Spring Football, Vol. 18 (Second Mini-Scrimmage edition) ...

The Hokies held a second mini-scrimmage today inside Lane Stadium. Sadly, the scribes were not allowed to watch it.

I did hear that backup QB Logan Thomas kept the ball on a zone read play and sprinted 39 yards for a touchdown, offsetting an average day throwing the ball for the redshirt freshman. Fellow backup and co-contender for the No. 2 gig, Ju-Ju Clayton, continues to be the more polished passer of the two, completing 57 percent and averaging 14 yards per completion today.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Tony Gregory (he of the 4.3-second 40-yard dash) continues to impress the coaches. He had seven rushes and one reception for a combined 53 yards today. That’s 6.63 yards per touch, and the Hokies will take that all day from their fourth or fifth tailback (although he might not be so far down the depth chart for long).

Starting QB Tyrod Taylor didn’t get a ton of work, but he was impressively efficient on his four throws. Tech’s top trio of receivers were excellent, catching a combined 11 passes for 197 yards.

That’s about all I can tell you from a little hear-say and the stat sheet that was handed out to the hacks. Note that walk-on DB Mark Carter continues to make plays – impressive considering I had never, ever heard of him before last weekend’s scrimmage, where he had a nifty diving pass break-up.

Oh, one more notable: DT Courtney Prince has moved to offensive guard, as of yesterday, and played a handful of snaps there in the scrimmage today. He played a little O-line in high school and Tech’s line coach, Curt Newsome, said he has good feet and that his initial impressions are positive. More on that in the next few days.

Now here are the scrimmage numbers and a little reaction ...

RUSHING: Gregory 7-44, Wilson 5-24, Thomas 3-22, Davis 1-15, Z. Evans 3-2, D. Evans 2-1, Clayton 2-(-1), Lewis 4-(-5), Williams 4-(-6).

PASSING: Clayton 8 of 14 for 112 yards (long of 31), Thomas 5 of 12 for 75 yards (long of 20), Taylor 3 of 4 for 49 yards (long of 27), Cole 1 of 1 for 13 yards, Young 1 of 2 for 11 yards.

RECEIVING: Roberts 5-80, Boykin 4-71, Coale 2-46, Martin 1-19, Boyce 1-17, Peak 1-13, Barber 1-11, Gregory 1-9, Terry 1-(-3), Lewis 1-(-3).

DEFENSIVE LEADERS: Carter 7 tackles; Hopper 6 tackles; B. Taylor 5 tackles, 1 for loss; Exum 4 tackles; Morgan 3 tackles, 1 for loss; Whitley 3 tackles, 1 for loss; Tyler 3 tackles, 1 for loss; Gibson 3 tackles, 0.5 for loss; Friday 2 sacks, forced fumble; Jones and Graves 1 tackle for loss each; Gouveia-Winslow, Hill, Sykes and Hosley 1 pass break-up each.

PUNTING: Saunders 2-82 (41 average, 44 long); Bowden 1-38; Demler 1-33.

FIELD GOALS: Weiss (25 yards), Pickard (31) and Hazley (31) each hit their only attempt. Meyer missed, narrowly, from 52.

Now here's what a couple of the Hokies' movers and shakers said afterward ...

HEAD COACH FRANK BEAMER

ON THE HOKIES’ SCRIMMAGE: “I thought we had some exciting plays, some balls well-thrown, some balls that weren’t well-thrown. We let Ju-Ju and Logan go live, and they got most of the work today. Both of them had their moments. We’ll look at the video and see where we are with that deal. Like I said, there were some real good throws and some throws that weren’t so good. We made 3 of 4 field goals, three different guys, but we’ve got to settle in on that. We’ve got to get going ... see who the kicker’s going to be and kind of go with it.”

ON WHO IS EMERGING FOR THE FIELD GOAL DUTIES: “They all have their days. Hazley has been good, then he missed his first two in pre-practice today, before we scrimmaged. Journell looked good today. Pickard gets the ball up in the air good. Weiss, the kid that transferred from Murray State, he’s pretty consistent. And then Myer is probably very, very talented ... he missed from 52, just barely; he hit it good. He’s got a strong, strong leg and he gets it up. He’s got a couple things going for him. I think we’ve just got to narrow it down.”

ON THE OPEN PUNTING JOB: “Brian Saunders had two punts, averaged (41) on that, so that operation is looking good. That part of it is good.”

ON THE STATE OF THE TEAM AT THIS POINT: “We’re right here in the middle (of spring ball), a little past middle, and the coaches are going to go in right now and grade the video, and I think this will be a great one to learn from. I still like the effort we’re getting. We’ve just got to continue to get better.”

ON THE CONTINUED PROGRESS OF RB DARREN EVANS, COMING BACK FROM THE KNEE INJURY: “He didn’t get too much work today, but I think Darren’s in good shape. David Wilson and Gregory were the two guys that had the most yardage today in the scrimmage and both of them, I thought, they turned on the burners there a couple times. ... Gregory might’ve passed (Wilson) there at the end, but I was impressed with both those guys.”

ON A POSITION SWITCH FOR THE HOKIES: “We’ve moved Courtney Prince over to offensive guard and I really think that’s a good move. I think in the end, he’ll really help himself and help this football team there.”

ON STANDOUTS SO FAR: “(WR) Xavier Boyce has been having a good spring. After that, all the receiving corps has been really good. We made a couple tough catches today. The receiver group has been pretty good.”

ON WHETHER TECH HAS MADE ANY MOVES WITH ITS TOP TWO BACKUP CENTERS OUT INJURED: “No. We want to get (David) Wang some work in there. But I’m not sure we’re going to be able to do it. (The injuries) have just kind of slowed us down in there. Bo Gentry is doing a good job in there for us right now.”

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE SCRIMMAGES: “I tell these people, our players, that every rep is important. After today, we’ll go in there and evaluate this thing, talk about every player, what he did, his status as far as going into next year. I think these kids understand that every rep out there is important.”

ON THE SUDDEN MOVE OF YOUNG D-END ISAIAH HAMLETTE TO D-TACKLE: “In high school, when I saw him on film, he reminded me of (former Tech DE/DT) Jim Davis a little bit. Jim was really good inside there. He could kind of slip off people, and I’m hoping Hamlette can do some of the same things.”

QB LOGAN THOMAS

ON HIS SCRIMMAGE SHOWING: “I did alright. I definitely wish I had some throws back. Overall, it was probably about even with Saturday’s scrimmage.”

ON HIS PASSING ACCURACY: “I didn’t throw the ball too well. About as bad as I did Saturday. I did some good things, but I just missed my spots too often. I felt like I was nervous. I don’t even know the reason why. But hopefully I’ll turn things around.”

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEXT FULL SCRIMMAGE THEN: “I’ve just got to get comfortable. Once I do that, I think I’ll be fine. I think I’m putting pressure on myself. I think that’s the biggest reason why (he’s struggling). I just need to let it flow, just play my game.”

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