Beamer says Hokies gettin' IN whack ...
Not much breaking news today, just a little Monday morning conference call with Fancy Gap Frank.
One injury notable: FB Kenny Younger is going to need surgery on his injured knee. Perhaps this means Jahre Cheeseman’s move from tailback to fullback last week is a long-term deal. I need to ask about that this week. Cheese seems smallish for a fullback.
Below is a complete transcript of Beamer’s Monday thoughts. The cliff notes: He thinks the team got better against GT; He won’t let the QBs talk to us – again; He says UNC is the best team Tech has played; He hopes to get RT Blake DeChristopher back and get CB Macho Harris more involved in the offense this week; He thinks Tar Heels receiver Brandon Tate is too legit to quit; He expects Kenny Lewis Jr. to keep starting at RB, but Darren Evans to tote it plenty; Freshman RB Ryan Williams’ playing status (redshirt or not) will be decided this week.
That’s really, truly, everything you need to know. But if you must, see for yourself …
COACH FRANK BEAMER
OPENING REMARKS: “I was really pleased with how hard our team played against Georgia Tech on all sides: offense, defense, special teams. It really took that. … I think three penalties and no turnovers was a key in this ballgame. I think the thing you have to take out of it is great effort, thought we improved, and we have to continue to do that.”
ON NORTH CAROLINA: “This is the best football team we’ve played. I think they’re very good up front. They’ve got two receivers that are exceptional. The running back’s running well, quarterback’s playing well. He’s 60 percent completion rate, five touchdowns only one interception. Defensively, they’re athletic. They got four interceptions against Rutgers. They are just an athletic, good football team. Played all those young kids last year, and now they’re a year older. Like I said, the best football team we’ve played so far.”
ON HIS QUARTERBACKS: “I’ve asked our quarterbacks to not do interviews again this week. I want to continue that. I want to keep our emphasis on … North Carolina.”
ON JOHN GRAVES’ SKILL BLOCKING BLOCKING KICKS AND WHY: “I think good effort by him, getting a push … then probably a couple of kicks have been a little bit low, too, which helps out. But he works at it awfully hard. He’s got effort, and it takes effort to do that.”
ON WHETHER RT BLAKE DECHRISTOPHER WILL BE BACK THIS WEEK: “We’re hoping so. I think we’ll announce that on Thursday, but I sure would like to have him back. We’re going to need everything we’ve got for this one. We need to be hitting on all cylinders.”
ON, WITH A YOUNG TEAM, NEEDING TO KEEP WINNING FIELD POSITION, GETTING THAT HIDDEN YARDAGE: “I don’t think there’s any question it’s important. Hopefully we can keep a lot of games tight, be in it in the fourth quarter. If they’re tight in the fourth quarter, usually the kicking game has had a drastic impact on the game. So we need to continue to emphasize the importance of it here.”
ON HOW THE O-LINE HANDLED D-LINE TWISTS THIS WEEK: “We did OK. We did better. When I said great effort, that included that offensive line. I thought they gave really good effort the whole day long. As long as that’s the case, I think we’ll continue to improve as a football team. And I thought our offensive line improved last week.”
ON SIMILARITIES WITH THIS BUTCH DAVIS TEAM AND HIS MIAMI TEAMS: “I think both places, he had the ability to recruit good players. I think that’s the way it’s been. I know when Butch came there, they were on their way to having a great recruiting class, and Butch finished that one up. Then they did a really good job recruiting. That’s the way it was at Miami. With Butch, they’re going to get good players and they’re going to be well-coached. That’s exactly what you’ve got here: a really good football team. Good players that are well-coached.”
ON UNC GETTING HIS ATTENTION AT RUTGERS: “I think they showed their real team up at Rutgers. Boy, that was impressive. Just the whole outfit there. I thought they were really, really impressive.”
ON WHY IKE WHITAKER HASN’T PLAYED MUCH AT RECEIVER: “Well, the situation is we’ve got some other guys that are playing well. Whoever gives us the best practice, the best performance, that’s who’s going to play. Boykin, I think is really coming along. I think he’s coming fast.”
ON WHETHER HE TALKED TO BILLY HITE ABOUT THE RB DEPTH CHART, WHETHER DARREN EVANS WILL START: “We met, but I think Kenny (Lewis) … I know Billy has a lot of faith in him, and I think he’s going to continue to start. I don’t think there’s any question that 32 needs to get in the game – quite a bit. ON JOSH OGLESBY: He’s practicing well … and trying to get him reps in a game gets a little bit tough as the games get into the heat of these battles. But I’ve still got a lot of hope for Oglesby, too.”
ON MACHO HARRIS BECOMING MORE A PART OF THE OFFENSE AFTER HIS INTRODUCTION THERE SATURDAY: “I hope so. And I think having a week to try to get that ready … I think he needs to play more series, not just plays. I think it gets too hard to call it just plays. He needs to be able to play a series, a couple series, three series, four series, whatever. But, yeah, we’re going to try to have a good plan for that.”
ON THE ACC GETTING SOME CREDIBILITY BACK WITH MARYLAND BEATING CAL AND UNC BEATING RUTGERS: “I think you could take any league any particular week and you’d probably have a story. I’m not sure it’d be the same story the next week. I think you judge a conference over a period of time. The Pac-10, other than Southern Cal, you’ve probably got a story out there this week, but I’m not sure that’s an accurate story. I just think if anybody starts trying to judge the conference on one weekend or one season, it makes good stories, but I’m not sure it’s accurate. And I feel strongly about the ACC, our leadership our coaches … our quality of talent. We play enough games, I think the ACC’s going to represent itself well.”
ON UNC’S RETURN MAN/RECEIVER BRANDON TATE: “He’s having a great year. When you average 29 yards a catch … then you watch him return kicks, this guy is a great football player. The way he starts may not be the way he ends up. He can change direction, he can zig-zag. He can do it. He’s legit all the way.”
ON THE REDSHIRTING DECISION FOR RB RYAN WILLIAMS: “We’re going to communicate with Ryan and decide what’s in his best interest. He and the coaches, we’ll decide that this week.”
ON THIS BEING ONE OF THOSE YEARS HE WISHES THE NCAA WOULD ADOPT THE “FIVE YEARS TO PLAY FIVE” RULE, SO HE COULD GIVE TALENTED GUYS LIKE WILLIAMS SOME SNAPS: “Yep, no question. I wish we had it every year, though. I think it’s what would be right for college football. There’s no question in my mind, it’s the right way to go. I think five for five is the right way.”
