Gobble, gobble? No. Bubble, bubble. It's boiling here ...
What a day. The heat is WAY up in Blacksburg. What I saw today was a team experiencing a serious sense of urgency. In fact, I think I heard that phrase a few times from the coaches and players.
Between Beamer’s outburst and what you’ll read below from three players … everyone feels pressure to play well NOW. Beamer has not only made it clear to us hacks and you fans that he’s fed up with the criticism, he’s also made it abundantly clear that he’s had enough of the poor play that has resulted in such criticism.
What is easy to forget is that this program is Frank’s baby. He built it from really nothing into, well, something. Something so big that a room full of reporters were watching him today when he went off. That half those reporters moved out here to Blacksburg to cover his team’s every move.
So big that Virginia Tech’s football team has a national reputation for excellence – and sometimes more negative things, but if you’re not big-time, nobody cares if your players misbehave. So big that the best debut by a rookie wideout in the NFL in years was celebrated on TV last night with multiple references to his alma mater … Virginia Tech.
Beamer built this program up so big that there are hundreds (and quite possibly thousands) of over-the-top, hardcore fans out there who actually get angry with him that the team isn’t currently a national title contender.
Had anyone ever even considered it possible that the Hokies would compete for a national championship before Beamer built this program up? No way.
So when there’s a problem – and Beamer obviously knows there are some problems – he doesn’t like it. But he likes it even less when someone shines a big, bright light on those problems and then starts blaming him and, most offensive to him of all, doubting his ability to take the program even higher.
Yes, Mr. Beamer is in a rare mood these days. And it seems EVERYONE in the program is feeling the heat that’s radiating off him right now. Don’t think so? Keep reading …
DE ORION MARTIN
ON BEAMER BLOWING UP A LITTLE BIT: “I thought he seemed a little mad. Gosh. He seemed a little pissed yesterday. At the team meeting, in practice. Our practice was a little harder yesterday. He seemed demanding, like, ‘We’re not going to take this crap anymore.’ You could just tell. He just kept saying, ‘We’re going to get it right. We’re going to get it right.’ ”
ON HOW FRUSTRATED THE PLAYERS HAVE BEEN WITH THE STRUGGLE EARLY: “Well, our defense, I think we made a drastic improvement from ECU. The exciting thing about that is we played good, but we still haven’t reached our full potential. I feel OK with our defense right now. We’ve got some work to do, but we’re getting better.”
ON THE GEORGIA TECH OFFENSE: “Well, they’re going to run the ball 50, 60 times a game and it’s going to wear you down. So I think it’s going to be a matter of who wears down who. They’re going to hit that fullback in the middle a lot. He’s big and strong and that quarterback can keep it, too. So they can beat you in a lot of ways.”
ON THE HOKIES’ DEFENSE NOT BEING VERY DEEP, AND HOW IMPORTANT IT’LL BE TO GET THREE-AND-OUTS AGAINST GT, TO KEEP THE DEFENSE FROM GETTING WORN OUT: “That’s good. Because if you’re on the field a long time, you’ll wear down in the fourth quarter. I think Saturday we were able to get a lot of three and outs, and that helped out a whole lot. So, yeah, that’s very important.”
ON WHETHER THIS FEELS LIKE A BIG GAME: “It’s an ACC game, so it’s real important to us. We have to be really focused on this offense. It’s not real confusing. You’ve just got to play your keys, do your responsibility and tackle well.”
ON WHETHER PREPARING FOR THIS IS SIMILAR AT ALL TO THE LAST TIME TECH GOT READY FOR WAKE FOREST’S MISDIRECTION OFFENSE: “Not the same, but sort of the same feeling. You’ve got to stay at home because they can hit you in many different directions, so yeah, it’s a lot like that.”
ON D-COORDINATOR BUD FOSTER’S MAIN POINT OF EMPHASIS THIS WEEK: “Make sure you tackle. That’s the main thing. It’s nothing real confusing that they run. You know what they’re going to get. They have about six or eight plays, but you’ve just got to tackle.”
ON THE DEFENSE’S PROGRESSION: “We know what we can do. We think we can be a very good defense. Just trying to get better from last week. We’re just going to try to do that each week. I don’t think it’s about trying to find an identity.”
RB KENNY LEWIS
ON SEEING FORMER VT RECEIVER EDDIE ROYAL’S NFL DEBUT: “How ‘bout that performance? I caught bits and pieces. I texted him when I saw him score. Of course he didn’t respond, but he looked really good.”
ON WHETHER ROYAL EVER TEXTED BACK: “Yeah, this morning he did. I’ve been talking to him on and off. Going from college to the NFL, he said it’s way more physical. He said those guys are hitting out there when they just have shoulder pads on and no pants. He just said now in practice, going full speed every play, in games he isn’t even tired any more.”
ON EDDIE’S BIG GAME: “With Eddie, you never know. He was that good here.”
ON ROYAL HAVING ALMOST AS MANY YARDS THROUGH THE AIR AS TECH’S WHOLE TEAM SO FAR: “I know. That’s ridiculous (laughing). That’s Eddie Royal for you. You know, he was sharing a lot last year, too. Now he’s out there … the commentators were saying he’s the go-to receiver.”
ON WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE GEORGIA TECH DEFENSE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEARS: “Last year, when we looked at our protections with the offensive linemen and the running backs, you could always tell that No. 41 was going to be the mike (linebacker). He was going to be the mike no matter what defense they were in. Now they’re not blitzing as much. They just have everybody in solid areas, filling gaps. We’re going to have to see what we can do.”
ON HOW MUCH THE OFFENSE WANTS TO GET BETTER: “You know, Coach Stinespring sat us down yesterday and challenged all of our manhood. He told us we have guys that have been here three or four years and they need to play like they’ve been here three or four years. If you watched some of the receivers Saturday, they blocked really good. We were expecting the receivers to be maybe a step behind because of the speed of the game. But it looked like they’re doing better than what we’re doing right now. So he just challenged us as a unit to step up and play like we’re capable of doing.”
ON WHETHER HE CAN TELL BEAMER IS FRUSTRATED: “During our offensive periods, he was in the middle of our offensive periods. Making sure we were getting from drill to drill, making sure we were picking up blocks and running full speed to the whistle. This week of practice is going to be pretty intense with the offense and defense. I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys saw some arguments, maybe some blows thrown at practice. Because that’s how intense it’s going to have to be for us to get ready for this Georgia Tech team coming in.”
ON WHERE BEAMER USUALLY IS DURING OFFENSIVE PRACTICE PERIODS: “He’s up in the tower. Special teams is usually his thing. But these past couple weeks, I’ve noticed him migrate closer and closer until yesterday, he was right there with Stinespring.”
ON WHETHER THE LOUD FANS SHOULD LAY OFF: “I feel like we need that. We need somebody to get up in our face and tell us it’s time. If we don’t get that, then we might just sit back on our heels and it might just pass us by. He’s told us that. Coach Stinespring, he wanted us on a different level. I haven’t seen him snap too much or get too riled up, but yesterday he was at his breaking point. He’s had enough.”
C RYAN SHUMAN
ON WHETHER THE LINEMEN HAVE BEEN SURPRISED THE WAY THEY’VE STRUGGLED EARLY: “Personally, yeah. It was a shock. We just need to play hard and get better. Just show up. Show up on Saturday. We proved we can run the ball in both games. We’ve just got to shore up some stuff, play harder, play faster.”
ON WHY THE LINE IS SO MUCH BETTER RUN-BLOCKING RIGHT NOW: “I think we’ve just got a sense of urgency about us. We want to run the ball. We want to get back to the early 2000s, late 1990s, Virginia Tech running the ball down people’s throats. We’re trying to do that. We just need to focus better in passing downs.”
ON WHETHER THE PASS PROTECTION HAS STRUGGLED BECAUSE OF COMMUNICATION ISSUES WITH WANG MOVING TO THE LEFT SIDE: “Not really. I think it just comes down to needing to focus. You need to do your job. When the play is called, you need to execute. This week, we’re working on it. We’re working on twists. We know we’re going to get twisted all season. We’ve got to get better at it. We’re working. Everybody knows it’s got to happen. A sense of urgency, definitely, this week.”
ON WHETHER HE HAS SPOKEN UP IN THE LOCKER ROOM: “They know what they’ve got to do. They’ve heard it enough. Coach Newsome’s got them right. We talked a little bit this week, and I think we’re ready to go. I don’t need to say anything. You go out and practice hard, take care of your job. That’s what I expect to do and I expect that from everybody else.”
ON HIM PLAYING SOME BACK-UP LEFT GUARD AND LETTING BEAU WARREN TAKE SOME SNAPS AT CENTER: “They’re going to try to get Beau in the game. Obviously Beau stepped in last year and did a good job and they trust him. We’re trying to get a rotation, get everybody fresher so we can play faster. They think we’d be better in the fourth quarter. Jaymes Brooks can come in there and give Sergio a break. He’s a lot like Sergio as a player. We just need to play faster, need to play better, get everybody off our back a little bit, play well and win some games.”
ON OPPONENTS TWISTING THE LINE UNTIL THEY PROVE THEY CAN STOP IT: “You need to focus. You need to expect it. You need to read it off their stances, read their alignments. It’s just mental stuff that you need to carry over physically and execute so we can get the ball downfield, get it to a couple of our playmakers.”
ON RUNNING THE BALL, CONTROLLING THE CLOCK, BEING BIG IN THIS GAME, TO KEEP THE HOKIES’ DEFENSE OFF THE FIELD: “Controlling the ball is always key … especially with their run-first mentality. We need to stay on the field. We need to grind it a little bit. I think we can run the ball on anybody, so we’re going to continue to try to do that.”
ON GEORGIA TECH’S DEFENSE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR: “They don’t bring as much fire as they used to off the edge. They still will bring pressure, no doubt, but they’re more base-oriented … letting their playmakers make plays.”
ON WHAT A WIN WOULD DO FOR A YOUNG TEAM: “I just think we need to play well and get the heat off our backs a little bit, just change the mood around here. We need to get a little positive energy. We need to come out, run the ball, get some yardage, get some points and get a win, first conference win.”
ON WHETHER THE TEAM FEELS EXTERNAL HEAT: “No, we’re not feeling any pressure …you’ve just got to play hard, play well so there’s not as many questions.”
