N.C. State Week, Volume 5 (Sayonara Seniors edition) ...

With the national title and ACC crown off the table for this season, some attention has already turned to 2010 and hope for another championship run.

That is certainly possible. All the big-play guys are back on offense. The Hokies’ tailback situation will be silly good with the return of Darren Evans to join Ryan Williams (and the likely improvement of freshman stud David Wilson).

There are also plenty of talented young players waiting for their chance on defense. BUT ... make no mistake ... a lot will be lost from this season’s squad when graduation rolls around.

Saturday will be the final home game for 15 seniors who have started at least one game for the Hokies – five on offense, eight on defense and both the kicker and punter.

The numbers are pretty crazy. Combined, Tech is going to lose guys who’ve played 121 games and started 92 on the offensive line. The Hokies will lose a three-year starter at tight end and their lead blocker in goal-line situations.

Defensively, the hit is far greater. Soon to depart are players who’ve combined for 155 starts, 955 tackles, 88 tackles for loss, 49 pass break-ups, 38 sacks, 17 interceptions and 16 forced fumbles.

That is quite a senior class. They’ve won 38 games in their careers and will likely leave as (I think) the third consecutive senior class with 40-plus victories. They won two ACC titles and an Orange Bowl. They beat Nebraska twice. They’re 3-0 against rival Virginia and 3-1 against rival Miami. They helped hand Cincinnati, which might just play for the national title, its only loss in the last 17 games.

Not a bad run for these guys. The won’t go out with a national title, nor an ACC trophy, but they will leave the Hokies with some huge holes to fill. So before you start looking at next season, Tech fans, now might be a good time to reflect on this team and its soon-to-be-lost leaders.

Oh, and while I'm at it, here's a story I had in today's paper about a senior not listed below. Is contributions to the team do not show up on stat sheets:

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/hokies-oldest-player-known-pranks-weightroom-feats-0

Now for the guys you've gotten to know a litte better over the past four years ...

OFFENSE

TE Greg Boone – The Oscar Smith High graduate has played in 49 games, starting 38, and has caught 44 passes for 576 yards and three touchdowns. Last year, the Hokies build their Wild Turkey offense around him and he rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Boone has lined up at quarterback, fullback, tight end and wide receiver at Tech.

LT Ed Wang – Has played 45 games and started 34. This season has been his finest, as he’s the only Hokies lineman to grade 80 percent or higher – the coaches’ definition of a winning grade – in all 10 games. He also leads the team with 37 knock-down blocks.

LG Sergio Render – Has played in 51 games and started 49, which is more than any lineman in the ACC. He recorded 45 knockdown blocks in his final eight games last season. This year, he was named a midseason All-American by both CBSsports.com and The Sporting News. He has graded 80-plus in six games and has 35 knockdown blocks.

OL Richard Graham – Has played 25 games, starting nine, and the former walk-on has been an important utility lineman for the Hokies. He took snaps at center last week against Maryland, earning him the distinction of being the first player in as long as anyone at Tech can remember to play in a game at all five positions on the line.

FB Kenny Jefferson – Has played 37 games and while he has only three career carries and five catches for a combined 31 yards, Jefferson has been a key blocker – especially in goal-line situations – for the past two seasons.

DEFENSE

DT Cordarrow Thompson – Has played 46 games, starting 24, and recorded 67 tackles, 12.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks and one forced fumble. He lost more than 30 pounds to become a factor for the Hokies.

DT Demetrius Taylor – The Kellam High grad played 41 games, starting three, and recorded 42 tackles, six for loss, 1.5 sacks and nine quarterback hurries. He owns several team weightlifting records and built his body from that of a linebacker to one of a defensive tackle. His senior season has been his best.

DE Nekos Brown – Has played 51 games, starting 12, and recorded 102 tackles, 13 for loss, and 9.5 sacks. His senior season has been his finest, leading the Hokies with 4.5 sacks.

LB Cody Grimm – Has played 51 games, starting 12, and recorded 193 tackles, 21 for loss, 8.5 sacks, two interceptions, seven pass break-ups and six forced fumbles. The former walk-on and special teams ace is third in the ACC this season with 85 tackles. He’s the son of former Redskin Russ Grimm.

LB Cam Martin – Has played 48 games, starting 26, and recorded 150 tackles, 16.5 for loss, 7.5 sacks, an interception, 11 pass break-ups and five forced fumbles. A rash of injuries has limited his playing time this year, opening the door for Grimm’s big season.

SS Dorrian Porch – Has played 50 games, starting 18, and recorded 111 tackles, six for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, six pass break-ups and four fumble recovers. Porch was critical to last season’s ACC title, stepping in after starter Davon Morgan was lost to injury in Week 5.

CB Stephan Virgil – Has played 47 games, starting 22, and recorded 93 tackles, 8.5 for loss, two sacks, seven interceptions, seven pass break-ups, two blocked kicks and a fumble return for a touchdown. He was a potential All-American candidate this year before an injury in the opener slowed him down.

FS Kam Chancellor – The Maury High grad has played 51 games, starting 38, and recorded 197 tackles, 4.5 for loss, five interceptions, 18 pass break-ups and two forced fumbles. Arguably the team’s most versatile athlete, he came to Tech as a quarterback, played corner as a true freshman, started at strong safety as a sophomore and finally settled at free safety last season.

SPECIAL TEAMS

P Brent Bowden – Has played in 38 games, punting 206 times for 8,670 yards (42.1 per kick). He has 41 punts of 50 yards or longer, 69 kicks downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He leads the ACC this year with a 43.7-yard average, including a career-long 60-yarder.

K Matt Waldron – The former walk-on became Tech’s third straight one-season starter at kicker to step in and succeed. A Penn State transfer, Waldron has hit an ACC-best 88.9 percent of his field goals (16 of 18). He’s 10 of 11 from 30 yards or longer and 33 of 33 on extra points.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

N.C. State Week, Volume 4 (Boykin Breakout edition) ...

Nobody puts Boykin in the corner. Hehe. If you get that reference, you dig dancing. Or Patrick Swayze. Or both.

The point is, since wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman put sophomore Jarrett Boykin “in the corner” – bumping him to No. 2 behind freshman Xavier Boyce in Week 1 – Boykin has come out swinging. And snagging.

He leads the Hokies with 30 catches for 551 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games. He had 30 catches for 441 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games last year.

He’s Virginia Tech’s crazy catch guy. He is adept at winning in-air battles and coming down with passes that most folks who don’t have hands the size of compact cars wouldn’t.

And now, it seems, Mr. Boykin has his eyes on a very big prize. He said this week – which you’ll read below – that he wants to have 1,000 yards receiving in a single season before he bolts Blacksburg.

Good luck, Jarrett. That has, amazingly, NEVER happened in Virginia Tech’s 100-plus years of football. The closest anyone has ever come was Andre Davis in 1999 with 962. Then Ernest Wilford in 2002 with 925 and 886 the next year.

Wilford is also the only Hokies receiver EVER to catch at least 50 passes (that’s maybe even more staggering than the lack of a 1,000-yard guy). He caught 51 in 2002 and 55 in 2003.

So maybe Boykin should start with that goal. Catch 50 balls. Or this: Reach 700 yards receiving ... which he could do THIS season. That has happened only seven times in Tech history.

Ricky Scales passed 700 in 1973 and ’74. Sidney Snell did it in 1979. Antonio Freeman (1992), Andre Davis (1999) and then Wilford twice round out the 700 Club.

So that would be quite an accomplishment for Boykin, the true sophomore who lost his job for a game at the beginning of the season. I don’t think he’ll lose it again any time soon. For his career, in 24 games, he has caught 60 passes for 992 yards.

Boykin needs 22 catches to climb into the top 15 all-time at Tech. He needs 32 to reach the top 10. And if he wants to be the most prolific pass-catcher in Tech history, he’ll need to catch another 66 passes for 1,060 yards.

Hmmm. With three games left this year and potentially two full seasons after that, Boykin certainly has a shot.

Which just proves: Nobody puts Boykin in the corner ...

WR JARRETT BOYKIN

ON BECOMING TECH’S BIG-PLAY RECEIVER AND HOW HE’S DONE IT: “Coach Sherman preaches to us in the meeting rooms: Just play fast and he’ll see you down the field.”

ON WHETHER HE THOUGHT QB TYROD TAYLOR WAS GOING TO GET HIM KILLED THROWING THAT PASS (AN EVENTUAL LONG TD) DOWN THE MIDDLE, BETWEEN TWO DEFENDERS: “No. Honestly, dude that was behind me, I didn’t even see him. The one in front of me, I saw him try to dive past it, so I knew he wasn’t going to hit me. I just tried to focus on the ball. The guy that was behind me, he tried to hit me, but I just spun off and took it from there. I was trying to make a play for Ty, so it wouldn’t be an interception, coming back and fighting for the ball.”

ON BEING TAYLOR’S GO-TO GUY: “I feel great being his go-to guy, but everybody else is capable of doing the things I’m doing it. For me, personally, I think it would be great if a wide receiver around here had 1,000 yards (in a season). So that’s a goal for me. That’s what I’m pushing myself for, to get that before I graduate.”

ON THE OFFENSE’S PROGRESS AND THE RECEIVERS BEING MORE INVOLVED: “We like the fact that the ball is coming our way a little more. We’re wide receivers. We want the ball just like running backs want the ball. We’re going to do what we can to put our team in position to win. When ever we get the ball with a chance to make a big play, that’s what we’re going to do.”

ON THE TEAM’S MENTALITY RIGHT NOW: “We’re not content, but we’re feeling good. We’re going to keep practicing hard so we can finish this season off right, so we can feel good about ourselves at the end.”

ON THE MEANING OF ANOTHER 10-WIN SEASON AND WHAT IT MEANS, IF ANYTHING, TO PLAYERS: “It means a lot to us. That’s a tradition we have around here. We’re going to do everything we can to get to 10 wins. We want to feel good about ourselves at the end.”

ON HOW HE CAN TELL TAYLOR IS MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE RECEIVERS: “He’s just relaxed in the pocket, or if he scrambles out, he’s not looking to take off. He’s still looking downfield for his receivers breaking to the ball. You can tell he got a lot more comfortable and he’s having a lot more fun seeing what we do.”

ON WHETHER N.C. STATE OFFERED HIM OR RECRUIT HIM AT ALL OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL: “They did, but when Tech offered me, I committed kind of early. I knew this is where I wanted to go and I’d have a chance when all the other receivers left. I wanted to try to put myself in a good situation, so there’s a lot of offers I left on the table.”

ON THE PROGRESS OF FELLOW WIDEOUT DYRELL ROBERTS AND WHERE HE WAS LAST SEASON: “Me and Dyrell were talking about this the other day. He’s my roommate, him and Ju-Ju (Clayton), so we talk about everything. But I was just telling him the other day that he’s looking to me like a receiver more and more. Him playing running back in high school and trying to convert, he spent last season trying to adjust, but now he’s got everything down pat and he can be one of the best on the team.”

ON WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST ADJUSTMENT FOR ROBERTS: “When we watch film of last year, we saw his stance was a little bit high, so DBs can get into his body a little more. But him and me and the other wide receivers coming in, reading defenses was kind of hard for us. Last year, that was kind of new. But this year, you can tell we’ve got everything down pat.”

ON SEEING ROBERTS’ DIVING AND LEAPING CATCHES THIS YEAR: “He can make plays whenever they come around, but the ones he made the other day, they were spectacular. I was proud of him. Everybody’s proud of the way he’s progressed.”

ON SAYING HE WANTS A 1,000-YARD SEASON BEFORE HE LEAVES AND WHETHER HE HAD A GOAL FOR THIS YEAR: “I wanted to do better than what I did last year, to show that I’m progressing. Right now, my next goal is 600 yards. If I get 600, it’ll be 700. I’m just trying to keep going, week to week, trying to put new stuff on myself.”

ON WHETHER HE OR THE OTHER PLAYERS HAVE A BOWL PREFERENCE: “Pretty much, we just want to play. We’re disappointed we didn’t go to the ACC or get the high hopes we had for this year, but we’re going to finish strong and work for the 10-win season. I wouldn’t mind going to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but then again I wouldn’t mind going to Florida.”

ON WHETHER HE HOPES TO FEAST ON N.C. STATE’S YOUNG SECONDARY: “When we went over their defense yesterday in the meeting room, Coach Sherman said they were in the same position we were last year, being young on defense. That’s something we’re going to try to take advantage of. We wouldn’t mind having another field day from the wide receivers.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

N.C. State Week, Volume 3 (High on Hosley edition) ...

Howdy, Hokies. Just dropping in with a quick-hit, lunchtime post on the guy I think is the most likely candidate to become Tech’s next All-American corner (if he doesn’t garner that distinction as a return specialist first).

While Rashad Carmichael – with five picks in 10 games as a junior – could certainly beat this guy to the punch, I think true freshman Jayron Hosley has the best pure talent at that spot since Brandon Flowers.

Coincidentally, Hosley went to the same high school in Florida that Flowers did. And they’re buddies. And Flowers is a MAJOR reason Hosley surprised Hokie fans on signing day and picked Virginia Tech.

Boy, has that ever turned out to be one heckuva gift for the Hokies’ coaches? The four-star recruit has turned into a five-star punt returner, filling a key role vacated by star RB Ryan Williams, who gave up the job after muffing his first punt in the opener.

Hosley ranks 25th nationally (fourth among freshmen) in return average and would probably be much higher if not for a handful of blocking penalties that negated long, electric returns.

As it is, he officially has 26 punt returns for 271 yards (10.4 per) and returned one for a touchdown against Marshall. Hosley was hot early in the season, cooled a bit in the middle, and is on fire again the last two weeks. His last 10 punt returns have covered 141 yards.

He is truly a weapon on special teams, but as you might’ve read in the earlier post with secondary coach Torrian Gray, Hosley is beginning to make a move at corner.

In very limited playing time on defense this year (just 41 snaps), Hosley has shined. He has four tackles (plus three on special teams), a tackle for loss, two pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry. He has also intercepted to passes – but landed out of bounds on both of them. Even so, both plays were very impressive breaks on sideline passes.

Hosley is, simply put, a natural. Like Victor “Macho” Harris before him, Gray said, “You either have it or you don’t.” Hosley has it. Listen to him talk or watch him play and you know he is not the least bit intimidated by big-boy football as a freshman.

He was ranked the No. 11 cornerback prospect in the nation by Rivals.com last year, returning five kicks for touchdowns and intercepting five passes as a senior at Atlantic High. His other scholarship offers, according to Rivals, included Clemson, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State. He nearly ended up at South Florida.

But he’s here in Blacksburg, to the surprise – and delight – of coaches and fans alike.

Take it away, Jayron ...

CB/PR JAYRON HOSLEY

ON HOW HE HAS PROGRESSED AS A KICK RETURN GUY OVER HIS FRESHMAN SEASON: “I think I matured back there as a punt returner, having to be the quarterback out there. I think I’ve progressed in seeing the field and controlling things out there – knowing when to make the right calls. If the ball’s too short, telling the other players to get out of the way. Knowing when to make the fair catch and when to catch the ball, things like that.”

ON HIS FUTURE FULL-TIME SPOT AT CORNER AND HIS BIG DAY AGAINST MARYLAND, PLAYING A LOT IN A BLOWOUT AND BREAKING UP TWO PASSES: “Working with Torrian, I think I’ve progressed a lot with my technique and knowing all parts of the game. He’s a very good coach and he’s been working with me throughout the process to get me better and become a sound corner.”

ON WHETHER THERE WAS MORE TO PLAYING CORNER IN COLLEGE – AND FOR THE PERFECTIONIST, GRAY – THAN HE THOUGHT: “Oh, yeah. It’s a lot more. It demands more of your time. Preparation is key on this level. You have to know a lot. You have to always, constantly be thinking and be on your game. It definitely demands more on this level.”

ON HIS PLAYING TIME AGAINST THE TERPS: “It’s always fun getting out there with the older guys and just having fun, playing ball.”

ON ALL THE LONG RETURNS HE HAS HAD CALLED BACK FOR BLOCKS IN THE BACK OR HOLDING: “It gets pretty frustrating, but those guys are out there putting their bodies on the line blocking for me, so I don’t take it that bad. I just tell them to try to get in front of them if they can. I don’t take it to heart.”

ON HOW OFTEN HE TALKS TO FROMER ALL-AMERICAN CORNER BRANDON FLOWERS, HOW IS FROM HIS HIGH SCHOOL IN FLORIDA AND HELPED RECRUIT HIM: “We talk about every other week, just to see how each other is doing. His family is friends with my family, so we kind of look at each other as kin.”

ON WHAT FLOWERS SAYS TO HIM: “He just tells me, ‘Make sure you stay focused. Hit the books. Get better. Take your time with it; don’t rush into it.’ That’s all. Just take the steps that he took to get where he’s at, and that’s all I’m doing.”

ON WHETHER HE EVER ASKS FLOWERS ABOUT THE NFL LIFE: “I know it’s a business. That’s what he says. It’s tough at times. But that’s what he loves to do.”

ON JUDGING BALLS IN FLIGHT: “When I judge on fair-catching, it’s how far the head hunters are away from me, how the tip of the ball is. If the ball is up, it’s going to travel farther. If it’s wobbly, it’s going to go straight down. That’s the kind of stuff I learned, talking with the punter. (Bowden) actually pulled me aside after the one I dropped in the ECU game. He told me, ‘When it’s like this, do this.’ He helped me out a lot.”

ON WHETHER HE EVER JOKINGLY THANKS RB RYAN WILLIAMS FOR GIVING UP THE PUNT-RETURN JOB AFTER MUFFING ONE IN THE OPENER: “We joke, but we never joke about that. He always tells me, ‘Do your best out there. Do what you can do.’ It’s no hard feelings between us. He knows I was capable of being the punt returner. Once I got the job, he was like, ‘It’s your game now. Do what you do.’ ”

ON WHETHER HE’S THANKFUL WILLIAMS GAVE THAT JOB UP: “It worked out good on my behalf. I’m not complaining about it. Just getting the job done.”

ON THE SECRET TO HIS SUCCESS, GIVEN THAT MOST OF HIS LONG RETURNS COME AFTER IT LOOKS LIKE HE IS BOTTLED UP: “I think it’s all about being fearless, being relentless, never giving up, never letting the first couple guys tackle you. That’s all I think about, not letting these couple guys tackle me, setting up the blocks for the rest of my guys, and going all out. Having awareness of where your blocks are going to be, setting those up.”

ON HOW HE’S FEARLESS – AND HOW HE BREAKS TACKLES – WHEN HE IS BARELY 170 POUNDS, MUCH SMALLER THAN THE GUYS HOPING TO HIT HIM: “I know they look at me and I’m pretty small, but you can’t catch speed. When you have speed, you can wiggle, get away from guys, break tackles, elude guys. Size doesn’t really matter when you have heart.”

ON WHETHER HIS FRESHMAN YEAR HAS GONE LIKE HE THOUGHT IT WOULD: “It’s a little better than I expected. Being out here in Virginia, it’s a little different, adapting to playing ball out here. The weather’s a little different. But the season has gone pretty good for me. I really didn’t expect all this, and it’s pretty good.”

ON ROOMING WITH RB DAVID WILSON, A FRESHMAN WHO ISN’T PLAYING AS MUCH AS HE’D LIKE: “He’s a fun kid, wild, a lot of energy. I know he didn’t get as many carries as he expected, but he’s not down about it. He’s going to come back next year and work harder.”

ON ALL OF WILSON’S TIES THAT HE WEARS TO CLASS: “Oh, yeah. He has like a different tie for every day. It’s crazy how many ties he has. I only have a small closet for myself. He has the bigger closet, because he has more clothes – more dress clothes – and he needs more space.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

N.C. State Week, Volume 2 (Kam's Career edition) ...

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before: I really appreciate secondary coach Torrian Gray’s candor. He’s very good at breaking down his players and he’s very honest about their strengths and weaknesses.

He manages to both praise and criticize his guys with care. And when you walk away from Gray, you feel like you have the real story.

That’s one reason my ears perked up prior to last season when he told me he thought free safety Kam Chancellor would leave Virginia Tech as the greatest safety ever to play for the Hokies.

And that’s why I went back to Gray this week, as Chancellor prepares to play his final home game in a Tech uniform, to revisit those thoughts and to reflect on Chancellor’s career.

Before and after we got into that topic, though, I took the opportunity to get some scoop on Gray’s cornerbacks – now and in the future – and who he sees replacing Chancellor at free safety.

True to form, Gray addressed each topic fairly and honestly, and it was yet another refreshing interview with a bright young coach who likely has big, big things in his future. He still looks like he can play alongside his guys, and I’d guess that his youthful personality is part of the reason kids love to play for him. I’m sure they appreciate his honesty in assessing them, too.

As for Chancellor – who played corner as a true freshman (and had an interception), then started at strong safety as a sophomore (a pick and seven break-ups), and has been a free safety since then – he will finish his career with some pretty solid stats.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior – whose size and speed and athleticism make NFL scouts drool – has 195 career tackles, five career interceptions, 18 pass break-ups, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

Chancellor might not have lived up to Gray’s prediction, and he has been frequently (and sometimes unfairly) criticized by fans, but he has been a key part of Tech’s defense throughout his career. And along with a handful of not-so-hot games where he missed a big tackle or was beaten deep by a receiver, Chancellor has had some huge, huge games for the Hokies.

Perhaps his greatest game was last season’s Orange Bowl. He played a major role in Tech’s victory over Cincinnati with two pass break-ups, one diving interception and a second spectacular pick that was waived off because he landed out of bounds.

For me, it’s hard to believe Chancellor’s career is almost up. I can still remember his first week of practice in Blacksburg. At the end of one session, coach Frank Beamer called Chancellor and fellow freshman Zach Luckett (who had an almost identical body) over to the side and lined them up against each other.

Chancellor and Luckett took turns at receiver and defensive back, going head-to-head, as Sean Glennon (I think) threw passes their way. From that day on, Luckett was a receiver (until recently) and Chancellor was a defensive back. It’s also easy to forget that Chancellor’s first three days of practice in Blacksburg were spent at quarterback – where he starred for Maury High in Norfolk – and that he caught the coaches’ attention there, too.

If not for (at the time) major depth at the position, he might’ve stuck under center.

Truth be told, Chancellor could probably play every position on the field except offensive line or defensive tackle. He is a truly remarkable athlete. (And person, by the way, in case anyone also forgot that he grew up in the mean streets and had to be the man of his house starting in grade school.) The fact that he didn’t have an utterly dominant college career doesn’t diminish that. It doesn’t likely decrease his pro potential, either.

I’ll let Gray address that. But first, I’ll ask you what I asked him: How will you remember Kam Chancellor’s career?

Take it away, Gray ...

SECONDARY COACH TORRIAN GRAY

ON WHETHER THIS TIME NEXT YEAR JAYRON HOSLEY, THE TRUE FRESHMAN PUNT-RETURN STANDOUT, WILL BE A STARTING CORNER: “Well, politically, I have to say he’s got to win the job. Athletically, the way he is progressing, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the starter.”

ON WHETHER HE HAS BEEN SURPRISED BY THE ROOKIE: “I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged to see how he played in the Maryland game. As far as the progression, it was actually a little slower than I thought it would be, as far as picking up the college game. But then I’ve got to realize he’s a true freshman, just coming from high school. His big thing is, ‘Am I getting lined up right? Am I at the right depth?’ And I want him to have that down so he can understand formations and down and distance. But that’s not the case (early). Now, it’s starting to slow down for him. It was great we had an opportunity to get him in the last game. You got to see him make some plays and now, even in the meeting today, he seemed more eager. It’s like it’s starting to slow down and he’s starting to figure it out.”

ON HOW BIG THAT MARYLAND GAME WAS FOR HOSLEY, WHO BROKE UP TWO PASSES: “It did tons for his confidence. I could just see in the smile on his face. I told him, ‘Great play on the two-point conversion on the end zone.’ He was like, ‘Thanks coach,’ kind of like, ‘Yeah, OK, I get it.’ He broke the pass up in the corner (of the end zone) and that’s not an easy play for anybody. And the first snap he got in, he had a pass break-up on the sideline, ending up catching the ball, but he was out of bounds. Those things really got him along.”

ON WHETHER HOSLEY’S PROGRESS AND NATURAL ABILITY – ALONG WITH RASHAD CARMICHAEL’S SOLID PLAY THIS YEAR – GIVES HIM HOPE FOR THE CORNERS NEXT YEAR WHEN STEPHAN VIRGIL IS GONE: “Definitely. I feel good. I feel good with the way Rock’s play. I feel good with what I’ll have in Jayron. With another year, at some point, it’s going to click for Cris Hill. I feel good about having him back. We have some redshirt freshmen and somebody will end up taking a step forward. The problem is we’ve got to find a free safety who can make the calls and get us lined up, but Eddie Whitley will do good at that. And Antone Exum is a young guy who will come along.”

ON WHITLEY LACKING THE SIZE AND ATHLETICISM OF A KAM CHANCELLOR BUT HAVING AN ABUNDANCE OF SMARTS: “That’s his strength. One thing we do with our defense is that guy has to be able to see stuff, call stuff, get lined up, process this and play. That’s not an easy thing. When we moved Eddie to safety, he picked it up pretty quickly. As he got into it, it can be a little overwhelming, but I know after this season and spring ball, he’ll be able to do that part of it for us. He reminds me of D.J. Parker – a guy that’s not the biggest in stature but mentally can get us lined up and play well.”

ON WHITELY BEING A GUY WHO’LL SUCCEED MORE BY PUTTING HIMSELF IN THE RIGHT PLACE THAN USING HIS SPEED TO GET HIMSELF IN THE RIGHT PLACE AFTER THE FACT: “Right. He will understand the game, will play a step or two faster because he’ll know what’s going on.”

ON KAM CHANCELLOR’S DAY AGAINST MARYLAND BEING ONE OF HIS BEST: “I thought his North Carolina game was probably one of his better games. He had some great plays, some great tackles in the open field against Maryland. He did a great job ranging out of the half field. It was a good game for him, but I wouldn’t say it was his best game. Just from the standpoint of some of the adjustments we made (against UNC), he had like 10 or 11 tackles, a great fourth-down play. He just was solid in all aspects (against the Heels).”

ON WHERE HE WOULD RATE CHANCELLOR’S SEASON: “You had a couple games in there that you’d like to take out. Other than that, he’s been solid. The Alabama game, the East Carolina game wasn’t a great game for him. Other than those games, he has been pretty consistent, pretty steady.”

ON WHETHER CHANCELLOR IS AN NFL FREE SAFETY: “I see him as a strong safety, a guy who when he’s to the ball, that will accentuate his strengths. And they won’t ask him to cover wide receivers like we do. All he’ll have to do is cover tight ends and running backs and he still can play the ball. He still can play the half field in the post, which we don’t do a lot of because we’re such a robber, inverted-half team, so it doesn’t accentuate the things he does best. Last game, we played a lot of high safety, so you got to see him range the field more and those are things he’ll do a lot more on the next level.”

ON CHANCELLOR, THEN, BEING A GUY WHO HAPPENED TO BE THE BEST GUY TECH HAD FOR FREE SAFETY, EVEN THOUGH HE’S BEST-SUITED FOR STRONG SAFETY: “He’s the best athlete we’ve got back there. He’s just our best athlete as far as our safeties and what we want them to do – cover No. 2 down the seam, to play man coverage on No. 2. He’s just our best guy, who just happens to be in a 6-4, 220-pound package. Free safety is probably not his strength for the next level. He’s not going to be asked to cover a wide receiver man-to-man, some of the things we ask him to do. But that’s what he’s able to do for us, sometimes better than others.”

ON WHETHER HE EVER SAYS TO CHANCELLOR WHEN HE STRUGGLES, ‘HEY, DON’T SWEAT IT. THIS ISN’T YOUR NATURAL POSITION.’: “No, I’ll have that conversation when the season’s over, just for him to understand that. I don’t want him to dwell on those things. I want him to see what he has done on film, work on technique, practice it and get better.”

ON CHANCELLOR BEING A PROTOTYPE STRONG SAFETY: “I think he’ll play 10-plus years easy, just because of his mindset, his physical ability. God willing, if he’s healthy, he’ll play 10-plus years. It will be easier for him to play strong safety on that level because of the things he’ll be able to do and the things he won’t have to do, like cover a wideout.”

ON HIM ONCE SAYING CHANCELLOR WOULD BE THE GREATEST SAFETY TO EVER PLAY AT TECH AND HOW, NOW, HE SEES CHANCELLOR’S CAREER AS IT’S WINDING DOWN: “I would say good. I wouldn’t say he was the best safety that every played here. He has the body, the potential to be. He has more tools at 6-4, 225 than I had at 6-foot, 200 pounds. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that part of his career where you’d say, ‘Wow, yeah, he’s the best.’ But as far as being a great athlete and being able to play at the next level, all those things are still in front of him. I’ll remember a kid who was just a humble kid, a great athlete, a guy who came out in meetings and practice and was just a professional. That’s kind of his legacy, how he led, the person he was. He wasn’t high-maintenance. That’s what I loved about him.”

ON CHANCELLOR, IN SOME WAYS, TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM BY NOT ASKING TO BE MOVED BACK TO HIS NATURAL SPOT: “I don’t even think he’d see it that way. He wanted to do the free safety thing and he was our best guy we had – and still is our best guy – and if we had it to do over again, I’d want him to do the same thing and just hope the results were super as opposed to pretty good.”

ON HOW CORNER STEPHAN VIRGIL’S KNEE HAS HEELED OVER THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS: “I think it’s pretty much back to normal. Sometimes the field corner can be hot and cold. When he came back for Miami, he couldn’t finish the game. The next week, he finished the game but couldn’t practice. Now he’s practicing every day. So the knee has come back. I can see him explode. Coach used him for the first time on special teams last week, so you know he’s able to do everything. The knee is back pretty healthy. Now it’s just that Carmichael has been so solid (at boundary corner) that you don’t want to disturb the chemistry there.”

ON HOW VIRGIL HAS PLAYED: “Technique-wise, wasn’t as sound as I’d like him to be the last game, but he has played well the last couple games.”

ON WHETHER CARMICHAEL IS NOW AN ELITE-TYPE CORNER: “I wouldn’t say that just yet. There were a couple plays last game – and he has made some helluva plays – that he could’ve made. All I can go on is what Brandon (Flowers) and Macho (Harris) did. I think those were some plays that those guys make. Rock is making some of those plays, but not all of them. For him to be an elite guy, he needs to take it up another level.”

ON FLOWERS AND HARRIS’ STANDARD: “That’s the standard our guys have to live up to. Rock is playing well. He’s playing great. But to be an elite guy, that’s the standard he has to come up to.”

ON CARMICHAEL STILL HAVING ANOTHER YEAR TO REACH THAT LEVEL: “Oh, yeah, he can obtain that status. It’s just too early to give it to him. It’s done over time, with consistency over time.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

N.C. State Week, Volume 1 (Picking a Passer edition) ...

OK, three years into their careers, you decide: Tyrod Taylor or Russell Wilson?

I’m guessing most Hokies would still take Taylor, but it’s a lot closer call today than it was in February of 2007, when five-star Taylor signed with Tech (over a host of other offers, including Florida) and two-star Wilson signed N.C. State (over one other offer, Duke).

Despite 6,000 passing yards, almost 2,000 rushing yards and nearly 100 total touchdowns his final two seasons at Richmond’s Collegiate School, Wilson wasn’t heavily pursued by college football programs. Part of that was his baseball potential and the popular theory that he would be a pro in that sport – either out of high school or three years later when he was eligible for the draft again – which made him a dangerous guy to sign for football.

The other reason Wilson was overlooked, though, is that he happened to come along at the same time as Taylor and another in-state star quarterback, Peter Lalich – also rated among the nation’s best prospects.

So Tech took Taylor and Virginia got Lalich and neither of them really even flirted with Wilson. That turned out fine for the Hokies. Not so much the Cavaliers, who booted Lalich last year.

But Wilson has no doubt made both programs think twice about him since his snub. After a redshirt year, Wilson has started the last two seasons for the Wolfpack and become a star.

He was last season’s Rookie of the Year and first-team All-ACC. He threw one interception all year. His pick-less streak stretched well into this season, going past 300 throws, shattering a national record.

So far, he has accounted for 5,196 total yards and 51 total touchdowns. He has thrown only 11 interceptions.

Taylor, meanwhile, has been a dynamic runner from the start – coming to the rescue as a true freshman and sophomore, helping an offensive-line challenged Tech team win back-to-back ACC titles with his fleet feet – but took time to develop as a passer. He also shared time for two seasons.

But nearing the end of his third year, Taylor ranks fifth all-time at Tech with 5,142 yards and has accounted for 36 total touchdowns. He has thrown 13 interceptions.

So if you’d known then what you know now, would you still want Taylor over Wilson back in February of 2007? Keep in mind, Taylor couldn’t control his offensive lines or the fact that he’d never get the benefit of a redshirt year like Wilson ... and that Taylor is on a major upswing while Wilson might, in fact, bolt for baseball after this season.

As the two QBs prepare to square off this weekend in Blacksburg, it’s an interesting debate – and amazing that it’s even debatable.

If I’m the one picking ... I have no idea who I’d choose. Wilson’s individual resume looks better so far, but Taylor is the definition of a winner ... and I think he could be setting himself up for a monster senior season. Taylor is currently sixth nationally in yards per attempt (8.9) and 16th in pass efficiency.

He has gone 81 passes without an interception. It’s his second 80-plus streak this season. In between that, he threw two picks against Georgia Tech, but one was tipped at the line and plucked by a diving DT. The other was a Hail Mary before the half.

So in my book, Taylor has thrown one legit interception in the last 170 passes. That’s very, very solid decision-making.

Speaking of which, check out his thoughts below on his newfound freedom to call his own audibles at the line. I didn’t realize how much his responsibilities have changed over the course of this season.

I’ll be watching for that this weekend against N.C. State. Taylor could have a huge day against the Wolfpack who have three freshmen among their four secondary starters. N.C. State ranks 99th in scoring defense and opposing QBs are completing 63 percent of their passes with 17 TDs and only 7 INT.

But enough with the numbers. On with the Qs and the As ...

(P.S. I’m sorry again for the continued troubles with our Web site. It is beyond both my brainpower and my pay grade to explain or fix the issues. But here’s hoping the worst is over.)

QB TYROD TAYLOR

ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE THE PRESS CONFERENCE THAT HE IS NOW FIFTH ALL-TIME AT VT IN TOTAL OFFENSE AND WHETHER THAT SURPRISES HIM, GIVEN HE’S A JUNIOR HOW SHARED SNAPS FOR TWO YEARS: “I wasn’t aware of that stat. Seems like I find out something new every time I come here to the podium, but it’s great to have those accomplishments. I just have to keep working and getting better.”

ON WHETHER HE GETS UP FOR A GAME AGAINST ANOTHER STAR QB, N.C. STATE’S RUSSELL WILSON (WHO’S ALSO FROM VIRGINIA): “I get up for every game, but Russell has been playing very good the last couple years. This is the first chance I get to play against him. I’m looking forward to the game. I’m sure it’s going to be a great game and a lot’s going to be talked about the quarterbacks. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

ON WHETHER THERE’S ANY RELIEF WITH THE ACC TITLE AND NATIONAL TITLE TALK OVER, WHETHER THE TEAM CAN ‘LET IT ALL HANG OUT’ THE REST OF THE WAY: “No, that’s been the mindset all season, ever since we lost the first game, to play every game like it was our last. We had two games that we did lose, but that’s been our mindset, whether we’re in the ACC championship game or not, that we want to give it our all every game.”

ON WHAT HE SAYS TO FRESHMAN DAVID WILSON, WHO IS A LITTLE FRUSTRATED WITH HIS PLAYING TIME AT TAILBACK: “Just to keep your head up and keep playing and when you get the opportunity, go out there and prove you’re here for a reason. I’m sure that just about everybody who has played college football has been through a down situation. You just have to keep fighting through it, and when you get the opportunity to prove yourself, make sure you go out there and take care of it.”

ON WHETHER HE HAS ACTUALLY SAID THAT TO WILSON OR WHETHER THAT’S HIS GENERAL ADVICE FOR A FRUSTRATED FROSH: “Actually, I haven’t talked with David. His locker’s right beside mine and we’re good friends. I haven’t talked with him about football stuff yet. I’ll probably wait until after the season just to make sure his head is on a good, positive note.”

ON WHAT WILSON’S DEMEANOR HAS BEEN LIKE: “He’s always joking, just a fun dude to be around. The other day he was walking on his hands. I think he walked like 12 feet on his hands in the locker room. He’s just a fun dude to be around.”

ON WR MARCUS DAVIS’ EMERGENCE THE LAST TWO WEEKS AND WHAT HE HAS SEEN FROM HIM LATELY IN PRACTICE: “He has always caught my attention as far as size. We know he’s very athletic. It was just a matter of him learning the plays and him getting comfortable in the offense. He’s starting to have fun in practice. At first, I think he was just kind of pressing too much. But you can tell he’s having fun in practice now and he’s making plays.”

ON WHETHER THERE WAS A DAY THAT WAS THE ‘LIGHT BULB’ DAY FOR DAVIS AT PRACTICE: “I think it was a Tuesday practice two weeks ago that stood out to me a lot. He caught everything that came his way. Over the shoulder catches, a lot of catches in traffic. He caught everything. That caught the coaches’ eyes. They wanted to get him on the field and see what he looked like in a game. He has caught the ball well.”

ON DAVIS’ SIZE AND ATHLETICISM COMBINED WITH POLISHED PLAY ... “He’s very fast. He’s low 4.4. He jumps a 42-inch vertical (Taylor’s is 39 and Michael Vick’s QB record is 41). He’s very athletic and he can be a big threat for us on offense.”

ON THE STARTING DEFENSE LAST YEAR PREVIEWING RB RYAN WILLIAMS BY RAVING ABOUT HIS SCOUT-TEAM PLAY AGAINST THEM ... SO WHO ON THE SCOUT-TEAM DEFENSE WILL MAKE NOISE NEXT YEAR: “As far as freshmen, I think Antone Exum (safety) is going to be a very good player before he leaves here. Telvion Clark, linebacker. But Exum has really stood out to us ... he has made a lot of plays ... and I think he’s going to play a big role in the defense next year or even on special teams.”

ON WHAT HE HAS SEEN IN CLARK: “Speed. He gets to the ball very quickly. Of course his size stands out, but his speed is the main thing. That works good in our defensive scheme.”

ON WHETHER THE VETERANS JOKE CLARK ABOUT HOW HE LOOKS LIKE HE’S 30-PLUS YEARS OLD: “Yeah, we do joke a lot as far as him looking old, but that’s just in the locker room. I say a lot, but I’m not going to say to much out here (laughing).”

ON KEEPING THE OFFENSIVE MOMENTUM GOING AGAINST A FLIMSY N.C. STATE DEFENSE: “They have given up a lot of plays, but watching film, they have a very good defense. Just a little inexperienced sometimes in the secondary, but their front four are one of the best in the ACC. They have a good linebacker corps, too. We still have to play our best game, execute the plays that are called, and just play our game.”

ON WHAT THE LEGACY OF THIS YEAR’S SENIORS WILL BE: “They showed very good leadership this past year, especially this past summer, bringing this team together. This is one of the better teams I’ve been on as far as leadership from the seniors.”

ON WR DYRELL ROBERTS STEADY TRANSFORMATION FROM TAILBACK TO RECEIVER AND HIS BIGGEST CHANGE FROM 2008 TO 2009: “I would just say going out there and playing with more confidence. He feels that he can beat any defender that steps in front of him. I know he can go out there and make a play, so I give him a chance to.”

ON HIS OWN PROGRESS IN THE POCKET: “I don’t think it was a thing of me just staying in the pocket. The coaches just basically wanted me to take what they (the defense) give me. I think I’ve been doing a good job with that, whether it’s running or staying in the pocket ... keeping the play alive by moving the pocket.”

ON WATCHING FILM LAST SEASON OF HIMSELF MISSING OPEN RECEIVERS AND HOW MUCH LESS HE SEES THAT ON THIS YEAR’S FILM: “I think I’m more mature in the pocket, finding receivers down the field and using my legs to allow guys to get open. Not just taking off and getting past the line of scrimmage, but just working behind the line of scrimmage and letting guys get open and me finding them downfield.”

ON HIS IMPROVED OUTLOOK – AND PERFORMANCE – ON TALKING TO THE MEDIA: “I’ve always liked you (reporters). I just didn’t like doing it at the time (his freshman year, especially). But I know that being the star quarterback at a big school, you have to do it.”

ON THE COACHES ALLOWING HIM TO AUDIBLE MORE AT THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE: “Early on in the season, we did a lot of situations where we’d get to the line and dummy call and I’d look to the sideline and get the play from them. I guess they felt more comfortable (lately) in the film room, watching film and learning defenses better, to give me the chance to go out there – give me a couple plays and let me go out there and decide what’s best for the team.”

ON WHETHER HE WAS CALLING THE SHOTS ON THE OPENING DRIVE OF THE SECOND HALF AGAINST UNC, WHICH LED TO A SCORE: “Yeah, the play coming out of halftime. The coach did give me a lot of options on that drive, to call either run plays or pass plays and I got the team into different things ... that we had big-gainers on.”

ON HOW MANY PLAYS, OUT OF 100, WOULD HE SAY HE IS CALLING AUDIBLES AT THE LINE: “Probably about 20 of them they’d let me audible myself.”

ON WHEN HE STOPPED GETTING THE AUDIBLE FROM THE SIDELINE AND STARTED CALLING HIS OWN: “I’d say around the Nebraska game was when we first started doing it more. We did it a little bit in the Marshall game, but Nebraska, that’s when we started getting into the checks at the line, just reading defenses and going with the best look.”

ON HOW MANY DIFFERENT AUDIBLE CALLS HE HAS: “It’s different for every week. We have different ones for every defense. It’s 10 at the most (per game). Last week we had about 10, maybe more.”

ON HOW OFTEN HE DID THAT THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS: “My first year, I didn’t do it as much. Last year, I started to get into it a little more. I was starting to get the gist of it, starting to learn more about what the coaches wanted to do with the audibles at the line. This year, we did it more in camp than every before.”

ON HOW MUCH MORE INVOLVED, COMPLICATED, INTRICATE IS TECH QB COACH MIKE O’CAIN’S TEACHING THAN THAT OF HIS HIGH SCHOOL COACH, MIKE SMITH’S: “I don’t take anything away from Coach Smith, because in high school ... the defenses you were playing every week were pretty much predictable. With a few wrinkles, it was pretty much the same game plan every week. And that was just to go out there and get yards. You come to college and different defenses are thrown at you every week. It’s just a whole different game almost.”

ON WHETHER THERE IS ANY EXTRA FIRE IN O’CAIN THIS WEEK, FACING THE TEAM HE USED TO COACH: “No, Coach is pretty much the same all the way. He doesn’t get too excited or too low. He stays the same throughout whatever the situation is.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

Maryland Week, Volume 5 (Trouncing Turtles edition) ...

At long last, I’m back. My bad, blog peeps. My recent absence was not of my choosing. In a catastrophic (to me) event somehow related to the storms and flooding in Hampton Roads (where my office is) ... the blog went down.

And I had all kinds of fun, interesting stuff ready to feed you fine folks. My apologies for leaving you hungry. The good news is, my inability to blog did not negatively affect the Hokies today.

Tech did what the should have – whipping Maryland – which is nothing to turn your nose up at, considering that hasn’t always happened this season and the fact that the Hokies (thanks to Georgia Tech’s emphatic victory today) don’t have any hope of an ACC title.

This could have been one of those lethargic-type games for Tech. It wasn’t. They marched down the field on their first drive and scored.

The led 14-0 in the first quarter, 24-3 at the half. They had 484 yards of offense (427 after three quarters) and allowed only 236 yards.

Ryan Williams ran for 126 yards, giving him seven 100-yard games as a freshman and leaving him 30 yards from Darren Evans’ ACC rookie record.

Tyrod Taylor played maybe the most complete game of his career, hitting 13 of 23 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. He hit eight different receivers and ran eight times for 81 yards.

His 349 total yards are the most in 33 career games.

True freshman Jayron Hosley was a punt-returning freak oday. He returned six for 86 yards (and had a long, electric return called back).

Jarrett Boykin continues to be a beast of a receiver. Danny Coale, one heckuva pass-catcher himself, leveled a couple of really nice blocks for his ‘mates. And Dyrell Roberts – with a 27-yard diving catch, a 41-yard leaping catch and a speedy 10-yard TD catch and run – appears to have fully transitioned from tailback to receiver.

There’s a lot to be impressed with about these Hokies (even if it was only Maryland). This is still a very good football team, even if it won’t play for an ACC title.

What will it play for now that Georgia Tech clinched the Coastal? I’ll let the Hokies tell you themselves ...

(P.S. Bud Foster talks briefly below about that Memphis job you guys are all worked up over.)

HEAD COACH FRANK BEAMER

OPENING REMARKS: “I’m really proud of our football team, to come in here and get a win. I thought Maryland played hard. They’ve had some tough injuries and that quarterback (back-up Jamarr Robinson) came in and made some big plays against us. He did a nice job. I thought Maryland certainly didn’t give in. They played tough throughout. But I’m proud of our guys. We had a couple tough losses and we’ve come back and hung in there and stayed together. And hopefully we can play our best football at the end of the year. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’ll keep on moving in that direction.”

ON QB TYROD TAYLOR’S BIG DAY: “Tyrod did a nice job, made some plays, kept some plays alive, made some nice throws. Had a couple throws he’d like to have back. We didn’t get him protected well enough in the end zone there. That was a tough play. But as long as you’ve got Tyrod, you’ve got a chance. He gives us a chance to be successful on every play – every offensive play, in my opinion. I’m glad he’s on our side.”

ON TAYLOR’S RECEIVERS HELPING A LOT, TOO: “Oh, yeah. I saw about three or four nice catches out there. I mean tough catches, going to get it. That’s what you want to see out of those guys. We’ve got some guys with some height and some ability, and when they go up and battle for the ball, they’re becoming a more complete player for us.”

ON ALL THE GUYS WHO CAUGHT PASSES (8): “What I like to see is spreading it around and whoever’s open, let’s throw it to them.”

ON WHAT HE SAYS TO THE TEAM AFTER GEORGIA TECH CLINCHED THE COASTAL TODAY: “We’ve talked about just being as good as we can be. We’ve still got a chance for 10 wins. We’ve got work to do now. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ve still got a chance to do that and to become the best football team we can be. I can tell you this: I’m disappointed in the two losses right there in the middle, as our team is, but I’m not disappointed at all in how much effort and how much caring and how much this football team has tried to be a good football team – week in and week out. We haven’t always played as well as we’d want to. We had some young guys there that just needed to get a little bit of experience. I don’t like those two losses in the middle, but I like the effort and the caring that this football team has. I like that a lot.”

ON LINEBACKER JAKE JOHNSON’S DAY AFTER BEING BENCHED: “Jake’s made out of the right stuff. He’s an athletic guy and ... he just needs to continue to get experience. I think that’ll help Jake a lot. Adjusting to things and so forth, I think experience is going to be a wonderful thing for him.”

ON TRUE FROSH JAYRON HOSLEY’S PUNT RETURNS: “I thought he had a great day returning the ball. We had some pretty good blocks. The one (in the back) they called on us, I thought, was real close. I wish we hadn’t done that. But Jayron, he breaks some tackles and he’s explosive back there. And then we’re trying hard to block for him, too. A little bit of that paid off today.”

ON WHAT HE SAID TO FRIEND AND MARYLAND COACH RALPH FRIEDGEN AFTER THE GAME: “I told him I’m thinking about him and, ‘Hang tough.’ I know he will. He’s a good, good coach. He’s a super-good person. He runs a good program, does it the right way. There’s a lot of good in Ralph Friedgen. He’s had a tough year. He’s had some tough injuries that’s hurt him. Sometimes it just goes that way.”

LB CODY GRIMM

ON HIS REACTION TO GEORGIA TECH CLINCHING THE COASTAL DIVISION: “We’ve got a lot to still play for pride-wise. I think we’ve got one of the better teams since I’ve been here and we’ve got to prove it. There’s still a ton to play for – winning a bowl game. We’re playing for pride and bowl games. It didn’t work out for us, but stuff happens.”

D-COORDINATOR BUD FOSTER

ON THE ROAD WIN: “It was a good win for us. We came up here and didn’t really know what Maryland was going to run (because of its QB situation). But it wasn’t about them; It was about us. We needed to come out and be a better football team this week than we were last week. That’s what we emphasize each and every week and I’m just really proud of our kids’ effort.”

ON THE TEAM NOT QUITTING EVEN WITH ACC TITLE HOPES DIM (AND NOW DEAD): “I don’t know why you’d quit just because we’re out of the running for the ACC championship. There’s a lot of football to be played. We’re a good football team and still have a chance to be an even better football team. We’ve still got a lot to play for. Most importantly, we’ve got to play for each other. That’s what it’s all about. These guys worked hard. They work year-round. They make a lot of sacrifices and commit to each other. That’s really what we need to go out and play for.”

ON JAKE JOHNSON’S PLAY AFTER BEING BENCHED: “I’ll find out on the film, but it was fairly simple today. Not a lot of motions and things of that nature, but Jake, he’s a good football player. I just want him to be consistently good. It doesn’t matter if it’s him or anybody else. But I’m happy for him. He had a nice sack. The best thing you can do for your football team to improve is competition. That’s one thing we have right now is good competition at most of our positions, and that makes everybody better.”

ON WHETHER HE HAS HEARD FROM MEMPHIS ABOUT THEIR COACHING SEARCH: “No. (Speaking to Washington Post reporter Mark Viera now ...) You started the whole deal, asked if I was interested in the job. Yeah, I might be, but now it’s all over the dadgum place. But I haven’t heard from them, no.”

WR DYRELL ROBERTS

ON STARTING TO REALLY LOOK LIKE A RECEIVER NOW WITH SOME OF HIS ACROBATIC CATCHES LATELY: “Yeah, I think I’ve got the transition pretty good. I learned the position pretty good and I’m thinking as a receiver and not a running back now.”

ON THOSE CRAZY CATCHES: “It feels good to know I can contribute and my team doesn’t think I’m shaky at wide receiver like last year. Last year, a couple opportunities I had, I didn’t capitalize. This year, to be able to make plays and have my team count on me, it feels good.”

ON GEORGIA TECH CLINCHING THE COASTAL AND WHAT NEXT FOR THE HOKIES: “Really, people were counting us out of the ACC after we got the second loss or third loss. We can’t sit around and dwell on not going to the ACC. We’re working on 10 wins . That’s all we’re trying to do, just win out and have a good foundation to build off next year.”

ON WHETHER PART OF THE GOAL, TOO, IS TO WIN BIG AND MAKE SOME STATEMENTS THE REST OF THE WAY: “Oh, yeah, of course. We want to make a statement and let people know when we click on all cylinders, there’s no telling what we can do. To be able to come out and get a convincing win the way we did is a big confidence booster.”

RB RYAN WILLIAMS

ON BOUNCING BACK FROM CONSECUTIVE LOSSES: “We come out with the same mentality all the time. That’s to play our best game. When we do that, we feel like we can beat anybody. We came out here with a great team win, offensively and defensively. Their quarterback (Maryland’s) played a heckuva game. A heckuva game. I wasn’t expecting that. But we come out with the same mentality. We try our best to play our ‘A’ game.”

ON WHETHER THIS OFFENSE WANTS TO MAKE STATEMENTS: “I guess. When you lose games, you try to come back the next game and go full blast and to come out and just dominate the next game. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it don’t. In the past two games, we did very well trying to get the ball down the field and put points on the board. It feels good to come out and do that.”

ON SCORING ON TECH’S FIRST DRIVE: “It felt good to get back in the end zone again. The smell of the end zone is like one of my favorite smells. It was cool. I was happy. I haven’t been there the past two or three games.”

ON WHAT AN END ZONE SMELLS LIKE: “The crowd roaring, man. You just feel it, man. You just get happy, man.”

ON HIS ADJUSTMENT TO THE MUDDY FIELD: “Just to run hard. Run hard and try not to be as agile as I usually am. Like in the third quarter, when I tried to cut back and I slipped, that was touchdown. All I saw was green and nobody could’ve stopped me.”

ON TYROD TAYLOR’S GAME: “Really no mental errors ... he threw the ball well, ran the ball well, made some good reads as far as reading the inside zones. He played a heckuva game. He’s had a lot of good games ... but this is one of his best.”

ON THE RECEIVERS GOING TO GET BALLS: “Our receivers did a great job. I guess he just trusts our receivers to go get the ball and that’s what they did.”

ON GEORGIA TECH CLINCHING: “Me personally? I don’t care. There’s nothing we can do about it. There’s no use being like, ‘Aw, man!’ They beat us, so they deserve to be there. Props to them and I hope they take it all the way.”

ON VT’S FOCUS NOW: “To get 10 wins. That’s what we’re striving for right now. If we get these 10 wins, then I don’t know how many years it is – I think it’s 5 or 6 that we continually did it. That’s our focus right now, to get these 10 wins.”

ON ALL THE TALK OF 10 WINS AND WHETHER THAT’S A LEGIT MOTIVATOR FOR PLAYERS: “I come out every game and just try my best to help the team win. That’s all I can do. I can’t control anybody else’s mood out there or what they do. If it motivates them, then more power to them. But to me, football is self-motivation.”

LB JAKE JOHNSON

ON ADVICE AFTER BEING BENCHED: “Life has it setbacks. Every great athlete goes through stuff at one point in their life. I feel like this is my time that I fell back but I now I just need to rise up against it all.”

ON HOW MUCH BETTER HE FELT TODAY THAN AFTER THE LAST GAME: “It felt a lot better. I got in there, made some plays. It felt awesome.”

ON PUMPING HIS FISTS WILDLY AFTER HIS FIRST SACK: “After that, I was just like, ‘I’ve still got it.’ I know what I can do when I actually play to my level.”

QB TYROD TAYLOR

ON HIS BIG DAY AND WHETHER IT WAS HIS BEST EVER: “I think it was one of the better games. I still had a lot of mistakes out there. I can go back and look at film and build off that ... misreads early in the game. We had a chance to run them again and ended up hitting them.”

ON MARCHING DOWN THE FIELD ON THE FIRST DRIVE: “It was a great way to set the tone for the game.”

ON HIS REACTION TO GEORGIA TECH CLINCHING: “Just to go out there and keep winning these games we have left.”

ON SCORING BIG TODAY AND BEING COMFORTABLE: “Yes, but we still didn’t execute like we wanted to in the second half. Our plan was to put more touchdowns on the scoreboard. We ended up scoring with field goals, but of course we wanted to change those to touchdowns.”

ON WHETHER THE PLAYERS ARE TRULY MOTIVATED BY THE 10-WIN BRASS RING: “We are motivated by it. Every week, the plan is to go out there and win. That’s more motivation than anything. At the end of the year, if you do have 10 wins, that’s a great goal to accomplish.”

ON WANTING TO MAKE SOME STATEMENTS THE REST OF THE WAY: “Yes, that is the plan. We have tough games ahead of us, but it’s always good to put points on the board to show people that we are the real deal.”

ON HIS RECEIVERS MAKING GREAT GRABS: “They played great today, made a lot of plays in the air against good defenders. It was my job to get the ball around them and they did a great job of just making a play. That’s what we preached all week.”

ON COMPARING HIMSELF THIS YEAR TO THE PREVIOUS TWO: “My comfort level with the passing game is very high. I believe my receivers, I believe they can play with any defender in the nation. I believe my line is going to block. It’s just my job to put the ball in their hands.”

ON DYRELL ROBERTS’ PROGRESSION: “He’s way better. He’s come along very well. I like the way he’s playing. I like the way all my guys are playing, but Dyrell has really stepped up his game and is becoming one of our better receivers.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

Maryland Week, Volume 4 (Lots on Linebackers edition) ...

Buckle up. This is going to be an insanely long blog. Sorry, but I figure it just makes sense to include all three of the main interviews I did for today’s story on Lyndell Gibson (here: http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/lb-ready-capitalize-his-and-others-mistakes ) ... rather than breaking them up into multiple posts.

So, below, you’ll find Gibson talking about his missteps and subsequent climb back into the coaches’ good graces. You’ll hear from the guy whose job he stole, Jake Johnson, and what he thinks he did wrong.

And you’ll hear from defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who’ll cover both topics and his general thoughts about benching long-time starters in favor of a youngster who might provide a spark.

It’s all pretty compelling stuff. Both Gibson and Johnson were fairly forthcoming about the shortcomings – Gibson’s off the field and Johnson’s on the field.

The transition from Johnson starting (and looking like he’d hold the spot for three years) to Gibson taking his job and ALL the snaps last week seems sudden. But not really. It’s been pretty gradual over the past six games. The first three, though, are what made this all seem so unlikely.

Through this season’s first three games, Johnson played 197 snaps to Gibson’s 10. In the next three games, Johnson played 102 and Gibson got 73. These last three games, Johnson has had 53 snaps to Gibson’s 153.

Gibson has responded pretty well, recording 14 of his 28 tackles in the past two games and recovering a key fumble against the Pirates. This position battle will be intriguing over the next several seasons.

Now here are the three people who will decide how it all plays out ...

LB LYNDELL GIBSON

ON WHAT MAKES HIM TICK: “I’m me. I do what I do. I have fun. Fun all day every day. That’s it.”

ON WHETHER HE WAS WORRIED WHEN SOPHOMORE JAKE JOHNSON AND SOPHOMORE BARQUELL RIVERS SEEMED TO HAVE THE TWO LB SPOTS LOCKED UP: “No. I knew I just had to keep working hard. I watched the mistakes they were making and tried not to make those mistakes. I was being patient about it. I wasn’t going to complain. I was just taking it one practice at a time.”

ON WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE TABLE: “Honestly, I don’t even know. I just play and have fun while I’m doing it. I think if you’re having fun, you play better and don’t think too much and don’t make as many mistakes. I’m not serious at all. I think about fun stuff, try to do something that would be funny on the field, make somebody laugh – while I’m on the field. If I said that to a coach, they’d probably think my head’s not in the game. Well, really I try not to get my head in the game. That’s when I mess up, when I’m thinking a lot. I try to stay loose and stay calm. When I’m having fun, I can just play ball.”

ON HELPING HIS TEAMMATES RELAX: “We try to keep it light. We might be out there talking about something we’re going to do after the game or something funny that happened during the week. I try to bring up something real funny that will make me laugh and make them laugh. If I laugh a lot, I tend to do good things.”

ON WHETHER, THEN, HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF AN INSTINCTIVE PLAYER: “Yeah, I think so. When I don’t think too much, I see more. When I’m in my head too much, I’m focusing on one thing, trying not to mess up that one thing. But when I’m out of my head, just everywhere, I see more and can react quicker. So, yeah, instinct is a strength of mine.”

ON COMPENSATING FOR HIS LACK OF SIZE: “I’m not going to say I’m fast, but I try to go 100 percent when I’m running. My speed could be better than what it is, but the speed I have has to make up for the inches I don’t have. My brother and my friends, they always say I’m slow. When I’m playing just backyard football, I feel like the fastest.”

ON COMPARISONS TO ANOTHER 757 LINEBACKER WHO STARRED AT TECH, VINCE HALL: “I don’t know how. Vince, he took me under his wing when I got here. He taught me a whole bunch about the school, about the system. When we chill, I do see what people are talking about when they say we resemble each other in how we act. We’re both some goofy dudes. We both just like to have fun. I guess that’s what everybody else sees.”

ON HALL BEING GONE, THOUGH, WHEN HE ARRIVED: “I met him before I got here, because we were training together in the summer with Keith Burnell. I got his number and he started texting and calling me. And now he’s back here in Blacksburg so we get to hang out. He’s out here at practice sometimes. He gave me a bunch of pointers. When camp started, he helped me out a lot. He taught me how to read an offense. I was basically playing off straight instinct. I couldn’t read the linemen. I never looked at a whole offense until Vince told me how to do that in a split second. It’s not even as hard as I thought it was. When he taught me, it came so easy and the game has gotten slower and slower every week.”

ON HOW HELPFUL THAT WAS: “It made the game way easier. After he told me, it took me like two middle-drill practices to start getting better at it. Since then, I’m much better reading guards and centers. Coach always says don’t look in the backfield. That’s always what I did. I always keep my eye on the ball, where it’s at and where it’s going. That’s how I played before. But now, when I can read the linemen, it makes it so much easier. I don’t have to pay attention to the ball. I know where the ball is going. If I don’t see the ball, if I lose it, I’m not lost. I read the linemen and I can find the ball.”

ON WHETHER JOHNSON STARTING THE FIRST EIGHT GAMES AND GETTING ALMOST ALL OF THE EARLY PLAYING TIME IT MOTIVATED HIM: “It did. When I was on the sideline, I watched him. I watched everything Jake did. That’s really who I was learning from. He knew more of the system than I did. He’d always teach me the stuff I didn’t know. In the film room, Coach would be talking fast. I couldn’t keep up. Then out on the field, when I did it and I messed up, Jake would tell me what I was doing wrong. And then I’d watch him in the games. When he was out there, I wasn’t tripping. I just thought: Whatever he’s not doing, I’ve got to do better.”

ON HIS APPROACH, THEN, BEING TO TRY TO MAKE JOHNSON’S WEAKNESSES HIS STRENGTHS: “Really, me and Jake make a lot of the same mistakes. But being able to sit back and watch made it easier for me not to make those mistakes.”

ON HIS FIRST START AGAINST ECU: “It got back to high school, hearing the crowd, getting excited, having fun and just playing ball. On the defense, we’re out there having a party. That’s what we do.”

ON WHETHER HE FEELS BAD FOR JOHNSON: “No, I don’t feel bad. We’re close. We’re cool. We’re all brothers. There’s no bad feelings, but I take it like a business. You’ve got to come out here and do work. If you’re producing, you’re playing. It was Coach Foster’s call, so I took advantage of the opportunity.”

ON HOW MUCH OF HIS DELAYED APPEARANCE ON THE FIELD HAD TO DO WITH HIS NEED TO GROW UP A LITTLE BIT: “I think so. The mistakes I was making were stupid. I had to change a whole bunch of my ways. I had to change a bunch of things I was doing. Coach Foster said he was proud of me for the way I’m carrying myself off the field now. I’m trying to keep doing those things and stay away from the situations that can get me caught up into stuff.”

ON WHAT HE HAD TO CHANGE: “I can’t act like I acted at home. I was acting like a little kid. I’m a grown man now. You can’t have your parents looking out for you all the time. You have to make smarter decisions up here.”

ON WHETHER SCHOOLWORK WAS EVER AN ISSUE: “Oh, no. I never miss class. I go to class every day. It was my behavior. I just acted like a kid, like I was still in elementary school – doing elementary-school things.”

LIKE STEALING A BIKE, WHICH CAUSED HIM TO MISS MOST OF SPRING PRACTICE: “It was dumb. I didn’t think of it like stealing. I thought of it like, ‘Here’s a bike nobody’s claiming, so I’ll ride it.’ I wasn’t going to take it and keep it. I just needed transportation from where I was to where I was going. I saw it like: Finders keepers, losers weepers. But then Coach Ballein was like, ‘If it’s not yours, don’t take it.’ That’s my lesson learned there. I’m not doing that no more.”

ON THAT BEING THE EPITOMY OF CHILDLIKE BEHAVIOR: “Exactly. That was exactly my mentality. I never even thought of it like stealing. I don’t steal. That’s ungodly. I don’t like to do wrong to nobody. I wouldn’t want to do anything to somebody that I wouldn’t want them to do to me. I just saw a bike and I needed a ride and I took it from one side of campus back to my dorm and left it outside. That was it. It was silly.”

ON MISSING SPRING BALL FOR THAT: “That’s what it was. I have to represent the program and that’s not representing Virginia Tech well at all.”

ON KNOWING THE LINEBACKER JOB WAS OPEN THIS FALL AND TO NOT BE ABLE TO COMPETE FOR IT IN SPRING, WHETHER HE WAS MAD AT HIMSELF FOR THAT: “I didn’t let it get to me. I couldn’t sweat it. It was over and there was nothing I could do about it. I just kept praying, hoping I’d get a chance to get back out here with the team. That’s all I really wanted. It was tough, but I knew I had to take the consequences. I was mad, but I didn’t beat myself up.”

ON WHETHER THAT PUT HIM BEHIND IN THE BATTLE FOR THE JOB: “I couldn’t really tell you. I didn’t get the chance, so I don’t know. I maybe could’ve done something in the spring, but who knows? It doesn’t matter now. I got the job now.”

ON FOSTER SHOWING, THOUGH, THAT THE JOB ISN’T SAFE ... THAT HE’LL BENCH ANYBODY IF THEY DON’T PLAY WELL CONSISTENTLY: “It’s a business. I’m still not satisfied just because I’m starting. That’s just part of the game. That’s supposed to be. Now I just have to keep doing what I need to do. It does make me work hard. I don’t want the starting job now and two games later I’m back at second. I have to keep working.”

ON FOSTER’S HIGH EXPECTATIONS: “That’s his job. He wants the best out of all of us. We have to give it to him. That’s all he wants. Nothing more, nothing less, just the best. Produce for the defense. We want to win. We want to win championships. I don’t blame him for being hard on us. That’s his job. If we aren’t going to do the job, they’re going to put us out. They’re not going to put him out; They’re going to put us out. He’s not going to lose his job over us.”

ON WHETHER, AS A LAID-BACK GUY WHO JUST LIKES TO HAVE FUN, IT’S HARD TO PLAY FOR A COACH WHO’S SUCH A DISCIPLINARIAN: “I’m glad. It’s just about your mentality. If you take it to heart, you’re probably not going to like him. But if you just accept that what he’s saying and what he’s doing is to make you better, it won’t be so bad. If you’re just one of those people that’s beating yourself up because he’s on your (butt) over a mistake, then you’re not going to like him. For me, I’m going to make a mistake and he’s going to yell at me. It’s going to happen. I take it as it comes. I’m glad he does it. It’s football.”

ON KNOWING WHEN FOSTER’S SCREAMING AT HIM THAT IT’S NOT PERSONAL: “You’ve got to be a man out here. These coaches aren’t going to be soft on us because they don’t want soft players. Soft players lose. Bud keeps it real with you. I love that he keeps it real with you. In the back of my mind, I’m like, ‘You’re right. I did make a mistake. Thanks for kicking my (butt). I won’t do that again.’ ”

ON OUTSIDERS WONDERING AT SOME POINT WHETHER HE WAS JUST GOING TO FADE TO THE BACKGROUND, MAYBE NEVER MAKE AN IMPACT AT TECH: “I don’t pay attention to any outside talk. I just do what I do, have fun. All the talk, it means nothing. Fading to the back is definitely not me. I’ve got to rise to the occasion. I’ve got to step up to the front. I can’t be in the back. I’m too short to be in the back. Nobody will see me. I have to step to the front.”

D-COORDINATOR BUD FOSTER

ON NEW STARTER LYNDELL GIBSON, WHO EARLY IN THE YEAR SEEMED LIKE HE MIGHT NEVER SEE THE FIELD: “He’s a guy we didn’t have a lot of information on, just because last year he was hurt (pulled a hamstring as a true freshman), then he missed most of spring practice. So I didn’t have a lot of information on him, but the little bit I saw of him – in bowl practice and things like that – he showed he’s got some quickness and he plays instinctive. He sees things, got good vision, understands the game. Jake probably separated himself mentally at first, but that’s because he had a lot more reps than Lyndell. But I saw Lyndell progressively getting better. He’s been playing quite a bit the last several weeks, alternating those guys. And the bottom line is this: The guy is a good football player. I’m not disappointed in Jake, but I feel like he’s leveled off a little bit. I haven’t seen Lyndell’s ceiling at all. I think he’s got a lot more he can improve on. But he shows he can play the game. It comes easy to him. That’s where you see a guy that makes plays. We need to have more production at that position, and I’m going to put the best guy in there. He does some things and sees some things that Jake has not done or has not seen. That’s just the bottom line. Jake’s still a good football player and will be a good football player.”

ON HIM BENCHING JOHNSON AND SENIOR STARTER DORIAN PORCH AT ROVER, SENDING THE MESSAGE THAT NO ONE’S JOB IS SAFE IF THEY DON’T CONSISTENTLY PERFORM: “Exactly. The message is we’re in a production business. You’ve got to produce. If we want to be happy and nice with these guys ... these guys understand. If they’re not living up to the expectations, we’ll find someone who can do the job. Now, we’re going to need Jake and Porch before the season is over. We’re all in this thing together. Some guys develop at a rate better than others.”

ON GIBSON NEEDING TO GROW UP, TOO, BEFORE HE COULD PLAY: “Everybody sees these kids as big, athletic men, but they’ve got the minds of 18- and 19-year-old kids. They’re kids. But here, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing the right thing. If you’re not, consequences will be paid. He’s lucky he has been giving another opportunity and he is appreciative of that. I know he understands that now. He’s trying to make the best of it, and you see that. Sometimes kids are going to make mistakes. As long as they understand there are consequences, there will be more good than bad.”

ON STEALING THE BIKE AND MISSING SPRING BALL COSTING GIBSON A CHANCE TO PLAY MORE EARLIER: “Yeah, exactly. That’s a big reason, because I didn’t have information on him.”

ON SEEING GIBSON’S MATURATION: “He’s done a great job academically and he’s trying to do the right things off the field. That’s a sign of maturity. There’s a responsibility with being a Virginia Tech football player and a big-time athlete. You’re under a microscope and you’ve got to act responsibly. He’s representing our family and his family. He knows things he does could hurt a lot of other people.”

ON HIS MISTAKES, THOUGH, NOT BEING HORRIBLE ONES: “No, no. He just wanted a ride home. Now, that was a very stupid decision and it just about cost him. But I think he was kind of scared straight.”

ON HIS GENERAL GOOFINESS AND FOSTER SAYING THAT REMINDS HIM OF VINCE HALL: “He does. Now I hope he can start to play like Vince, because Vince was not just a good player but a great player. He is a goofy guy. I walk in today and Lyndell has a big smile on his face. I say, ‘What are you smiling about?’ He starts going on about something silly. Him and I, because I’ve sat down and talked with him about a lot of things, have a good relationship. He feels like he can talk to me and he can trust me. He may not always like what I say, but I’m going to always have his best interest at heart. He’ll have open ears. If he continues on the path, he can be a key part of our success.”

ON WHETHER HIS TALENT ALSO REMINDS HIM OF HALL: “He’s got a knack. I don’t know if he’s quite there yet. Vince had great vision, saw things quicker than everybody else. This kid’s not there yet, but he does some things very naturally, with some key reads and some vision. Each games, a couple things show up. Now he’s not anywhere close to where he can be. He played OK against ECU. That’s all I’d say: He played OK. But he’s going to keep getting better. He wants to please and as long as he keeps working on all the things we talk about, he’ll continue to grow. If he doesn’t, we’ll find somebody else. We just need more from that position and we hadn’t gotten it, so we were looking to stir the pot a little and see if we could find some fire coming out of it. Hopefully he’s the spark.”

LB JAKE JOHNSON

ON HOW HE’S HANDLING HIS DEMOTION: “It was tough, but it’s all a learning experience. Just live by the day. Don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow. Just go day by day.”

ON WHETHER IT LIT A FIRE: “It lights a fire. I just have to keep practicing hard, playing hard, and things will come.”

ON WHAT FOSTER SAID TO HIM: “He just said I kind of leveled off in my play and was making some little mistakes that I shouldn’t be making. But I’m still learning.”

ON WHAT, EXACTLY, HE WAS DOING WRONG: “Just adjusting. If they’re in one formation to start, then they change to another one, just adjusting to it. Stuff I should know but it’s just not clicking right away. I would know, but it would just come at the last second. ... They snap it and you’re out of place. I just have to watch more film and seeing it in practice.”

ON THAT BEING BIG, THE LACK OF EXPERIENCING THOSE THINGS ON THE FIELD AS A TRUE SOPHOMORE: “I think so. A lot of it is experience. I played in eight games this year and never played last year. Experience comes with time.”

ON WHETHER HE WAS SURPRISED BY THE MOVE: “I was sort of surprised, but it’s whatever’s better for the team. We had been rotating for a while, so I kind of figured it might come sooner or later.”

ON WHETHER FOSTER HAS ENCOURAGED HIM: “He just told me not to stay down on myself. I’ve just got to focus.”

ON NOT PLAYING A SINGLE SNAP AT ECU: “I thought I was going to get in and rotate a lot. But we won, and that’s all that matters.”

ON MORE SPECIFICS ABOUT WHAT HE MESSED UP: “Just the little things. I remember against North Carolina when I got pulled out, they were in one formation and then they moved everybody into the boundary. I didn’t remember going over that during practice. They brought No. 8 (WR Greg Little) into the backfield.  I was kind of just thinking about what I had to do and I was scooting over, and at the last second I should’ve been outside and I wasn’t. (And Little broke a long run.) Stuff happens. It’s just hard. You focus in so much on one thing, then something changes and you’ve got to fix it real quick.”

ON HOW MUCH HARDER THIS SYSTEM IS THAN THE DEFENSE HE PLAYED IN HIGH SCHOOL: “In high school, they just said, ‘Go tackle the ball carrier.’ I didn’t really have to drop back in coverage. This is just a whole new experience.”

ON WHO HE TALKS TO DURING TOUGH TIMES: “I talk to my dad, my mom, uncle, friends. My good friends back home are giving me support. I can’t really think about what happened. I’ve just got to keep on trucking through it.”

ON GIBSON SAYING JOHNSON TAUGHT HIM A LOT: “He’s doing well. That’s all I can ask for. We’re winning and he’s playing well and I’m glad I could help him out.”

ON THE UPSIDE TO THIS DECISION IS THAT IT’S CLEAR FOSTER WILL PLAY WHOEVER IS PERFORMING BEST AND HIM HAVING A CHANCE TO GET IT BACK: “I figure if I keep practicing hard, stepping up, start playing more, then hopefully I’d get my job back. If not, as long as we keep winning that’s all that matters to me."

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

Maryland Week, Volume 3 (Missing Mike O'Cain edition) ...

This has been a weird season for me. I’ve barely spoken to quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain. Not because I don’t want to. He’s a GREAT talker. Maybe the best on staff, along with defensive backs coach Torrian Gray.

But unlike each of the past two seasons, where it seemed like I – and the other hacks – absolutely had to talk with O’Cain every single week, there just hasn’t been a need this year.

In the past two seasons, each week brought a new question. Is Tyrod redshirting? Is Sean mad that you pulled Tyrod’s redshirt again? What’s wrong with Tyrod’s arm? Or Glennon’s feet? What, exactly, is a hitch?

This year, Sean Glennon is gone and Tyrod Taylor has played pretty darn well. Not necessarily spectacular, but never especially poorly. He has run less – but still just as effectively whenever he has pulled it down – and passed more. And more efficiently.

He led a crazy comeback against Nebraska. He was brilliant against Duke. He was the difference against East Carolina.

Taylor is completing 56 percent of his passes for 1,452 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. In the two previous seasons combined he had thrown for 1,963 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Taylors has also run for 211 yards and four touchdowns and has lost one fumble this year. In nine games, that’s 1,662 total yards, 13 total touchdowns and four total turnovers.

Last year, in 12 games, he had 1,774 total yards, nine total touchdowns and 10 total turnovers. This year, in nine games, Taylor has completed 25 passes of 20-plus yards. Last year, in 12 games, he had just 11 such completions.

He is clearly much, much better. Combine that with the fact that there’s no QB controversy this season and, well, there just hasn’t been a whole heckuva lot to ask Mr. O’Cain.

But I missed him. And I was wondering a couple of things. So tonight, at long last, I bring you the Mike O’Cain Reunion.

You might be surprised by his thoughts on Taylor taking so many sacks (in my eyes, his only major flaw this year). And you’ll likely be thrilled by O’Cain’s take on Logan Thomas and his future at QB.

Enjoy ...

QB COACH MIKE O’CAIN

ON THE SHORT AND INTERMEDIATE PASSING GAME CLICKING AGAINST ECU: “Well, they played very soft in the secondary. Really they played differently in the secondary than we thought the would. We went in and thought we could get behind them a good bit. We were going to try to get behind them. They had played very tight. Well, they played us much softer, looked like they wanted to keep everything in front of them and gave us some things underneath. Now we had a couple shots down the field that we missed ... but most of the time we had balls that needed to be thrown underneath.”

ON TAYLOR BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMFORTABLE AS A PASSER: “He’s played very comfortably. He’s just playing with a lot of confidence. And he’s been doing this all year long, but I think now he’s – probably since the Miami game – you’ve just seen a more confident player. The thing that I’ve been most pleased with is he’s taken what the defense has given him. He hasn’t forced any balls. He hasn’t tried to take something that wasn’t there. He’s just played very smart. The quarterback in our offense – or any offense – if you play smart and take what they give you, you’re going to be successful.”

ON WHETHER THE ONE NEGATIVE BYPRODUCT OF TRYING TO PLAY SMART AND NOT FORCE THROWS MAYBE BEING THE SACKS TAYLOR HAS TAKEN THIS SEASON WHILE WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO COME OPEN: “Well, yeah. It’s not trying not to make a bad throw. It’s trying to make something happen. Against North Carolina, he held the ball a little bit too long twice. But he also held it a little bit too long against Nebraska. If he throws the ball away or pulls it down and runs against Nebraska, we don’t win. It’s that fine line. And it’s a give and take. And you know, a third-down sack is not terrible. You’re punting the football anyway, unless he can pull it down and get a first down. Now, if it’s in the red zone and you take a sack and it takes you out of field-goal range, that’s another story. But if you’re on the 50-yard line and take a 7- or 8-yard sack ... so what? You’re going to pun the football anyway. So sacks in some situations don’t bother me as much as it does some other people. I would rather a young man hold the ball a little longer, try to make something happen. Particularly a guy like Tyrod. People aren’t going to get a great shot on Tyrod. He’s going to dance around and make people miss. Now he might get sacked, but it’s not going to be like he’s going to get blindsided and fumble the football. So hold the ball a little bit if you need to and try to make something happen. It gets to the point where you’ve got to be smart with it. The negative with Tyrod is sometimes he takes too many shots. He gives too many people a chance to get a hit on him. You don’t like that part. But again, that’s one of those give-and-take things that you have to live with every now and then.”

ON TAYLOR TAKING THE SACKS NOT BOTHERING HIM THEN: “In the long run, the good has outweighed the bad. No question. That may be the best way to put it. I’ve seen many more positive things happen than negative things. If it’s a different type of athlete – say Sean, for example – you need him to get rid of the football, because he’s not going to make that many plays with his feet. Tyrod, Thursday night, he came out of a couple things I never would’ve thought he’d have gotten out of.”

ON THE CONFIDENCE THE NEBRASKA DRIVE PROVIDED: “The whole team, that last two plays against Nebraska kind of gave us that little boost we needed. We’d struggle and we’d struggle. We just needed to make a play. We were close, but somebody make a play. Then all the sudden somebody made one and it just kind of ignited and gave everyone a boost of confidence.”

ON TAYLOR’S LEADERSHIP EMERGING LATE IN SOME GAMES, EVEN IN THE GEORGIA TECH LOSS: “He’s in control. And he’s very well-respected. He was respected as a freshman, when he came here. He had to learn to be a college quarterback, and it has taken time, but the guys around him respect him for who he is and his personality. He’s a likeable young man. He’s fun-loving. He loves to practice. He has fun off the field. So the guys like him from that standpoint, but then they also have tremendous respect for him because of what he can do athletically. The combination of those two, to me, makes you a natural leader.”

ON GIVING TAYLOR MORE FREEDOM TO CHANGE THINGS AT THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE AND HOW MUCH HE HAS PROGRESSED WITH THAT: “Very well. We put more on him. ... I feel very comfortable with him knowing what we want to get done and getting us in it. He had one Thursday night when we had a combination play call there. They gave us one look; he called the play, then all the sudden they moved. He changed it, got something else and got us in the right play. So I’ve got a lot of confidence in him doing that right now.”

ON THAT MAKING HIM PROUD, TO SEE THAT DEVELOPMENT, AS HIS POSITION COACH: “Well, yeah, but you understand it’s a byproduct of doing it now for two years. But, yeah, you like those guys that ... manage the game. Last year, I wouldn’t have said he’s a great game manager. But now he has become a very good game manager and just knows all the little integral parts that make that happen.”

ON THE GUY WHO MIGHT BE GROOMED TO TAKE TAYLOR’S JOB IN 2011, FRESHMAN LOGAN THOMAS WHO IS REDSHIRTING BUT IS TECH’S NO. 3 QB AND NOT ON THE SCOUT TEAM: “I kind of wanted him with me, hearing things. He’s our third quarterback. I hope we don’t have to make the decision, but I don’t think we’d play him (this season, with just four games left). I wanted him hearing, seeing, going through it. I get him three or four reps a day, just to test him a little bit and get him going. But I want him seeing and hearing everything that’s going on. And I think he has learned an awful lot. Not so much what’s happening on the other side of the ball ... but in managing the game, the timing of motions, getting the right person in motion, seeing where does he need to be when the ball is snapped. All those things are things most people don’t understand. When we send a guy in motion, we need him to be in a certain place when the ball is snapped to execute what he needs to execute. So all of those little things that are part of managing the game and executing the methodology of the offense, I really like where he is. Now he’s got light years to go in terms of the overall physical part of it and knowing what’s happening on the other side of the ball, but that’s just another step we’ve got to take. Part of it has been taken, but that’s a lot of work we’ll do this spring.”

ON WHETHER THOMAS IS STILL A QUARTERBACK GOING FORWARD IN HIS OPINION: “Oh, no question. No question at all. I don’t have any doubts about him being able to be a very good quarterback. He’s smart, very poised, doesn’t get rattled. He’s got a little knack, a little savvy for the position. We’ve got to see how he progresses physically (mechanics and such, not his 6-foot-6, 235-pound body and 4.6 speed and rocket arm) but I believe he’s got all the tools to be a very, very good quarterback.”

ON MOST QUARTERBACKS HAVING SOMETHING MISSING, PHYSICALLY, WHETHER IT’S HEIGHT OR SPEED OR ARM STRENGTH, BUT WHETHER THOMAS, PHYSICALLY, IS ALMOST THE PERFECT SPECIMEN AT QB: “He’s got all the tools. That’s what I like about him. There are some things in his throwing motion that we’ve got to continue to improve. He has a tendency to wind up sometimes. But that’s just working it out. The raw gifts, though, he’s got it. He’s 6-6, strong, physical. He’s not a quick mover, but a guy who runs a 4.6 40. But even more, take all the physical stuff and put it to the side for a minute. The part I like is his personality, just the way he handles things.”

ON WHETHER HE’S A LITTLE TYROD-LIKE, BEING VERY COOL AND UNSHAKEABLE: “He is. He doesn’t get overly excited, doesn’t get overly down. I like that part. I just like the way he handles things.”

ON WHAT WOULD BE THE IDEAL SITUATION FOR THOMAS NEXT SEASON, THEN, IF HE TRULY IS THE QB OF THE FUTURE ... WHETHER TECH PUTS TOGETHER A SPECIAL PACKAGE LIKE TIM TEBOW’S HIS FRESHMAN YEAR AT FLORIDA TO GET THOMAS SOME EXPERIENCE: “There’s always that possibility, but we’ve got to wait and see what happens this spring. I want to be fair to all the guys, like Ju-Ju, and not just say he is the guy yet. We’ve got to wait and see. But if he emerges as that guy, then yes, I think there might be a way we can work him in a game. And I’d like to some way, because if he’s that guy the next year, you’d like him to have some experience. You don’t want him to get that experience just in mop-up situations. You want him to be able to play some when the game’s on the line. That’s a hard thing to do.”

ON WHETHER IT’S A WASTE AT ALL IF HE MOSTLY SITS THE BENCH AGAIN NEXT YEAR, CONSIDERING HIS HUGE TALENTS AND ABILITY TO PLAY RECEIVER OR TIGHT END, TOO: “In some ways, but at the same time ... as a second quarterback, you bite the bullet. That’s what we did this year. We could’ve used him on the field, but we bit the bullet and said, ‘This young man has a chance to be very good. He needs to redshirt. He needs to take every snap that he can at quarterback this year and next year. Then if things work out, now we’ve got him as a three-year starter.’ ”

ON HIM ALWAYS BEING A PROPONENT OF REDSHIRTING QBS AND HOW GLAD HE IS TO GET TO DO WITH THOMAS WHAT HE COULDN’T WITH TYROD: “Oh, it’s tremendous. The future is yet to be seen. But we all felt like we didn’t need to move him and then move him back to quarterback. He needed to be a quarterback. To play that position, it’s hard to be a wide receiver one semester and then a quarterback the next semester, and then if you don’t play go back to wide receiver. You’ve got to get there and play the position. So I’m happy that we’ve been able to get him there and get that done.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

Maryland Week, Volume 2 (Grimm's Tales edition) ...

We’re supposed to be objective in this career of mine. You don’t root for the team you cover. Don’t root against them. Don’t play favorites.

I have no problem staying neutral about the Hokies in general. Win or lose, I’m just there to observe and report. But I’m going to admit to breaking that last rule. Without a doubt, Cody Grimm is my favorite player to interview. He wins the award for Guy I’d Be Most Likely To Hang Out With If He Were Just a Normal Dude.

He’s a funny guy. A smart guy. A guy who’ll talk pretty candidly whether Tech wins or loses. He’s good at articulating the defense’s strengths and weaknesses and describing a particular play that might’ve been important.

We hacks love that kind of guy. And did I mention he’s funny? We’ll get to that.

First, let me note another reason it’s hard not to quietly pull for a guy like Grimm: He is a 5-foot-10, barely 200-pound former walk-on who ... um ... currently ranks third in the ACC with 79 tackles and LEADS THE LEAGUE with four forced fumbles. He also has 6.5 tackles for loss, four pass break-ups, a sack and eight QB hurries.

Last week’s stand-up and strip of an ECU receiver – and subsequent fumble recovery – was absolutely textbook stuff. Grimm is an old-school football guy’s ultimate player. A guy who was once just trying to get noticed on special teams and earn a scholarship ... who is today looking like a lock for first-team All-ACC honors.

That, to me, is remarkable. And lucky for us media types, Grimm has played so consistently and talked so eloquently that the coaches have selected him just about every week to come talk to us at Tuesday press conferences.

At this point, I figure he has told me just about everything I need to know about on-field happenings. So I had a little fun with him – in between serious reporters’ questions – at this week’s media gathering.

I wanted to know more about a guy he has mentioned repeatedly at these things (unprompted). Grimm likes to tell stories about his good buddy and the team’s resident prankster, senior walk-on linebacker Mark Muncey, who has four tackles on special teams this season.

Muncey’s role on the team goes beyond stats. A guy who once left a rubber snake in the locker room and later called offensive lineman Richard Graham and pretended to be a kidnapper ... has apparently helped keep spirits high with his hi-jinx.

Grimm has done the same for us reporters with his wit and wisdom during what can be at times tedious press conferences. So here’s what the Ultimate Underdog had to say about himself, his team and Mark Muncey ...

LB CODY GRIMM

ON BEING AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE EVERY WEEK, TELLING US JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING HE KNOWS ABOUT THE TEAM, SO HOW ‘BOUT A STORY ON HIS GOOD FRIEND AND WALK-ON MARK MUNCEY: “I’ll get back to you in a little bit. I have to think about it. He’s a wild one.”

ON WHETHER THE TEAM IS PLAYING FOR ITS BOWL PLACEMENT NOW: “I check them out (the projections) to see where people think we’re going to go, but that changes every week. Any bowl game is fun. It’s always an honor to go to a bowl game. Nowadays, pretty much any bowl game is luxurious. They give you good food; you’ve got a nice hotel room. So wherever you go, it’s a real good time.”

ON WHETHER G-TECH COACH PAUL JOHNSON GOING FOR IT ON FOURTH-AND-1 IN OVERTIME AGAINST WAKE SURPRISED HIM: “Not really. it didn’t surprise me, because the way they are on offense, they go for it on fourth down a good bit of the time. They did it against us a couple of times. The way their offense runs, on fourth-and-1, they like their chances of getting it – and they usually do.”

ON WHETHER MARYLAND RECRUITED HIM, SINCE HE GREW UP ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY: “They were actually one of the first schools to start recruiting me. Them and UVA came on the same week. They recruited me a lot in the beginning, but then once my senior year started, they didn’t really talk to me much. Then once they saw I was coming to Tech, they were in our coaches’ office the next week to try to get me there, saying I’d start on their kickoff team the first year and all this stuff.”

ON GOING FROM WALK-ON TO BEING IN THE HUNT FOR FIRST-TEAM ALL-ACC: “I just come out and try to do what I can, eliminate my mistakes and let things come to me. That seems to happen every now and then. I’m just happy I can make the plays and not miss tackles. I’m just trying to do my position.”

ON WHETHER THE SECRET TO HIS SUCCESS MIGHT BE MARK MUNCEY – TEAMMATE, FRIEND, PRANKSTER – AND THE LAUGHTER HE BRINGS INTO HIS LIFE: “Yeah. He’s a good guy. He’s a funny dude. I was thinking of some of the stories. One of the funniest is ... he’s older than us and he used to drive to middle school back in small Tazwell. He said he used to get out of the car growing up and roll the cigarettes up in his sleeve and just hang outside the middle school. Obviously, he’s joking, but it’s still really funny.”

ON THE PART ABOUT MUNCEY DRIVING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL ASLO BEING A JOKE: “No, he drove. He only had his permit at the time. When he was getting his learner’s permit was at the end of eighth grade. He used to tell us story about how the chicks loved him because he’d get out of the car and have his dad crouch down.”

ON WHETHER MUNCEY IS THE COOLEST GUY ON THE TEAM NO ONE KNOWS: “He’s a good guy. I’m going to get some stories together next week. If I come back (to the press conference), I’ll get out a notebook card and I’ll let you guys hear about it.”

MORE ON MUNCEY: (Just before another reporter asks a serious question, Grimm starts again ...) “There’s actually another funny story. We went hunting back home and his buddy has a farm. His grandma lives on the farm. He said he got in contact with her, but he never did. So it’s like 5 in the morning and we pull in the driveway and Muncey goes, ‘Cut the lights!’ I’m like, ‘What?’ We had to drive around her back yard with our lights off all slow. Whenever we’d hear a 4-wheeler or anything, he’d be like, ‘I think she knows we’re up here!’ We were hunting on this lady’s farm who he said we’d have permission but he never got in contact. It’s just a funny story.”

ON ONLY TAKING ONE CLASS THIS SEMESTER AND WHAT IS IT: “House Planning. It’s going well. It’s only a two-credit class until today. I had a test, actually. So I had to study. Woke up a little earlier than I like. But it’s going well. I’ve got a C-plus in the class, which is pretty much a B-plus.”

ON WHAT THAT CLASS ENTAILS: “I don’t really know. It’s all about setting up how you build a house and what should be what size. It’s kind of interesting, but I’ll probably just buy a house already built.”

ON WHETHER MUNCEY IS IN THAT CLASS: “No, he’s not. Call of Duty (a video game) just came out, so I don’t even know if he’s slept.”

ON HOW MUCH IT HELPS TO PLAY FOOTBALL AS A FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR WHO ONLY HAS ONE CLASS: “It helps. I can watch more film. It just helps not to have to worry about as much. I can lift at 2 and I’m always well-energized for practice. I’m always sleeping in. On Thursdays, I watch film. I don’t have to worry about schoolwork as much. Usually wake up around 11, go grab lunch, come over a little early and watch a little film.”

ON HOW LYNDELL GIBSON DID IN HIS FIRST START AT LINEBACKER: “I think he did a real good job. He was calm out there, made some good plays. He read a screen real quick, hit the quarterback hard on one play. He obviously played good. We didn’t get any big gains on us, which means he was doing his job. That’s all you can ask for. I don’t think he missed any tackles and played smart.”

ON WHETHER HE CONSOLES THE GUY, JAKE JOHNSON, WHO LOST HIS JOB TO GIBSON: “I’m sure he’s a little down, but he’s had a pretty good season, too. They’re both young and a lot can happen. They’re both real athletic where they can both play a couple different positions. I’m sure they’ll both be battling in spring and for the rest of their careers. They’re both good players. Jake’s obviously down that he didn’t play last week, but he understands that it’s a battle out there. It’s a competition week to week and you’ve got to perform at your highest level or that can happen.”

ON WHETHER IT’S TOUGH TO GET UP FOR A 2-7 MARYLAND TEAM: “We’ll be ready to go for sure. The majority of our team is from up around that area, so there’s going to be a lot of family members there. We’re going to be ready to go. I’d say we’re more excited for this game than a lot of other games. We’re playing in front of a bunch of our family, a bunch of our friends.”

ON WHETHER HIS MODELING CAREER IS UNDER WAY AFTER HE WAS USED TO SHOW OFF THE NEW NIKE UNIFORMS AT THE BIG UNVEILING CEREMONY: “Yeah. I’ve been getting calls from Jockey, Haynes, stuff like that. I guess they want me to be an underwear model, but I guess I’ll have to wait until after the season to get into that.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.

Maryland Week, Volume 1 (Let's Not Call it Combat edition) ...

So the big story of the day was – and we seem to be saying this a lot lately – not so much about this weekend’s opponent. It was about ... Nike. About crazy new uniforms ... which turned out not to be so crazy after all.

I attended the big “unveiling” along with a few hundred other folks (mostly students) on campus today. Nike’s folks tried – really, they did – to make this thing a big deal.

And Virginia Tech did its part, getting Bruce Smith and Antonio Freeman to show up for the affair. Their appearance drew the loudest reaction from the crowd.

And let me be the first to say this: I don’t fault the Hokies one bit for playing along with whatever gimmick Nike wants them to. If that company wants to turn Tech into Oregon-East (which might be the case, considering the Hokies have already worn five different jersey combinations this year) ... Frank Beamer and company will let them.

Nike is, after all, handing over almost $10 million in cash and prizes to Tech over an eight-year contract. So, kudos to athletic director Jim Weaver and whoever else worked out that sweet deal.

My only issue today was with the way, way, WAY over-the-top nature of Nike’s promotion. Here’s how everything unfolded ...

* They had a big stage set up in the middle of campus. The back-drop featured this slogan: “Good Guys Wear White.” Nike flacks were handing out literature that said the same. They were selling T-shirts with the slogan for $24. The literature added: “It says good vs. evil. It says let’s play Beamerball. Speed is our calling card. Offense, defense and special teams – everyone gets in on the act. It says UT Prosim. It says stay in your shell, tortoises, it’s time for combat. It says the good guys always win.” Um ... maybe that last part was a little much. No?

* Both the VT cheerleaders and the dance team were there and each performed several dances/cheers while the crowd awaited for the big unveiling. At a certain point, all of us standing there watching the girls shake it became a little awkward. The radio voice of the Hokies, Bill Roth,  was the MC presiding over the festivities and he did his best to inject a little energy into it. But I couldn’t stop staring at the  huge black military vehicle parked by the stage that said in stenciled letters on the side: PREPARE FOR COMBAT.

* The day’s special guests – Beamer, Smith and Freeman – were driven from the football complex over to the site of this big production in a motorcade of SUVs. All this for jerseys? Really?

* The Nike rep, Loren Hoppes, took the mic and said that there was great debate last year over which 10 teams Nike would use to roll out this new product line. One wasn’t ever a question, though. “It had to be Virginia Tech,” he said. OK, so that’s cool for the Hokies. And that’s very good for recruiting. Like it or not, the kids these days love them some crazy-looking uniforms.

* Finally, Beamer arrived and rolled onto the stage wearing a slick black leather jacket and a white turtleneck. He told the crowd, “Nike has treated Virginia Tech very, very well.” (They’re in Year 3 of an eight-year, $9.7 million deal with Nike that includes cash and free merchandise.)

* Freeman came onto the stage chucking footballs into the crowd. This was as excited as anyone got. Freeman is now doing analyst work for Comcast covering the Redskins. Roth said to him, “Well, we’re glad you can be here with  a team that actually wins some games.” Talking about this year’s Hokies, Freeman noted, “We have an exciting young running back in Ryan Williams,” which drew big cheers.

* Then Smith hit the stage in dark shades and a slick sport coat, also slinging footballs into the crowd. “Home, sweet home,” he said. “It’s a special feeling when you come back to Blacksburg this time of year.” And on the topic of Nike: “They even made me my own shoe (back in the day) and I was appreciative of that.” On the Hokies’ partnership with Nike: “You’ve got to look good to play good.”

* And finally, after about half an hour of hoopla, Beamer walked over to a full-sized football locker that was on the stage. When he opened it, Cody Grimm and Tyrod Taylor walked out wearing the new jerseys (which you can see online at Nike’s site). “Enter Sandman” played as they walked out. There was only a smattering of cheering and a whole lot of awkward silence.

* The Nike guy explained that the stripe on the shoulders and down the side of the pants will be called the “Beamerball Speed Stripe.” The word “Beamerball” is inside the back collar of the jerseys. “UT Prosim” – a Latin phrase meaning “That I May Serve,” which goes way back at Tech – is on the back waistband of the pants. That was a classy move by Nike, which is more often gaudy. The players are also wearing the super-light, 10-ounce Vapor Jet cleats, which won’t be sold to the public until next year. (Another bonus for recruiting when your program’s players are getting all the latest and greatest gear first.)

* The Nike fellow, Hoppes, said that they learned Maryland (whose apparel deal is with Under Armour) would be having “a blackout” this weekend. “So we wanted the good guys to wear white,” he said. (Note: Maryland is actually wearing black and tan camouflage uniforms this weekend in honor of military veterans and to promote the Wounded Warrior Project. Makes Nike’s “combat” campaign seem slightly callous, no?)

* Seeing the jerseys, Freeman said, “I’d sure like to wear it. Those guys look sweet. Sweet in a good way.” Said Tyrod: “Different, but I like them.” And Beamer, ever the good corporate partner told the crowd: “Buy their products, because I think they’re the very best. I think it would be neat if everybody was in their white against Maryland’s black.”

So that’s what went down today. I was a little put off by it – by the Nike folks, not the Hokies – but maybe I’m just overly sensitive to excessive war references in relation to sports ... the consequences of which are nothing like war.

Anyway, here are a couple of quick-hit interviews with folks involved in the big show today. Then I promise to return you to the real football stuff tomorrow ...

LOREN HOPPES, NIKE REPRESENTATIVE

ON TECH ONLY WEARING THESE JERSEYS FOR THIS ONE GAME AND THEN WEARING THEIR NORMAL JERSEYS – WITH THE NEW MATERIAL – NEXT YEAR: “Just wanted to make it special for the team and to tell the story of the innovation for Nike. We sat with Coach Beamer this summer and that was the one they chose to wear for this game.”

ON WHETHER BREAKING IT OUT FOR THIS GAME WAS AN AGGRESSIVE MOVE TOWARD COMPETITOR UNDER ARMOUR, WHO PROVIDES MARYLAND’S APPAREL: “No, no. Here’s what we did: When we could, it was Nike vs. a non-Nike school. It’s a little weird when you do it Nike vs. Nike.”

QB TYROD TAYLOR

ON THE NEW UNIS: “I think this is going to do good for the team. It’s a new look, but we still have to go out there and play the game.”

ON WHETHER THIS KIND OF PARTNERSHIP WITH NIKE IS GOOD FOR RECRUITING: “I think so. I think everyone wants to look good while they’re playing. Nike does a good job of putting us in great uniforms.”

ON WHETHER TECH IS BECOMING EAST-COAST OREGON: “Nah. I think Oregon has us by a lot more uniforms.”

ON THE JERSEYS FITTING MORE SNUG: “Everything feels like it’s on you, skin tight, and that helps you move better. Especially in the pants. I don’t think anybody can grab my pants and tackle me by my pants. I’ve been tackled by my pants before.”

ON WHETHER THESE 37-PERCENT LIGHTER JERSEYS FEEL LIKE IT: “This does feel lighter. I wouldn’t say the old stuff felt really heavy. You can still play in it. You can just tell this is a new jersey.”

ON GETTING THE NEW THREADS: “It’s very cool. We just feel honored for them to give us these jerseys.”

ON WHAT COMBO HE LIKES: “I like the orange and maroon we wore against North Carolina and I like the old-school maroon we wore against Georgia Tech.”

LB CODY GRIMM

ON THE WHOLE EVENT: “It’s fun to do stuff like that. It felt a little awkward ... but it was fun.”

ON IT BEING BIG FOR RECRUITING: “It’s definitely a privilege any time Nike chooses you to do something like this. No one even wore these cleats yet. They come out next year and they’re incredibly comfortable. It’s definitely an honor.”

ON THE RECRUITING EDGE: “I definitely think it will help. I don’t think it’ll be the kid’s deciding factor by any means, but it’s a definite advantage.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. 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 the comment.