Virginia Tech Football – 2009 Preview
Posted: August 28th, 2009 | Author: WhoisRobHarris.com | Filed under: General | Tags: hokie, Hokie Football, hokie nation, virginia tech football | Comments
Now the Hokies would like to extend their reign to more than just the ACC. With 17 returning starters and a high-risk, high-reward September schedule, Tech comes into 2009 with its best chance to play for a national championship since Michael Vick led it within a quarter of the 1999 title.
Before summer ends, the Hokies will play Alabama at the Georgia Dome, then host Nebraska after a sandwich game with Marshall. In that three-week span, Tech will tell the nation whether it’s a serious national contender or merely the ACC favorite.
“It is tough, but it’s good,” coach Frank Beamer said of the schedule.
The Hokies will be strong on defense — as long as Bud Foster is drawing a paycheck as Beamer’s defensive coordinator, you can say that with certainty — but they hope that the offense will mirror the defense this year. Nine starters are back on offense, including multiple game-breaking playmakers and one of the program’s most athletic offensive lines in years.
But the season revolves around one man, junior quarterback Tyrod Taylor. After two years of rotating with Sean Glennon, Taylor now has the driver’s seat to himself.
If he can up his 55-percent career completion rate into the 60s while staying out of the training room, which he hasn’t done yet in two seasons, Tech’s offense might finally produce the points it needs to support its shutdown defense.
“I’m trying to challenge myself to be the best quarterback I can be,” Taylor said.
NOTES, QUOTES
–Sophomore RB Darren Evans is out of the season. He tore the ACL in his left knee during practice on Aug. 11. He was the MVP of the Orange Bowl, capping a freshman season in which he ran for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Evans had a sprained knee before the Tuesday practice session that resulted in the torn ligament.
The Hokies could start a freshman again this season at tailback. Ryan Williams, a redshirt, was a star in spring practice.
–WR Dyrell Roberts might turn into the game-breaker that coach Frank Beamer envisioned when he recruited him out of tiny Windsor, Va., two years ago. Roberts, who hadn’t played at wideout until starting his first college game last August against East Carolina, looked more polished in the spring, running crisper routes and catching the ball more consistently. He had four receptions for 65 yards in the spring game.
–DE Jason Worilds is back to full health after playing most of 2008 with a painful shoulder injury that routinely popped out of joint in every game, sometimes more than once. Worilds at 100 percent might challenge for ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, as he was a second team All-ACC pick last year while hurting. He notched 18.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2008.
–For the fourth time in six years, Virginia Tech is picked to win the overall Atlantic Coast Conference title by the media which cover the league. It received 69 of 87 votes at the conference’s media days July 26-28.
–The Hokies’ soft 2010 non-conference schedule got a big upgrade when an Oct. 2 game with Boise State in Landover, Md., was added to replace Syracuse, which asked out of a two-year contract as it tries to totally rebuild its program. It will be Tech’s first meeting with the Broncos.
KEY GAME: vs. Alabama, Sept. 5 — In Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, the Hokies try to avoid Clemson’s fate of a year ago, when the Tigers were hammered 34-10 by the Crimson Tide, toppling Clemson from the top 10 and beginning Tommy Bowden’s demise. Tech took a 48-7 beating two years ago at LSU in its last game against a Southeastern Conference team and needs a win in order to give the ACC some national credibility, as well as fuel its hopes of a national title run.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I would expect to see better timing and better play from the passing game.” — Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer on his hopes for QB Tyrod Taylor and the receiving corps.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
COACH: Frank Beamer, 177-89-2 at Virginia Tech, 23rd season (219-112-4 overall in 28 seasons).
CRITICAL CAMP FOCUS: The points of emphasis in preseason camp will be linebacker and the offensive line. The Hokies have two new starters at inside linebacker, critical for a defense predicated on stopping the run, and must get better on the O-line so that injury-prone QB Tyrod Taylor makes it through the season in one piece. Tightening up inconsistent special-teams play will be a key as well.
PERSONNEL ANALYSIS
OFFENSE: Starters — QB Tyrod Taylor, TB Ryan Williams, FB Kenny Jefferson, WR Danny Coale, WR Jarrett Boykin, TE Greg Boone, LT Ed Wang, LG Sergio Render, C Beau Warren, RG Jaymes Brooks, RT Blake DeChristopher.
Coordinator Bryan Stinespring has the most scrutinized position in the New River Valley. His play calls and unit have come under considerable fire the last three years, so much so that coach Frank Beamer actually took a caller to task during his weekly call-in show last fall.
Virginia Tech will again operate from multiple formations, with an “I” as the base, although it will use lots of spread to give Taylor room to attack defenses with the run or pass. Evans rushed for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns as a freshman but suffered a torn ACL in August, opening the door for electrifying freshman TB Ryan Williams to earn a starting slot.
Coale, Boykin, Boone and WR Dyrell Roberts all emerged as reliable contributors in 2008, with the 6-foot-3, 287-pound Boone even taking some snaps at a shotgun QB in what Stinespring dubbed the “Wild Turkey” set. Up front, the line returns preseason All-ACC LG Sergio Render, LT Ed Wang and RT Blake DeChristopher.
DEFENSE: Starters — DE Jason Worilds, DT John Graves, DT Cordarrow Thompson, DE Nekos Brown, LB Cody Grimm, LB Barquell Rivers, LB Jake Johnson, CB Rashad Carmichael, CB Stephan Virgil, ROV Dorian Porch, FS Kam Chancellor.
With long-time defensive coordinator Bud Foster calling the shots, the Hokies have been in the top 10 nationally for five straight seasons. Players come and go, but Foster is the one constant, fitting personnel into a 4-3 scheme which emphasizes stopping the run, then attacking the offense with blitzes from everywhere.
To properly run this defense, you have to have shutdown cornerbacks, and Tech has one of the best in senior Stephan Virgil, who picked six passes last fall and proved to be a big hitter in the Brandon Flowers mold. FS Kam Chancellor appears ready for a big year after struggling in his first year at the position last year.
Up front, All-ACC pick Jason Worilds keys what should be a withering pass rush. DTs John Graves and Cordarrow Thompson are also back, but the Hokies are playing first-time starters Barquell Rivers and Jake Johnson at inside linebacker.
SPECIAL TEAMS: PK Matt Waldron, P Brent Bowden, KR Dyrell Roberts, PR Ryan Williams.
This is where coach Frank Beamer built his reputation, but he’s the first to admit Tech’s special teams haven’t been all that special in recent years.
Sure, the program has produced consecutive 100-point kickers who didn’t start until they were seniors, but opponents have turned Beamer Ball against the Hokies. Two of the team’s losses last year occurred due to breakdowns in the kicking game, as a blocked punt gave East Carolina a season-opening win and a punt-return TD was instrumental in Boston College’s narrow win in October.
Waldron, providing he can hold off an expected challenge from true freshman Cody Journell, will be the third straight first-year senior kicker for Tech. Bowden excels at pinning opponents inside the 20 but saw his average drop off last year and had three kicks returned for scores. The return game has plenty of good-looking athletes, but it failed to produce a touchdown last year.
ROSTER REPORT:
–RB Jahre Cheeseman is transferring to the Colorado School of Mines, an NCAA Division II school in Golden, Colo. Cheeseman was a highly-touted recruit from New Jersey, but never played a major role at Tech due to injuries and off-the-field troubles.
–LB Chase Williams of Loudoun County (Va.) High School verbally committed to the Hokies’ program on July 23, making him the 17th recruit for the 2010 class. Williams is the son of former Buffalo Bills coach Gregg Williams and had 163 tackles as a junior.
Who is Rob Harris? Rob Harris is a real estate professional, mortgage lender, small business owner & internet strategist. Follow this West Coast Hokie as he blogs about Life, Sports, Money, Technology and how to grow multiple streams of income online.
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