Spring Game assessment:::
Where to start. Receivers. Now that's a switch.!!
Last year we were so laden with senior receivers a kid w/o a scholarship was buried down the depth chart. Brandon Dillard. Redshirt junior.
so how in the name of "pete" does he now vault to the possibly fastest guy in college football, ran a 4.28 forty in winter tryouts, entering the game as VT's #1 flanker, and solidifying his position and almost certainly meriting a scholarship his last two years.
Little bio. Dillard is 5'11' wt. 180, Martinsville, Va. Bassett highschool. Owns state championship wins in the 100 and 200 meters year 2005. Could this kid be the next Antonio Freeman. The way he separated himself on the TD reception. We can always hope and pray. Oh . On the play, Glennon pumped fake once, then twice. The safety 'bit', the corner is now one on one with Dillard. A separation of 7 yards ensued and the easy TD brought the fans to their feet. Did I mention he is a walk-on. Yes. A walk-on.
Forget the fact that Whitaker, our 3rd string qb from last year dropped one in the first half , Cory Holt, the co-3rd string qb, doing the same. The only two noticeable drops, the should have beens, he made up for it by the most electrifying catch of the day in the back corner of the endzone, diving catch, one of the best catches I've ever seen in the second half. Glennon had a defender hanging on him, and threw off balance.
Zack Luckett, the #1 ranked flanker had an off day, Danny Coale, the #2 flanker caught a few out in the flat for small gains. Coale from Lexington Va. Episcopal will help out a broad receiver corps this year. Quick, good hands, he will contribute, but Ike Whitaker stole the show, the #3 ranked flanker.
Boone. Had a solid day. Greg Boone, wish he would lose 25 pounds, but we can still use him. He is the most versatile player on the field, hands down. Set him in the slot, put him in motion, let him lead block down on the defensive end, send the tailback off tackle, 6 yards every time. Once , as in a single wing, he runs the ball off tackle. Then he releases 35 yards down field and catches a Sean Glennon pass going up over a corner, took it out of the guys hands. He runs a curl in the back of the endzone, Glennon was so thrilled he was so open, he throws the ball into the back of the endzone seating, thus missing an easy 6. Boone will add more to the position of tight end, we will wonder whose team we are watching. Not the Hokies ? I hope Stiney will utilize him to his potential.
We have some other kids that were impressive to look at. Jacob Sykes r-fresh. Just an impressive looking kid. I think he got in for a few plays, dropped a pass, but an impressive looking kid. I think he will be in the mix in a few years. Prince Parker, Andre Smith. 6'6' and 6'4' respectively.
Kam Chancellor picked an ill-advised pass from Tyrod Taylor for a return of 55 yards. Wasn't Kam our Rover last year? On that play he was free safety. One kid that played a great game on 'd' was Dorian Porch. Nothing spectacular, hits hard, wraps his arms and brings down the runner. If not starter at rover I am positive he will be back-up and see a lot of playing time.
Well for one more year we will hear Mike Burnopp's chant "MACHO, MACHO, MAN" over the Tech radio system. Oh. You know how fast Dillard is when the Macho, Victor Harris admits Dillard is the fastest guy on the team. Macho returned a short field goal out to the 35 yard line, and looked great on the punt returns. By the way. All k/o's and punt returns were live, as were bringing down the quarter backs.
Running backs. Josh Oglesby looks better than Branden Ore. Period. I think we will be as good as last year at TB possibly better. All our backs have better moves than last years'.
After that interception and the ball on the 2 yard line Darren Evans r-fresh was given the ball. He lowered his shoulder meeting the defender head on. "welcome to big time college football Mr. Evans" His world was 'rocked'. the oooohhhs came echoing back from the stands. He was not hurt, however and was given the ball on the next play, making it into the endzone by slipping a tackle, rather than the head on play again.
Dustin Pickle from Salem Va. didn't show me much.
Both FG kickers looked great. The 52 yarder came up just a little short that Macho returned to the 35 yard line. We have two running backs out injured Cheesman and Lewis, we will be better at the TB position than last year and deeper, with the seasoned "O" line returning 'finally' some seasoning, we will be better on the ground than last year.
I've got to say I am relieved to write such a positive report. We had lost so much on "D" and at receiver I was concerned, but I think we will be ok. The defensive line looked very adequate but you could really tell we were missing Chris Ellis(I think we had other guys that play as well as he did for us..but I want better than him )the X- man Adibi, and Vince Hall our All American. The D backs played great, its the linebackers where we are going to be hurting and I expect other teams will try to capitalize the weakness there. I think we are weaker at corner, missing Flowers on the boundary side of the field, but we will adjust, ..I didn't see guys stepping up yet. I think we will be hurting at back up center...really hurting. You could tell Ryan Shuman was injured and not playing in the game. The maroon team could have used Sam Wheeler at tight end. I think that was a big reason the score was so lopsided.
That's about it guys. I am positive I missed more than I contributed here. I just didn't see as many freshman mistakes as you would have expected in this game. I would have almost been happier to see many more, knowing they would have come out of the game with a better work to improve ethic. I hope we are ranked no higher than 4th in the ACC come September. We always seem to do better coming from behind.
Glennon looked stronger, made great decisions, and his arm strength is getting to be impressive. That 35 yard pass to Boone, I don't see how he got it there in front of the closing defender. It's what to do with TT that troubles me the most, should we redshirt him or not....would be very interested in the comments you have....
Go Hokies....Gregor |
