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By Aaron Pyre
SouthernPigskin.com Mid-Atlantic Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com Mid-Atlantic Columnist Aaron Pyre looks ahead to the Virginia Tech spring game this Saturday and tells you who you need to watch for in the annual Maroon and White scrimmage.
Spring is in the air and for college football fans that means spring football and spring tailgating Unfortunately my schedule is not going to allow me to attend the VT Spring football game this Saturday. I wish I could be there for there are a few things I would be on the look out for specifically. Like most spring games, the Maroon vs White game is very vanilla, base offenses and defenses. That said, there are things you can gauge after watching the kids run around. Virginia Tech is considered by some to be a darkhorse national championship contender. We shall see. The Hokies have a very tough schedule and I want to see the new starters and last year’s offensive issues addressed on the field. From the previous scrimmage, reports and gossip optimism for the offense is very high.
First I will tell you what I am looking at concerning the Hokie defense. If Bud Foster is still the defensive coordinator, VT is going to field a quality defense, all Hokie fans believe that. There is talent coming in replacing the departing seniors, experience and depth are the only concerns. He will have them prepared and ready to play, but injuries to defensive end or middle linebacker could give the team cause for concern. Below are a couple things I am interested in as we move from spring to summer workouts:
Stephan Virgil moves from field corner (more zone with free safety help) to boundary corner (man with a lot of run support responsibility.) Virgil is a better athlete than Macho Harris but that doesn’t always translate on the field. I suspect he will be fine. Keep a note on his back up, Eddie Whitley, reports are he is a Brandon Flowers clone but bigger and faster. Brandon’s play is still the bench mark for VT boundary cornerbacks.
The backer linebacker spot has been filled by Xavier Adibi and then Purnell Sturdivant for the last five years. Both of those players were great run stuffers, but were very good pass coverage linebackers as well. The new guy, Jake Johnson, is legendary workout warrior but only a true sophomore. Johnson has big shoes to fill; it will be interesting to see how long it takes him and the new starter at mike linebacker Barquell Rivers to grow comfortable at their positions. It may take a few games, as it did last year when the spots were manned by two fifth year seniors. The Hokies first four games are Alabama, Marshall, Nebraska and Miami, so they better not take too long to get acclimated.
The final issue that presents some concern on defense is defensive end depth. The starters will be very good with All-ACC caliber Jason Worilds on one side and solid Nekos Brown on the other. The question is, who are their backups as Coach Wiles likes to rotate four bodies for those two spots? Slightly undersized defensive tackle John Graves has been getting burn there this spring as Worilds recovers from injury. Graves has held his own and can be called on to play end if need be (he will move back to tackle in the fall.) What Wiles really wants is for at least one of the younger guys to step up and play well enough to demand playing time. Right now, no one has stepped up to claim that yet.
Now the true questions on how far this Hokie team can go, the offense. To say Bryan Stinespring is under the gun this year is an understatement. The much maligned VT offensive coordinator looks to finally have a lot of pieces to make the Hokie offense not only good and efficient but exciting. The Hokies are one injury away, however, from having their season possibly being derailed, Tyrod Taylor. So lets look at the three big things I want to see concerning the Hokie offense.
Tyrod Taylor is a very athletic young man who seems to finally be getting it at the quarterback position. He will never be the most accurate passer, nor will he wait all day for receivers to get open. Nor should he, with the running ability that he has. He is one injury away, however, from changing the course of the Hokies' football season. It’s almost a question of when, not if, Tyrod will get hurt, even if the injury is minor, so his backup needs to be ready. JuJu Clayton is the 2nd string guy, having just beaten out Marcus Davis (who was then moved to wide receiver.) Even in a vanilla base offense, I am very curious to see how the lightly recruited JuJu performs. The Hokies are likely going to need him.
Other than Stinespring, the biggest complaint about the offense the last couple of years has been the play of the offensive line. Misses in recruiting for 3+ years really hampered the unit. Finally it looks like the starting five can not only run block but pass block (worst pass blocking unit in the ACC the last two seasons.) Surprisingly, there is depth, a true two-deep exists that could play if need be. This hasn’t been seen in Blacksburg since the late 90’s. Gone are big bodies that can’t move (a noticeable change in recruiting since Kurt Newsome came on board) replaced by hard working, quicker players.
Finally I want to see the young playmakers on offense. The Hokies have many young, talented wide receivers. Seven of the top eight receivers are freshman or sophomores and all have the ability to play. There is a good chance two or even three will step up and become big time downfield passing threats. One to keep an eye on is Marcus Davis. Davis, not Taylor, was the best running quarterback until his move to WR this week. He is big at 6’4” and can fly. The other playmaker that every Hokie fan knows is redshirt freshman running back Ryan Williams. He has the ability to take make any run ring up six on the scoreboard. He took being redshirted (due to pass blocking) personally and has really impressed in all facets of the game this spring. He will likely be a great compliment to the more powerful and steady Darren Evans.
I am jealous of the fans in attendance and I can’t wait to hear about how the young guys looked.
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Stories written by SouthernPigskin.com columnists are done independently. Views do not always coincide with those of the remainder of the staff or the ownership of SouthernPigskin.com.
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Comments
Really good stuff. VT needs a running game with their defense. If they find that, look out ACC.
thanks.
i would disagree about the running. they have a qb who can run and rb who just 1200 yards last season. everyone knows they are going to run, what they need is a passing game to loosen the defense up some and give bigger cracks. the O coaches, taylor, the ol and the wr’s need to come together if they want to go the the next level.
VT is going to be really good this year I think. Great story.
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