Good day, Birdbrains. I mean that purely as a compliment. If you prefer Hokieheads, that’s fine, too.
I apologize for the delay, but I do have some notes here to share from Wednesday’s practice and mini-scrimmage. Keep in mind, the following points are a combination of my simpleton observations and actual coaches’ evaluations.
Take nothing as gospel (unless it’s printed in red, remember). In which case, if I had a red font on this blog, “Sisters of the Poor State really gets after ya” would be in that font.
I digress. Here’s what was scribbled in my notepad Wedneday:
* Heading into the scrimmage, the Hokies were healthy. Center Ryan Shuman (knee), defensive tackle Kwamaine Battle (shoulders) and tight end Chris Drager (knee) are all out of full-contact drills for spring ball as scheduled. But all three, according to trainer Mike Goforth, are recovering nicely and expected to be full-tilt for fall. “Otherwise, we’re clean,” Goforth said. “Except Coach Beamer.” Even Beamer, though, new knee and all, is getting around better. Now, QB Tyrod Taylor may have hurt his ankle Wednesday … but I’ll get back to you on that.
* Before the scrimmage, Tech’s middle drill – the offensive line and running backs going against the D-line and linebackers – was fun to watch. I got the football-season tingles watching heads knocking and hearing pads pop. Some highlights …
* RB Jahre Cheeseman is running with some confidence and some real vigor. He was lowering his shoulder during the middle drill, delivering blows more than taking them. He was tough to bring down on first contact.
* Converted LB Demetrius Taylor is making a real run up the depth chart at his new spot, D-tackle. He was in the backfield routinely during the middle drill, serving up shots to the tailbacks … and had a nice sack during the scrimmage. He offsets his less-than-ideal size with above-average quickness for the position. And he’s freakishly strong for his size, helping him not get manhandled by far larger O-linemen.
* O-line coach Curt Newsome is SERIOUS about making this line better. Not that folks couldn’t tell that already (grown man puking before every game and all) … but he was “really gettin’ after” those linemen Wednesday. During the middle drill, the first unit wasn’t getting the job done … so in between snaps, he pulled them in close – and one guy especially close – and barked a few unprintables. Then a fiery “Let’s go! Knock them off the (bleep) ball!” Whaddya know … next play they opened a gaping hole for Jahre Cheeseman. Newsome liked it. He encouraged with as much zeal as he admonished. “Good push. GOOD PUSH!” The guy is fired up, and I do think the line is going to be much better. (Barring major injuries. Depth is still not QUITE what they’d like.)
* RB Dustin Pickle, the former walk-on, runs with total abandon. He lowered his shoulder and brought the boom to some poor reserve linebacker during one middle drill. Another tailback, Darren Evans, really does read blocks and process a play quickly. Billy Hite likes Evans’ vision. I think you will, too.
* Brent Bowden is BOMBING punts. The back-up, Saunders, is very solid, too. Tech will be very solid in that part of the kicking game. The actual field goals? Hmmm … jury’s still out. But the favorite to replace Jud Dunlevy – senior Dustin Keys – went 0-for-2 in the scrimmage and the four kicker candidates were a combined 1-for-6. But if you’ll recall, Dunlevy was 2 of his final 8 in preseason scrimmages last fall … and he hit 80 percent of his kicks during the season.
* WR Ervin Garner, an undersized speedster who – if you recall – got a late scholarship offer last summer, well after signing day, and became the final member of the class of 2007 … is getting a ton of reps returning kicks. Beamer loves his speed, but he wants to see better consistency out of Garner in actually fielding the ball. WR Patrick Terry, by the way, is also making a surprising run at the two-deep. He ran a nifty reverse and showed a good burst that caught Beamer’s eye this week.
* The QBs didn’t throw the ball around a ton in the scrimmage. Both had pretty pedestrian days. But I’d say Glennon looks far better as a passer right now than Tyrod Taylor. Especially in pass scale (drills where the QB and receivers go against linebackers and defensive backs). During Wednesday’s pass scale – from inside the red zone -- Glennon threw a dart down the middle to Kenny Lewis Jr. for a touchdown. Then a strike to Greg Boone in the end zone. Glennon showed patience, went through a couple of reads, hit Boone in stride. Then Glennon made a pretty athletic play … rolling right, throwing back left, lofting the ball over top of several outstretched defenders’ hands … to former QB Cory Holt (who REALLY passes the eyeball test as a wideout), leaping in the back of the end zone. Taylor had his moments, too, hitting Patrick Terry on a nice fade to the right corner of the end zone. And he’s also, clearly, a great running threat. He had some good moves during the short scrimmage, where both QBs were live. But throwing the ball, he just seems a little off, sailing several throws high and wide, etc.
* The scrimmage itself wasn’t exactly chock full of highlights. As I mentioned, the QBs were so-so (Taylor did have a 45-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open guy you haven’t heard of against a defensive unit made up of guys you haven’t heard of.) … The kickers were, um, not good. But the kick-block team was solid, with Worilds getting a piece of one and Macho all but eating another. He was in so fast, so deep that I think he blocked the kick with his chest as he dove. … The first group of offensive linemen was solid. The second and third units, spotty at best. … And the running backs had their moments. Darren Evans had one cool run, hurdling a defender, getting the edge and then plowing the tackler for about 10 yards. Josh Oglesby, who was fading in the race, ripped off a 29-yard TD run up the gut on the first-team defense. Bucked a tackle near the line and ran past everyone else. … LB Cam Martin absolutely crushed Glennon on one busted play, where Glennon just tucked and ran up the gut. Martin is a hitting machine and playing very, very well -- best that I can tell. To Glennon’s credit, he lowered his shoulder and fell forward for a gain. … A redshirt freshman tight end, Lanier, had the highlight of the day. Tyrod lofted a ball high and toward the sideline. Lanier was blanketed by two defenders. He reached up over both of them with his left hand, snared the ball, and secured it by mashing it to his face mask. Nice grab. Tech is now borderline loaded at tight end. If no receivers really emerge, I’d be stunned if Stiney doesn’t call several two-tight looks this fall.
* Toward the end of the scrimmage, there was a really funny moment on a punt coverage. Long snapper Collin Carroll was huffing down the field to lay the wood on somebody. He was coming to make a nasty delivery. But he whiffed. Afterward, a teammate jogged up. “Dude! (like those AWESOME beer commercials). Dude! Two-hand TOUCH.” They weren’t supposed to be actually hitting on that drill. “Uh … oh. Good thing I missed him!”
That’s about all for now. Hope you enjoyed one fellas thoughts on the proceedings. If not, try these other fellas’ thoughts …
*** COACH FRANK BEAMER (these are the parts that would be in the red print in your Hokie Bibles)
ON THE KICKING GAME: “Well, it was the first day we’ve field-goal kicked with pressure. Without the pressure, I think Keys has been our best kicker. Matt’s been our second-best kicker. But with the pressure, I’m not sure. That’s what we’re going to figure out in the next few days. Last year, we went preseason and Dunlevy had trouble and then he got hot. And that’s what Keys needs.”
ON DT CORDARROW THOMPSON: “We’ve got to get a couple more (DTs). The guy we kind of like in there is Demetrius Taylor. He’s quick. He’s not quite as big as you’d like, but he’s tough and quick and very aggressive. After that, we’ve got to find some. But I think Cordarrow is a different guy … and that’s been a pleasing thing.”
ON THE QUARTERBACKS: “I’d like to see us a little more accurate. For whatever reason: you’re throwing to new receivers and they may be a step off on where they’re supposed to be. But you can kind of tell, we’re not as accurate throwing the ball as we need to be right now. Now whether it’s the quarterbacks or receivers or backs … things are not as exact.”
ON WHETHER EITHER QB HAS SEPARATED HIMSELF: “I don’t think so. Today was the first scrimmage we’ve let them go live, and Saturday we will … from here on, I think we’ll get some good work.”
HAS THE TWO-QB SYSTEM BEEN RULED OUT FOR NEXT SEASON: “No. We’re just kind of going through here and seeing what we feel at the end of spring practice. I thought going toward the ACC championship, two quarterbacks worked great. We needed both of them. In the bowl game, I didn’t think it was very good. And that’s kind of what you live with a little bit. But what happens next spring, we’ll determine after that or at least have an idea going into fall.”
ON WHICH RECEIVERS WOULD PLAY IF THE HOKIES HAD TO PLAY A GAME TODAY: “Luckett, Macho and … Coale’s going to be OK. Dillard made one good catch today. I’d like him to be more consistent. He’s got a lot of ability. He’s got a lot of speed. I’d like for him to catch it and use that speed. These next few practices are going to be real important for him. Whitaker showed some things out here. He needs to lose some weight. I think if he would, get that quickness back, I think he’d figure in. And then the guy we’re really looking at is Patrick Terry. He had a good practice last practice, and then on the reverse he just looked like he can burst out of there. Those are the guys we’re looking at.”
ON ALL THE HOLES TO BE FILLED ON DEFENSE, AND WHAT HE SEES SO FAR: “I think what’s good for the defense is we haven’t had a lot of long plays. And maybe part of that goes back to our offense, but I think a lot of it goes to the defense. At least we’re in position.”
ON LB PURNELL STURDIVANT: “I like Sturdivant. I thought his last scrimmage was his best. I think he’s kind of a different guy right now. I think Brett Warren’s been very good. Our real concern right now is who’s going to be second ones. Probably some of them are going to be freshmen coming in here. But I think with Brett and Sturdivant, we’re going to be OK. I think that first group is going to be good. Jason Worilds, he’s been good. Nekos Brown. Orion Martin’s going to be good.”
*** QB SEAN GLENNON
ON HAVING THOSE FOUR SENIOR RECEIVERS GONE, AND HOW STRANGE IT IS TO BE THROWING TO A BUNCH OF NEWBIES: “It’s the first time in seven years I haven’t been throwing to Eddie. And I came in with those other guys. I’ve been throwing to them for four years. Those first two practices, it was weird not seeing 4 or 2 or 81 out there. Or seeing other people in those numbers. I’m starting to feel comfortable with all the new guys. The first few practices … even now, we’re still struggling to find timing. Some guys run deeper routes than others. Some cut them off a little earlier. You just have to learn about them. Me and Josh (Morgan), I knew he was going to convert everything he could into a takeoff. I just knew stuff about them, stuff you have to learn about these guys. But it’s coming along.”
ON WHO HAS STEPPED UP: “Danny Coale is one guy who’s really been doing a good job. Ike came on in this last scrimmage. Luckett’s taking over as the leader of that group. And Dillard, if he can get more consistent, is going to be a heckuva player. And obviously Macho can do some things when he gets the ball in his hands.”
ON WHETHER HE EXPECTS TO WIN OR LOSE THE JOB, OR WHETHER HE THINKS HE’LL BE PART OF A TWO-QB SYSTEM AGAIN: “All of this would be me assuming, because the coaches really haven’t said anything. Other than back at the bowl game, after I got my draft papers back, all they told me was, ‘If playing you and Tyrod is going to win us the most football games, that’s what we’ll do. Or if one of you just really separates himself, then we’ll go with that.’ But they haven’t said a word since. I don’t think one of us has pulled ahead of the other. If I was the coaches, I wouldn’t be able to say that Sean has separated himself from Tyrod or vice versa.”
ON NOTICING IMPROVEMENTS IN TAYLOR: “Sometimes last year, he would kind of predetermine where he wanted to throw the ball, and if it wasn’t open, he’d take off and run. But this year, he’s trying to be cognizant of going through his reads a little better. He’s still got to use his athletic ability every now and then, but he’s trying to become more of a pocket passer.”
ON THE UNCERTAINTY AT RECEIVER, AND WHETHER TIGHT END GREG BOONE IS BECOMING A SECURITY BLANKET FOR THE QBS: “Yeah, if you include tight ends as receivers, he might be the most consistent guy. He’s really come on as a guy I can rely on. He’s come a long way. My sophomore year, he had a case of the drops. Recently, he doesn’t drop much. He runs good routes and, it’s pretty amazing, carrying around almost 300 pounds he runs really well. He runs really smooth. He’s just a freaky guy. I saw him once just standing around and he did a back flip. That’s crazy when you’re flipping 290 pounds.”
ON HIS APPROACH THE REST OF SPRING PRACTICE: “I just want to pick up where I left off last season. I don’t want it to look like I’ve had eight or nine months off. I want it to look like from the ACC championship game on, I’m transitioning right into the first game this year. Other than the Orange Bowl, the second half of last season I was pleased with my play and I want to continue to build on that. And I also really want to feel comfortable with these receivers. The last day of spring I want to say, OK, I really feel good about this group and our chemistry.”
ON WHETHER THE OFFENSIVE LINE REALLY LOOKS LIKE IT’LL BE SOLID, FINALLY, THIS SEASON: “Definitely. And when Shuman gets back, it’ll really feel that way. That’s taking nothing away from Beau (Warren). He’s doing great, but Shuman’s been between Sergio and Marshman for a couple of years now. Ed Wang has a season under his belt. If we can get Blake DeChristopher up to speed – and he’s doing a good job so far – it should be a real solid group.”
ON WHETHER THE PROSPECT OF A GOOD LINE EXCITES HIM, SINCE HE HASN’T REALLY HAD A GREAT ONE IN HIS CAREER: “I have confidence that’s going to happen. Stuff happens sometimes, and we’re playing against scholarship guys, too, so I’m going to get pressure. But I have all the confidence in the world in the line. It’ll really help out, especially breaking in these new receivers, if we can get some time back there and get a rhythm going. Especially early in the season, it would be big for the line to give us some time.”
