Nebraska Week, Volume 1 (Stats and Whistles edition) ...

So you want some numbers? Alrighty ... the ol’ notepad is full of 'em today.

Just dug through the records to see where this weekend’s game against No. 19 Nebraska ranks among the Hokies’ non-conference home games in the “modern era.”

In my mind, nothing before 1991 really counts. Tech was an independent before then and the Hokies pretty much had to play anyone good they could get a game with. You get real credit, though, for scheduling big boys when you don't have to -- outside a conference that already features several quality opponents.

Since the Hokies joined the Big East in ’91 (and later the ACC in 2004), Tech has hosted eight ranked non-league opponents at Lane Stadium. Consider that four of those games were against teams Tech ended up in a league with (N.C. State and Virginia) and one against a team it was in the same league with the year before (West Virginia).

Nonetheless, Tech is 4-3-1 at home against ranked non-conference foes. Take a look ...

HOKIES AT HOME AGAINST RANKED NON-LEAGUE OPPONENTS

1991: Lost to No. 14 East Carolina, 24-17

1992: Tied No. 21 N.C. State, 13-13

1994: Lost to No. 16 Virginia, 45-23

1996: Beat No. 20 Virginia, 26-9

1998: Lost to No. 16 Virginia, 36-32

2002: Beat No. 14 LSU, 26-8

2002: Beat No. 16 Marshall, 47-21

2004: Beat No. 6 West Virginia, 19-13

Need more numbers? OK, here goes ...

* RB Ryan Williams has 29 carries for 235 yards (8.1 ypc) and five touchdowns. He has three catches for 78 yards (26.0 ypc). Total, he is averaging just shy of 10 yards every time he touches the ball. His five rushing TDs rank first nationally and his 117.5 rushing yards per game rank 14th. In two games, he has 10 plays of 10-plus yards and five plays longer than 25 yards (a 28-yard run, 32-yard run, 36-yard catch, 43-yard catch and 57-yard run).

* RB David Wilson has 12 carries for 165 yards (13.8 ypc) and one touchdown. He ranks fourth in the country in average per rush. He had six carries of 10-plus yards including rushes of 31, 36 and 51 yards. Looks like the Hokies have found their big-play threats.

* Freshman Jayron Hosley ranks fifth nationally in punt return average (24.75 yards). He has 99 yards and one touchdown on four career returns. ... Sophomore Dyrell Roberts ranks fourth nationally in kickoff return average (48.75 yards). He has 195 yards and one touchdown on four returns. He didn’t have any returns against Marshall. ... Senior Brent Bowden ranks 10th nationally in punting average (45.82 yards). He has booted the ball 504 yards on 11 kicks.

* Nebraska’s star DT, Ndamukong Suh (say that three times fast) has 12 tackles, four for loss, and 1.5 sacks in two games. ... RB Roy Helu Jr. has carried 30 times for 212 yards (7.1 ypc) and three touchdowns. ... QB Zac Lee is 42 of 57 (73.7 pecent) for 553 yards, 6 TD and 1 INT. He ranks fifth nationally in TD passes and seventh in both completion percentage and passer rating (186.41). ... NOTE: All of these stats were piled up against Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State – two Sun Belt teams.

Now for Monday thoughts from this week’s two Big Whistles ...

VIRGINIA TECH COACH FRANK BEAMER

OPENING REMARKS: “I feel good about how hard we played. Also, I feel good about all the young players that had an important role in this win. This crowd coming up is a really, really good football team. Up front, offensively, they’re just exceptional. They look more athletic and better than last year. They’ve got a lot of kids catching the ball. (QB) Zac Lee ... good mobility, very accurate. ... Tailbacks are good. Up front defensively, they’re very, very strong. Just a good football team coming in here. We’re going to have to, again, have to get better this week.”

ON WHETHER THERE ARE ANY NEW INJURIES BEYOND TE GREG BOONE (CHEST) AND CB STEPHAN VIRGIL (KNEE): “I don’t think there’s any new ones. I haven’t heard yet about whether Boone and Stephan is going to make it back or not.”

ON WHAT THE TEAM IS DOING TO DEAL WITH SWINE FLU: “(Trainer) Mike Goforth would be the good one to ask about that. We haven’t had any cases. He’s taken a lot of precautions and got a plan together.”

MORE ON THE QB, LEE, AND COMPARING HIM TO LAST YEAR’S HUSKERS QB, JOE GANZ: “I think they’re very similar. A heady guy out there, good pocket presence, very accurate. It’s a lot the same guy, it looks like to me. He’s got some impressive stats. I can say that.”

ON WHAT HE WANTS TO SEE FROM HIS OWN QB, TYROD TAYLOR, WHO HAD A BIG GAME LAST YEAR AGAINST NEBRASKA: “I think he’ll continue to develop. I think that’s what experience does for you. I think he’s an exceptional player. He does a lot of good things for us, and he’s a really good leader. Good person, good leader, good player. He’s the kind of guy that’s trying to constantly get better in every area. I think he’s reading defenses better ... getting it there quicker, throwing better. I think he’s trying to improve all parts of his game.”

ON TECH’S TWO NEW STARTING LINEBACKERS, JAKE JOHNSON AND BARQUELL RIVERS, TO THIS POINT: “I think they’re doing well. Overall, Jake had a few misreads in there, but he goes at it full speed. I’ll say that. He wants to be really good. I think Barquell has been pretty steady. I think they’ll improve each and every game.”

ON THE STAR NEBRASKA D-TACKLE, SUH: “He’s a real handful. They’re good up front. That No. 99 out there, too, he’s good. They’re stout up front. They’re going to present a challenge to our offensive line – our offense.”

ON TECH’S O-LINE GRADES AGAINST MARSHALL: “They graded out well. Four out of the five graded with a winning percentage. That’s a good job by those guys. And the second group came in there and did OK. That’s a get-better-each-week deal right there.”

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SECOND-TEAM LINE GETTING GOOD REPS: “If a couple more of those guys would come along, it would really help our football team. It would certainly help our offensive line if we could play some more guys.”

ON HOW THE SECONDARY PLAYED IN VIRGIL’S ABSENCE: “They did OK. We took a bad angle on that long run. The long pass, the quarterback made a great throw and hit that guy on a dead run. Eddie, actually, was right there ... it was perfect execution by them.”

ON WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT NEBRASKA FROM LAST YEAR: “I was impressed with the one last year. Offensively, they were good. Defensively, I think they’re better. They’ve been in the system a while and understand what’s expected and they’re better. Of course, the kicking game, they got us on a couple things there last year. So I was impressed with them last year and they’re a better football team this year.”

ON THE INTIMIDATION FACTOR PLAYING IN LANE STADIUM, ESPECIALLY FOR INEXPERIENCED QBS: “I think all of us are trying to get to the point it doesn’t really make any difference where you’re playing. You enjoy enthusiastic crowds. Nebraska’s fans were great last year. I’m hoping ours will be the same kind of fans this year. ... You look at (Lee’s) stats and not much has bothered him so far. They’ve been right on.”

ON THE TAILBACKS, WILSON AND WILLIAMS, STEPPING UP IN EVANS’ ABSENCE: “I think we’ve got three tailbacks that really are solid guys for us right now. Josh Oglesby, he came in there and did a good job, too. Both Williams and Wilson, they’ve got a burst to them. They had a good day Saturday. Both of them broke several tackles, which you like to see in a running back – getting yards when you break a tackle. ... We thought they were going to be good. They’re just so young. We went through the same thing last year with Darren and Oglesby. There’s nothing like experience. Evans, at the end of the year, he was a very, very productive back. He played faster, but he played faster because he was more confident. And he goes down early this year ... and we’re right back where we were last year. ... We’re back to inexperience factoring in there. But they’re talented, and they’re working hard.”

ON WHETHER TEAMS SCHEME UNIQUELY FOR TECH’S MOBILE QBS: “Marshall came up with a different defense ... one we weren’t expecting. I think Tyrod is a dangerous guy. He can do it with his arm. He can do it with his feet. Some people just stick with what they do and some people try to change up a little bit.”

ON THE HUSKERS’ D-LINE: “I think they’re big and rugged. They’re 6-3, 265; 6-4, 300; 6-6, 285; 6-5, 265. That’s big and tough and rugged. They’re very, very good up front.”

ON HAVING FACED A STUD D-TACKLE LIKE BAMA’S TERRENCE CODY HELPING PREPARE TECH FOR SUH: “It’s more of the same. Big guys that can change a game. We’ve gone against one guy like that. Now we’re getting ready to go against a couple more.”

ON THE NEBRASKA WIN LAST YEAR AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE: “Any time you beat a team with great tradition, had a great name for a lot of years and has been a great program for a lot of years ... it’s a good win for you.”

ON HUSKERS COACH BO PELINI TURNING THE PROGRAM AROUND QUICKLY, IN HIS SECOND YEAR: “Like I said: I thought they were good last year. And they’re better this year. That’s a statement about what they’re doing out there and how they’re doing it. They’ve got a lot of good players and they’re well-coached.”

ON HOSTING A NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENT OF THIS CALIBER: “I told some people when I first came here, they wanted us to schedule better. When you start out with Alabama, Nebraska, Miami ... you’re scheduling better. There’s some name programs in that crowd. Nebraska’s right at the top of the list. ... Our fans are going to be excited for a team like Nebraska.”

ON THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE FOR TECH’S DEFENSE: “The offense that they bring in here, we haven’t played an offensive line this good in a while. Then you start looking at 74 percent completions. Then you start looking at a tailback that’s 6-foot, 215 and can run. The tight end is good. They’ve got three or four more of them. I mean, this is a good football team. Good offense, good defense, good in kicking. A good football team.”

NEBRASKA COACH BO PELINI

ON HIS STAR DEFENSIVE TACKLE, SUH, AND WHETHER HE HAS TALKED TO HIM ABOUT BEATING FREQUENT DOUBLE-TEAMS THIS SEASON: “We just want him to play within the scheme of the defense. He’ll make his impact. He’s a helluva player. But if you start trying to offset what teams are doing, the whole scheme of what we do will break down.”

ON HOW SUH HAS LOOKED THROUGH TWO GAMES: “He’s playing at a pretty high level. He’s doing a good job.”

ON VIRGINIA BEACH NATIVE TYRONE FAHIE, WHO JOINED THE HUSKERS IN 2007 AFTER SIX YEARS OF ACTIVE-DUTY MILITARY SERVICE: “We really like Tyrone. He does a great job. He’s a great team guy. He just does a tremendous job in all regards. He has great energy. He just wants to do whatever he can for the football team. He’s a guy that’s a great example of what a team player needs to be, and we love him around here.”

ON HIS ROLE WITH THE TEAM: “He’s played. He’s been in some games. He got in some games last year and I’m sure he’ll get in some games this year. Whenever we can get him in there, we get him in. He’s just not the biggest guy in the world, but we really like him.”

ON FRANK BEAMER SAYING HE THINKS THIS IS A BETTER NEBRASKA TEAM FROM 2008: “I think we’re a little bit better. We still have a ways to go. We’ll find out this week. We know we’re going into a heckuva test against a very talented, tremendously coached football team. We’ll see how we stack up after this week. I like to think we’re a bit improved, but we’ll find out in a setting like this.”

ON WHAT HE SAW ON FILM OF TECH TAILBACKS DAVID WILSON AND RYAN WILLIAMS: “Tremendous athletes, really good running backs and just good football players. Obviously, they block well for them up front. We’ll have our hands full. We know that.”

ON HOKIES QB TYROD TAYLOR THROWING WELL AGAINST THE HUSKERS LAST YEAR AND HOPING TO GET HIM IN OBVIOUS PASSING DOWNS THIS SEASON: “It helps any time you’re playing against any quarterback. You want to put him in obvious passing situations. But he’s capable of throwing it. He’s a good football player.”

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