper or more in shape physically (if he’d been there), but mentally not being at practice, it just makes me want to be on top of my game even more. So I was studying more, watching more film. I was a little winded, that was the only thing. But other than that, I think I did pretty well.”

ON DYRELL ROBERTS’ LEAPING CATCH OVER HIM IN THE END ZONE: “Coach Gray came over after that and he told me, ‘Look, you did what you had to do. You played the ball well. It was a good ball, good catch.’ ”

ON HOW MUCH BETTER THE RECEIVERS ARE THIS SPRING: “They’re a lot more mature. That’s the biggest difference I see. Those jitters are gone. Everybody wants to make plays. Everybody wants it. Everybody’s talking about this national championship thing. Man, we’re just worried about getting out to the first day of camp.”

ON THE RECEIVERS SEEMING MORE CONFIDENT: “Oh, yeah. Especially going against Coach Bud’s defense every day. After a long practice, they’re confident. They’re getting better. I like those guys, man. I like them.”

*** CB CRIS HILL

ON WHETHER THE BATTLE FOR THE STARTING FIELD CORNER JOB CONTINUING: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the battle still goes into August. All of us did a good job this spring. I think I did a solid job. We’re just pushing each other to be the best secondary in the country.”

ON THE RECEIVERS’ IMPROVED PLAY AND CONFIDENCE: “I think since they got that one year of experience, they’re much better. They’re more confident out there. You can see it. I think they’ll be pretty darn good this year.”

ON THE DEFENSE USUALLY GETTING THE ATTENTION: “It’s always a pleasure when the offense gets the job done as well. Tech is always known as a defensive team, but I don’t know: We could be known as an offensive team this year, too. We’ve got some good players over there now.”

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.