Beamerball or Fosterball? Hokies' identity slowly changing

In the 1990s, Virginia Tech established a reputation on the football field for its unmatched success with special teams. Blocked kicks, punts, and touchdown returns became the trademark of the program, and soon became known as “Beamerball”, after its head coach Frank Beamer, who oversees the special teams himself.

During the 90’s, Tech averaged more than six blocked kicks per season, easily the best in the country.

Since then, the block party has become more of a casual gathering. From 2003 until 2005, the Hokies blocked only 11 kicks, half of the season average from the previous decade.

In 2009, the Hokies came up with a single blocked kick, when Jacob Sykes blocked Matt Bosher’s punt against Miami, leading to Matt Reidy’s recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

It was well publicized for the longest time about the Hokies dedication to special teams, more specifically coach Beamer’s contributions to the success.

However, a few changes in recent years have led to the Beamerball demise.

First of all, virtually every Tech opponent began developing unique schemes in their alignment to confuse the Hokies.

In a 2002 game against Temple, the Owls spread all ten men besides the punter from one sideline to the other, forcing the Tech defense to spread their men out as well. That was one of the first games in which the Hokies’ opponent clearly made an effort to not succumb to the Tech trademark.

Since that point, many other formations and adaptations to the typical special teams strategies have kept the Hokies from blocking so many kicks.

Another reason the blocks are fewer and farther between now is coach Beamer isn’t the only man paying special attention to that area of the game, no pun intended. Many head coaches, including Urban Meyer at Florida, take care of the special teams themselves, or if they don’t they hire a very strong special teams coordinator to do the job.

Before this shift in emphasis to the kicking game, Beamer was one of the few guys on the block (man, I’m getting carried away with the play on words here) that spent a significant amount of time practicing special teams. He’s simply not on his own anymore.

The other part of the Hokies’ games that fell under the “Beamerball” classification was the team’s knack for opportunistic defensive play. Forced fumbles and interceptions are the mark of a great football team, but no team scored as many points on defense as the Hokies did during the 90’s, and that tradition continues today.

For those of you still following along, that means that the special teams, coached by Beamer, has seen a dip in productivity in recent years, while the defense, coached by Bud Foster, remains on top of its game.

Maybe it’s time to shed the Beamerball image and adopt Fosterball instead.

Let’s face it; the Hokies won back-to-back ACC championships in 2007 and 2008 thanks to a defense that was ranked in the top five nationally. Neither year was the offense very productive, ranking in the bottom 30 in total yards both seasons.

2009 saw a spike in offensive productivity, and a slight statistical dip from the defense, thanks in large part to an inexperienced front seven. Despite the early season struggles from Foster’s unit, they responded in the final five games of the season to allow exactly zero points in the second half of all those games.

Foster has been sought after by other programs year after year. Two years ago, West Virginia courted Foster for its head-coaching job. In 2008 it was Clemson doing the same thing. Just last month, Georgia head coach Mark Richt offered Foster the defensive coordinator job with his program.

In each instance, Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver tossed a sizable raise Foster’s way to keep him in town. This year, he signed Foster to a five-year deal worth over $2 million, making him one of highest paid at his post in the country.

The one item that stands above all in the Tech program is the lunch pail, a Foster establishment representing the hard work that goes into every practice, workout, and game for his defense.

It has come to be the adornment of Hokie Nation, and it will forever remain a symbol of what the program stands for.

How much clearer could it be that Foster has become the heart and soul of this program?

If he wanted to leave for a head-coaching gig, he would have done it by now.

Beamer has told me before that he will stick around as the Hokies’ coach until “the time is right,” but logical thinking says that won’t be too awfully long. Foster, 50, seems primed to hold tight in Blacksburg for another five years or so before taking over for Beamer.

The defense in 2010 will undergo a major overhaul; replacing seven players with starting experience will be no small task. But anyone who’s been around the Tech program, namely Foster, knows he will stop at nothing to have the lunch pail tradition upheld with honor.

There is not a Hokie fan on the planet that has any doubt in Foster, and that’s the mark of a program linchpin.

Worilds departure leaves youthful line for 2010

Jason Worilds, the redshirt junior defensive end for the Virginia Tech Hokies, declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft Thursday.

Worilds finished the 2009 season with 49 tackles, 11 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks.

Worilds is the 12th-rated defensive end according to nfldraftscout.com, making him a likely third or fourth-round pick.

The move seems to be a smart one for the second-team all-ACC performer, who has dealt with injury issues throughout his career. Clearly, Worilds did not want to risk a serious injury in 2010, costing him millions of potential dollars.

His departure leaves the Hokie defense in a tight spot next season. Already graduating on the defensive line are starters Nekos Brown, Cordarrow Thompson, and Demetrius Taylor.

John Graves is the only player on the 2010 roster with starting experience on the defensive line. The rising senior started eight games in 2009.

Chris Drager is expected to take Brown’s spot at the “stud” end position. Drager finished 2009 with 22 tackles and 2.5 sacks as the backup. He is a converted tight end who was stuck behind Greg Boone, Andre Smith, and Sam Wheeler on the depth chart, and the coaching staff felt Drager was too athletic to keep off the field entirely.

He was very impressive for the playing time he had this past season, the first year playing the position in his life. He will need plenty of repetitions in spring practice and will have high expectations come August.

As far as Worilds’ replacement, Steven Friday, a product of the high school juggernaut Phoebus, will step in for his senior season. Friday was a highly touted prospect out of Phoebus (he was a four-star recruit in the class of 2005, according to rivals.com) but has failed to live up to the hype so far. Here is his chance to validate those expectations.

Graves will anchor the interior of the defensive line. When healthy, he has been a dominant force at nose tackle, with great strength and quickness that would be expected of a former defensive end.

He was third on the team in 2009 with 10 quarterback hurries, despite being sixth on the defensive line in number of snaps played. When he is on the field for entire possessions at a time next season, he could have a breakout senior year.

The other defensive tackle will be Antoine Hopkins, a Richmond product out of Highland Springs High School. Hopkins played 20 snaps in the bowl game behind Taylor. Most Hokie fans would remember Hopkins for his interception and near return for a touchdown against Alabama in the season opener.

The coaching staff is very high on Hopkins and will need him to become more consistent at shedding blocks in the running game. His natural pass rushing ability for a defensive tackle is remarkable, and he could become a very poor man’s Ndamukong Suh next season (not trying to be sacrilegious—he simply plays a similar style).

As usual, defensive line coach Charley Wiles will have a very fast defensive line in 2010. The Hokies are notorious for having great depth in that unit and always having fresh bodies flying to the football.

When three of the four starters have no prior experience starting at this level, depth could be an issue. Here are some names to look for to emerge as the backup linemen next season.

· Isaiah Hamlette, Stud End: 6'4", 245 lbs., will be a redshirt sophomore, athletically ready to play, mental aspect of the game is holding him back so far.

· Kwamaine Battle, Nose Tackle: 6'0", 281 lbs., will be a redshirt junior, needs to commit himself in the offseason to improve strength and stay in shape.

· Dwight Tucker, Tackle: 6'1", 280 lbs., will be a redshirt sophomore and will battle Hopkins for starting spot.

· Zack McCray, Defensive End: 6'4", 240 lbs., will be a true freshman, seventh-rated defensive end in class of 2010 according to rivals.com.

· David Wang, Nose Tackle: 6'2", 310 lbs., will be a redshirt freshman, shoulder injury held him out of practice all season, but is a great athlete with strong football background (brother of graduating left tackle Ed Wang).

Where Williams’ ’09 ranks in Hokie history

Thursday night provided the country with one final look at (statistically speaking) one of the greatest freshman running backs in the history of college football, Ryan Williams. During the game, he broke the ACC record for touchdowns in a season, and the Virginia Tech record for rushing yards.

Williams provided fans with the most electrifying display of offensive ability at Tech since Michael Vick donned the maroon helmet a decade earlier. After several years of ineptitude on offense, Williams’ running, along with the impressive development of quarterback Tyrod Taylor and the receiving corps, led to a breakout season for the that side of the ball.

The numbers speak for themselves: 1,654 rushing yards, 22 total touchdowns, 10 100-yard games, and two four-touchdown performances. That’s the stat line Ryan Williams finished with upon Tech’s 37-14 drubbing of Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

In his first year in the lineup, Williams certainly had a season for the ages. With that said, it brings the question: how does Williams’ season stack up against some of the other greatest in the Frank Beamer era?

Michael Vick 1999

Like Williams, Vick wasted no time making his impact felt on the field, scoring three rushing touchdowns in his first half of football ever. He would continue to complete 59.2 percent of his passes, with 12 touchdowns and 184 yards per game.

Those numbers don’t exactly jump off the page and hit you in the face, but Vick’s running ability, coupled with his knack for long-yardage pass plays made him a legend in Blacksburg.

As a runner, Vick carried the ball 108 times for 782 yards, second most on the team. His average of 5.4 yards per carry is the best in school history for a quarterback. He also ran for eight touchdowns.

More important than any individual statistic, Vick led the Hokies to their first-ever undefeated season in the modern era, and a berth in the BCS Championship Game against Florida State.

The Hokies lost the game 46-29, but Vick’s performance on the biggest stage of his Tech career was unforgettable. He completed 15 of 29 passes for 225 yards while also rushing for 97 yards on 23 carries.

Lee Suggs, 2000

Lee Suggs was a redshirt sophomore in 2000, and after scoring then-NCAA record 27 touchdowns on the ground that season, many people wondered if he had started in 1999, the Hokies may have won that national championship game.

Suggs came from nowhere to dominate college football in his first year as a starter. Entering the season, Vick was receiving more face time in the national media than the Backstreet Boys, but it was Suggs who outshined his quarterback for much of the year.

Of the eleven regular season games for the Hokies that year, Suggs scored at least two touchdowns in nine of them. His best performance came in a 37-34 win over Pittsburgh, when he carried the ball 28 times for 164 yards and three touchdowns.

That game was one of the most important of his career, as the Hokies lost Vick to a sprained ankle midway through the third quarter, and had to ride the shoulders of Suggs to a narrow victory.

Two games later, Suggs scored five touchdowns on the ground against Central Florida in a 44-21 win. The five scores were good enough to put Suggs in second-place all-time for rushing touchdowns in a game, behind Tony Francisco’s six-touchdown performance against VMI in 1966.

Suggs capped his season in the Gator Bowl against Clemson, scoring three touchdowns in a 73-yard performance that was largely overshadowed by Vick’s final collegiate game.

DeAngelo Hall, 2002

Hall turned in one of the best seasons ever for a Tech defensive back, scoring three touchdowns but providing much more excitement than simply touchdowns.

Hall intercepted four passes in his sophomore season, returning them for an average of 31 yards, including one touchdown in the season-opener against Arkansas State.

As he was still establishing himself as a lockdown cornerback, Hall quickly became one of the most dangerous punt returners in the country. He averaged 16.4 yards per return, the fifth-best rate in the country. He also scored two touchdowns in the return game.

It’s worth mentioning that prior to that season, Hall registered the fastest 40-yard dash time in program history with a time of 4.15 seconds. With a number like that, it’s no wonder he was one of the most feared players with the ball in his hands that year.

Jim Druckenmiller, 1996

in his senior season at Tech, Druckenmiller capped off an illustrious career as the starting quarterback that included back-to-back Big East championships. The second of those titles came in this season, when he was named first-team all-conference.

He finished the year with 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. In the Orange Bowl against eventual national champion Nebraska, he completed 16 of his 33 passing attempts for 214 yards and three touchdowns.

The best performance of his season, however, came against East Carolina when he completed 15 of 23 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in a nationally televised 35-14 win.

Kevin Jones, 2003

The man whose school record for yards Williams broke, Jones finished with 1,647 yards and 21 touchdowns in his junior season. The statistics are eerily similar to Williams’ in fact. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry and 126.7 yards per game.

Jones’ best game came against Texas A & M on a Thursday night, when Hurricane Isabel’s wrath had climbed across the Blue Ridge Mountains and ravaged the New River Valley. In a torrential downpour, Jones carried the ball 30 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-19 win.

Until Thursday night, Jones’ season was the most productive in school history. Unfortunately for the Hokies, a late-season slide led to a disappointing 8-5 finish, including a 52-49 loss to California in the Insight Bowl.

Jeff King, 2005

King is unquestionably the best tight end to play for the Hokies under Beamer, and second greatest all-time after NFL Hall-of-Famer Carroll Dale.

In 2005, King hauled in 26 passes for 292 yards, including a team-high six touchdowns. He was the security blanket for quarterback Marcus Vick, and was a key component in the Hokies’ ACC Coastal Division title in its inaugural season.

Andre Davis, 1999

As Vick exploded onto the scene in the Hokies’ undefeated season, Davis was just as integral a part of that magical run. His 962 receiving yards still stands as the all-time single season record.

Of the fourteen touchdowns the Hokies threw that season, Davis scored nine of them. His average of 27.5 yards per catch is easily the best all-time at the school.

The most fascinating statistic of all for Davis that season was his rushing numbers. Three carries…72 yards… three touchdowns. The Hokies went to the reverse play with a 100 percent success rate, thanks to Davis. Maybe he should have carried the ball more often…

With all of the aforementioned individual seasons being some of the best in school history, what Williams did this year should rank right at the top. This year falls short of Vick’s unprecedented year in ’99, but is about on the same level of Suggs’ season the following year.

The one important note that separates Williams from all but one other player on this list: the star running back is only a freshman. Not only was this his first year in the maroon and orange, but he was only listed as the third-string running back entering preseason camp.

With the stage set for a spectacular encore in 2010, this list might just have to make way for another unforgettable year for “Lil’ Sweetness”.

On the Docket - Chick-fil-A bowl: Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Tennessee (7-5)

Synopsis:

This is a game that has as good of a geographic draw as any bowl game this year. This matchup has been in the works for several years now, but every attempt to get the two programs together has failed. Virginia Tech is led by the legs of freshman running back Ryan Williams, who is 110 yards away from breaking the school’s all-time rushing record in a single season. Tennessee is led by its great defense, coached by longtime NFL coordinator Monte Kiffin. The Volunteer program is on the way back to the top under Lane Kiffin, and he surely wants to help use a win in this game to recruit and bolster his program.

Player to watch: Eric Berry is arguably the best defensive back in college football since Charles Woodson (apologies to Chris Gamble, DeAngelo Hall, Sean Taylor). Monte Kiffin loves to place Berry in different situations all over the field to get him involved in as many plays as possible. It will be up to Berry to stop Ryan Williams from breaking off long runs, and from letting the Tech receivers break open downfield.

Who has the edge?

The Hokies were more than likely the better football team in 11 of their 12 games this season. Talent-wise, few teams can stand toe-to-toe with Frank Beamer’s squad. However, Lane Kiffin has had the Volunteers play their best football against the biggest teams, i.e. Florida and Alabama. This game will be a great one, and a close battle.

Prediction:

Virginia Tech 24, Tennessee 17

Top Ten College Football players since 2000 (offense) - #7

Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech (1999-2001)

Vick completely changed the landscape of a program, a school, and a position in only two years at Virginia Tech. He arrived on the scene as a redshirt freshman in 1999, and wasted no time establishing himself as a dynamic playmaker at the quarterback position.

In his first game against James Madison, he ran for three touchdowns in the first half…on four carries. The show had only begun.

Throughout that rookie campaign, Vick continued to dominate opponents single-handedly with an unprecedented combination of world-class speed and cannon-like arm strength.

He led the Hokies to an unbeaten regular season and their first-ever berth in the national championship game. He was named the player of the year at the ESPY Awards following the season, and was third in the Heisman Trophy voting, the highest finish ever for a freshman at the time.

He returned for his sophomore year with meteoric expectations. Tech returned many key pieces on the offensive side of the ball to support him, and the defense was strong as usual. The Hokies were cruising on their way to a potential national championship when disaster struck.

Vick sprained his ankle in the third quarter of a 37-34 win over Pittsburgh.  The injury kept him out of the following week’s game against unbeaten and third-ranked Miami on the road. The Hokies were ranked second in the country at the time, but without Vick were unable to keep up with the Hurricanes, and the championship dreams were dashed.

Vick returned three weeks later to beat Virginia in the season finale. Then came the Gator Bowl, which turned out to be the final game for Vick in a Hokie uniform. In front of a sold-out crowd at Alltell Stadium, Vick led the Hokies to a 41-20 win over Clemson, earning game MVP honors and bidding farewell to college football.

Following the Michael Vick experience, Virginia Tech went from a program on the rise to one of the premier teams in the country. The talent level of recruits to the program instantly took a leap forward, and national media began to give more attention to the small agricultural school from Blacksburg, Va.

More importantly in the landscape of college football, Vick truly changed the way the position was played. Following his departure, many teams across the country began playing more mobile quarterbacks who have the ability to beat teams by scrambling, rather than simply dropping back and passing the ball.

Prior to the Vick era, mobile quarterbacks were seen as a uncommon advantage for an offense. In the years following, they were seen as a near necessity.  Not a bad impact for only two seasons.

Hokie History: Virginia Tech’s first bowl win

For the 17^th consecutive time, Virginia Tech’s football team will end its season in a bowl game. For the second time in that run, it will play in the Chick-Fil A Bowl in Atlanta.

During this era of perennial consistency, Hokie fans have become accustomed to, and now demand, success in the form of bowl victories.

For 94 years, there was no postseason success to speak of in Blacksburg, until the Hokies played in the Peach Bowl (now the Chick-Fil A) in 1986 against North Carolina State.

Six years prior, the Hokies had lost to future conference mate Miami 20-10 in the same bowl game. The NC State game was only the second postseason appearance in 18 years for the program.

Tech wasted no time finding the scoreboard in that game. After a 77-yard run to the 1-yard line by Maurice Williams on its first offensive possession, Eddie Hunter rumbled in two plays later to put the Hokies up 7-0.

NC State would respond shortly after. Keep in mind this game was pre-Frank Beamer era at Tech, so the Hokies’ special teams were not the juggernaut they are today. The Wolfpack blocked a Tony Romero punt, which was recovered in the end zone to tie the game at seven.

The ‘Pack would score twice more before the half, and led 21-10 at intermission.

The second half saw a comeback for the ages by the Hokies. Williams short touchdown run brought Tech within five points as the third quarter drew to an end.

Early in the final quarter, Tech scored again to take its first lead since early in the game at 22-21.

NC State’s Mike Cofer put his team ahead with a 33-yard field goal midway through the quarter, and Tech was faced with a 24-22 deficit.

The Hokies’ offense failed to produce on the following drive, and was forced to give the ball back to the Wolfpack with the clock drawing closer to zero.

The outlook was grim when on the first play of the NC State possession went 40 yards thanks to a Mal Crite run. After that, however, the ‘Pack sputtered, and gave the Hokies one more chance, punting the ball with 3:14 remaining in the game. . .

Or so everyone thought.

Instead of punting, NC State ran a fake and made the first down. The Tech faithful were deflated, and it looked like the first bowl win in school history would have to wait even longer.

Tech’s defense was able to hold the Wolfpack’s offense on three downs this time, and with 2:01 left, NC State did indeed punt the ball, landing in the end zone for a touchback.

With 11 seconds remaining, the Hokies had driven to the 39-yard line, just outside of kicker Chris Kinzer’s range for game-winning field goal. Head coach Bill Dooley decided to take a shot at the end zone.

Wingback David Everett blew by the secondary down the middle of the field, and quarterback Erik Chapman launched the ball Everett’s way with the clock ticking down.

Wolfpack safety Brian Gay was able to recover enough ground while the ball was in midair to bring Everett down to the turf, drawing an easy pass interference call; 15 yard penalty, first down for Tech.

Though the penalty moved the ball into Kinzer’s range, the play made by Gay was still the right one; had he not knocked Everett down, he would have caught the pass and won the game with a touchdown.

This is when Kinzer, a native of Dublin, VA just 30 miles from the Tech campus, stepped into the spotlight. NC State called its final timeout to “ice” Kinzer, making him wait a little longer before the pressure-packed boot.

Nothing could faze Kinzer that day, though. He coolly stepped through the kick and sent the ball squarely through the uprights as time expired.

Heart attack, check.

Lucky penalty call, check.

First ever bowl win, check.

Although many Hokie fans associate the Frank Beamer era with the glory days of Tech football, 1986 was made by Kinzer a year to remember (though, if you’d like to split hairs, Beamer had already been hired as the departing Dooley’s successor nine days prior to the game).

Simply known as “The Kick” to Tech loyalists, the Peach Bowl has brought some good memories to the Fighting Gobblers. 

Beamer’s case to fill Bowden’s shoes

Frank Beamer’s connections to Bobby Bowden run deeper than interdivisional rivals in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In light of the announcement of Bowden’s retirement as Florida State head coach this week; it seems appropriate to consider the similar legacy Frank Beamer is leaving at Virginia Tech.

Like Bowden, Beamer took over a program vacant of tradition. Tech only played in six bowl games before Beamer took over in December 1986. Its record in those games was 1-5.

Florida State had also played in seven bowls in the 30 years prior to Bowden’s hiring. Its record in those games was 2-4-1.

It’s safe to say neither program was exactly on the Mount Olympus of the college football world.

Both coaches hail from rural backgrounds in the south. Bowden grew up in Birmingham, Ala., one of the richest breeding grounds for football talent in the country. Beamer grew up just down the road from Blacksburg in Fancy Gap, Va., where football was big and the mountains were bigger.

Both coaches have a reputation of being two of the friendliest, down-to-earth coaches in the business, thanks in large part without a doubt to their southern roots.

After taking over at their respective schools, the unheralded traditions of both programs were appositely reversed.

Bowden endured a single losing season in Tallahassee before leading the Seminoles to an 10-2 record, ending the 1977 season with 40-17 win over Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl.

Beamer took over a rebuilding Hokie program and spent two seasons in football misery before finishing the 1989 season with a 6-4-1 final record. Four seasons later, the Hokies were 9-3, capping off the season by winning the first ever bowl game under Beamer, beating Indiana 45-20 in the Independence Bowl.

Although it took Beamer six years before tasting postseason glory compared to Bowden’s two, it’s hard to blame the Tech coach for not arriving to the party as quickly.

Consider the natural recruiting base Bowden had to work with. High school football in Florida annually produces cream-of-the-crop athletes to choose from. Virginia’s reputation as a recruiting hotbed did not come until the late 1990s. It was much easier for Bowden to find the necessary talent immediately than it was for Beamer.

Once Beamer took the Hokies to that first bowl game, they have not missed the postseason since. 2009 marks the 17^th consecutive season the Hokies will go bowling.

Once the ship was righted at Florida State, Bowden also took his program to unprecedented heights. The Seminoles missed the postseason in 1978 and 1981, but other than that have played a postseason game every year to date.

Every superhero needs a good sidekick; every CEO a right-hand man. Bowden and Beamer each have theirs in the form of a defensive coordinator. Mickey Andrews has been on the sidelines for Bowden since 1984. Bud Foster joined Beamer’s staff in 1987 and became defensive coordinator in 1995.

Both assistants have been instrumental in maintaining the high level of success at their respective schools, and neither Bowden nor Beamer would be the coaches they are today without them.

Between 1987 and 2000, Bowden’s Seminoles set an NCAA record by winning at least ten games every season. If the Hokies win their bowl game in a few weeks, they will be nearly halfway to reaching that mark themselves. The current streak of double-digit win seasons at Tech is five, the first of which coinciding with its inaugural season in the ACC.

The glorious run came to an end Tuesday, when Bowden walked away from the game at the age of 80.  It seems only natural for the torch as college football’s elder statesman, and good ol’ southern boy to be passed directly to Blacksburg.

The one facet of program dominance that separates Bowden and Beamer is postseason success. At Florida State, Bowden is 20-9-1 in bowl games, while Beamer is 7-9.

One of those 20 bowl wins for Bowden came in the form of a national championship, against, you guessed it, Beamer’s Hokies. It took him 24 years at FSU before winning his first and only BCS national title. Beamer is in his 23^rd at Tech. Isn’t that Taylor guy and that Williams kid coming back to Blacksburg next year?

Virginia Tech-UVA initial summary

Thanks to an enormous effort from Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech won its sixth straight contest with Virginia 42-13.

Williams carried the ball 23 times for 182 yards and four touchdowns.

Prospects didn’t look so bright in the first half. The Hokies’ defense permitted Jameel Sewell to run for 99 yards and a touchdown by the break. Tech led 14-13 at halftime.

That’s when Williams took over. The redshirt freshman ran for 123 yards in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and two scores.

With six minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Hokies still held on to just a one-point lead. Tyrod Taylor had just been intercepted in the end zone for a touchback, when the Tech defense came up with its biggest play of the night, recovering a fumble on the next play to set up another Williams score.

The Hokies scored two more touchdowns in the next five and a half minutes to expand the lead to 35-13, proving to be insurmountable for the Cavaliers.

The loss probably marks the end of the Al Groh era at Virginia. After nine seasons at the school, Groh is likely to be fired in the coming days following the team’s worst record in 26 years.

With the win, Virginia Tech is now one win shy of its sixth straight 10-win season. Interestingly enough, all six of those seasons coincide with Tech’s membership in the ACC.

Check back later for final thoughts on the game.

Hokies drag Pack around in blowout win

It only took a single play in Virginia Tech’s 38-10 win over North Carolina State Saturday night to show just how much separates the two programs.

Leading 24-10 midway through the third quarter, freshman running back Ryan Williams took the ball off the left side, where the Pack’s Earl Wolff grabbed him from behind.

That did not stop Wiliams, though, who carried Wolff 12 yards and into the end zone for his career-best fourth touchdown of the game.

For the eighth time this season, Williams put the Hokies on his back (a la Wolff) and carried them to a big victory. He finished the day with 120 yards on 32 carries.

The Wolfpack sputtered out of the gate, fumbling on three of its first four offensive plays, losing two of them. Both turnovers led to Tech scores, giving the Hokies a 10-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

Tyrod Taylor continued his superb play against the weaker defenses of the ACC, completing 9-of-17 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown.

The Hokies have been an episode of Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner all season long. Everyone knows that the Road Runner escapes Wiley’s evil plan at the end of every episode. When the Hokies have played the worst of the ACC, they have cleaned house in 20-point plus beat downs.

It’s the same old song and dance when those cellar-dwellers face the Hokies. Williams is nearly impossible to tackle, Taylor looks like a poised quarterback, and the defense is a run-stuffing machine.

Unfortunately for Tech, the latter two only seem to occur against the bad teams.

Marshall, Boston College, Maryland, and State have made Tech look like a top-10 team. Where was the poised Taylor on a Thursday night in Blacksburg against North Carolina? Where was that run-stuffing defense when Georgia Tech gauged the Hokies for nearly 300 yards on the ground?

Tech has all the talent they need on both sides of the football to be sitting at 10-1 right now. It’s the motivation or focus they lack. When facing the mid-level to upper-echelon teams in the conference, Tech has failed to step up to the challenge, save for a rain-soaked evening against Miami.

Next week, Tech will probably walk into Scott Stadium and let Williams run wild against a beleaguered Cavalier defense for 120-plus yards and a few scores to finish the season 9-3.

This program has been missing excitement on game days.  Williams has been the saving grace this season, but he is the first player to electrify Lane Stadium in three years.

Where are guys like Eddie Royal, Xavier Adibi, Jimmy Williams, Bryan Randall, DeAngelo Hall, Jeff King, or Chris Ellis?

Those players saw Virginia Tech through the most exciting years of the program, when Lane Stadium truly was one of the most five feared stadiums in America. While its still up there in the ranks of vaunted venues, the feeling Lane carried through every game five years ago doesn’t seem to be there now.

It needs to come from the motivation of the players; to buckle up and drive right through the UNC’s of the world. They need to bring that energy back to Lane. Starting with the final minute of the Nebraska game and running through the Miami game, it seemed that Lane was once again the “Terror Dome.”

As this season’s home schedule comes to an end, here’s hoping for a rejuvenated program next year with more than just another 10-win season as the result.

 

Virginia Tech unveils state-of-the-art uniforms

The Virginia Tech football team unveiled its new look for this week's game Monday morning on campus. 

Along with Nike executive Loren Hoppes, Frank Beamer, Cody Grimm and Tyrod Taylor, Bill Roth hosted the event, which took place outside Squires Student Center. 

The uniforms the Hokies will be wearing this Saturday are made from Nike's new Pro Combat design, built to enhance player's performance. 

Along with the jerseys, Nike is selling T-shirts featuring a school-specific slogan. Nike's slogan for Virginia Tech is "Good Guys Wear White." 

10 teams across the country will wear these uniforms in the coming weeks, including Texas and Florida State. 

"Nike has always been very good to us, and we are excited about wearing these new uniforms Saturday," Beamer said.

The uniforms have white helmets, jerseys, pants and cleats. The numbers and stripes are a blend of maroon and orange, a unique design designated the "Beamerball look" according to Hoppes. 

On the top of the pants' backside, the school's motto "Ut Prosim" is printed, as well as the phrase "Beamerball" on the back of the neckline. 

The helmets have two stripes, one each of maroon and orange, with the same maroon "VT" logo the team currently dons on a normal week.

 The Virginia Tech cheerleaders and dance team, the High Techs, kicked off the event, which lasted nearly an hour. Bill Roth, the voice of the Hokies MC'd the event, but was also joined on stage by Beamer and former Hokie legends Bruce Smith and Antonio Freeman. 

T-shirts with the "Good Guys Wear White" slogan and VT logo are now on sale for $20, while replica jerseys will be for sale online later this week, and will hit local stores following the Maryland game.

The ACC, as told by Nickelodeon

In the mid 1990’s, Nickelodeon produced a show titled “Wild and Crazy Kids”. Who knew that those kids would one day play football in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Seems like the channel of choice for pre-teens of that decade is making its way into college football.

The ACC has been about as wild as it gets these days. For instance, the two divisions’ current leaders were in fourth place three weeks ago.

As we enter the season’s tenth week of games, there is still much to be decided in the conference race.

Georgia Tech has taken control of the Coastal Division with wins over Florida State, Virginia Tech and Virginia. In a few weeks’ time, the Jackets will in all likelihood be battling Duke in a battle for the division lead.

Let’s consider the possibilities. The teams that have given Georgia Tech the most trouble are those that “Dare” to throw the football. Jacory Harris ripped Tech’s secondary; the same secondary that a week earlier made Clemson’s freshman quarterback Kyle Parker look like Tom Brady in a second-half comeback.

Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis is the favorite to be named first-team all-ACC quarterback. That’s bad news for the Jackets, which also allowed Christian Ponder to throw for 359 yards against them. The Yellow Jackets clear weakness is quarterbacks with “Rocket Power” throwing arms.

Besides those two teams, everyone in the conference has at least two losses to ACC opponents. In a season this unpredictable, why can’t Duke make their way to Tampa?

On the other side of the conference, the Clemson Tigers have been “All That” in recent weeks. They beat Miami on the road in overtime a week after thumping Wake Forest 38-3.

The Tigers hit rock bottom when they were upset at Maryland on Oct. 3, giving the Terps their first win over an FBS team in 2009. Since then, C.J. Spiller has been unstoppable, and the rest of the offense has begun to “Figure it Out”, scoring 42.3 points per game.

The Tigers have arguably the fastest defense in the country, especially at defensive end. DaQuan Bowers and Ricky Sapp are both future first-round draft picks.

The talent has always been there for Clemson, but the chemistry and coaching were the unknown quantities. All the pieces are coming together at the right time, and Dabo Swinney might have just caught lightning in a bottle, leading Clemson down the path to the conference title.

Four weeks ago, Boston College came to Blacksburg prepared for a matchup that many thought could just be a championship game preview. The Eagles are still very much alive, though nobody knows how, while the Hokies are all but eliminated from contention with a month left to play.

It’s now a three-way race between Clemson, Georgia Tech and… sigh…Duke for the conference crown. Here’s saying a Blue Devil-Tiger matchup is forthcoming; you heard it here first. 

Young Beamer making his own legacy

The year was 1989. It was late in the fourth quarter as coach Shane Beamer gazed upon the field from above, ready to send in the winning play call.

Instead of being inside Lane Stadium in front of 50,000 raucous fans, Frank Beamer’s 12-year-old son could only pretend he was in his father’s shoes. He stood on the wooden deck behind his house, looking down on an empty pasture.

This day, he was lucky enough to have found a friend to send down to the pasture with one walkie-talkie, while he held the other. They used the toys to communicate imaginative strategies, just like Shane saw his father do on Saturdays.

He had already spent the morning in the kitchen reading the game day itinerary aloud to his younger sister, Casey.

He had spent all week in the back of his father’s office, scanning old playbooks for a tip on this week’s game plan.

Twenty years later, Shane Beamer is forging his own path along the sidelines at South Carolina.

The son of the legendary Virginia Tech coach is responsible for the strong safeties, special teams and is the recruiting coordinator for the Gamecocks.

If families are rated on a scale from 1-10 based on frequent stress, those with coaches are an 11.

“When Shane told me he wanted to get into coaching after he was done playing, I said ‘you’ve lived in this house your whole life and you want to do this; are you nuts?’” Frank Beamer said.

Despite all the chaos that came from growing up as the son of a Division I football coach, a young Shane took advantage of his resources.

He began carrying the cord for his father’s headset on the sidelines at age 10. Around that same time, he began reading through stacks of papers tucked away in Frank’s office. Though he was introduced to the deepest secrets of coaching at an early age, he didn’t always appreciate his good fortune.

“If I have any regrets, I wish I had asked more football questions than I did,” Shane said.

As a high school player, Shane was never the best athlete on the field, and had a decision to make as his career drew to an end. He could walk on to his dad’s team, and risk never playing a snap, or play for a small school and continue playing football.

For advice, Shane looked to someone familiar to his situation: Terry Bowden. At the time, Bowden was the head coach at Auburn University, but long before that he had been a walk-on for his father Bobby at West Virginia.

Shane wrote to Terry, asking for consultation on what he should do after high school. Bowden explained to him that if he ever wanted to coach, he should stay with his father where he would learn much more than if he played at a lower level.

It was the first sign of the motivation Shane had to become a figure like his father, yet his parents never knew he had such drive at that time.

“We never knew he sent that letter, until Terry came up to us at a camp and told us,” Shane’s mother Cheryl said.

Shane went on to play for Frank at Tech, where he would become the starting long-snapper for the punt team, or the “Pride” team as it as known in the Hokies’ program. Fittingly, Frank has plenty of pride for what his son had accomplished even before graduating college.

“It was a real treat to get to see him every day for four years,” he said.

After graduating, Shane decided to trade the Blue Ridge Mountains of Blacksburg for the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta, accepting a graduate assistant job at Georgia Tech. In his only year with the Yellow Jackets, he worked on the offensive side of the ball with Ralph Friedgen, now the head coach at Maryland.

After a season where the Jackets finished 9-3, including a seven-game winning streak to finish the regular season, Shane moved to Knoxville to work under Philip Fulmer at Tennessee. It was under Fulmer where Shane learned the defensive side of the football, as well as recruiting in the cutthroat SEC.

“Coach Fulmer was very influential from a recruiting standpoint. He was very intense when it came to recruiting,” Beamer said.

Landing a graduate assistant job at a big-time program is nearly as easy as going twelve rounds with Mike Tyson. Those who don’t know Shane might assume he let his surname carry him to such great schools, while in reality he worked tirelessly to give himself those opportunities.

“Having connections helped, but it was writing a lot of letters to coaches and doing everything I could myself that got me the jobs,” he said.

Shane’s first full-time coaching job came in 2004 at Mississippi State under Sylvester Croom, the first African-American coach in the Southeastern Conference. Shane coached the defensive backs. Croom’s ruthless work ethic and strong disciplinary background helped Shane learn the work it took to build a successful team from the ground up.

In 2007, Steve Spurrier, the former national championship coach at Florida who had returned to the college ranks at South Carolina, hired Shane to coach the outside linebackers.

Until then, Shane had only ever worked for coaches with philosophies marked by great defense and power running games, let alone growing up as the son of one.

Spurrier was a horse of a different color, though. In the 1990’s he made Florida great by instituting his “Fun N’ Gun” offense, which emphasized passing more times per game than Elvis had number one hits.

The change in styles was an adjustment for Shane, but his new boss and father had many more similarities than differences.

“They are both great competitors, whether its football or golf, they both hate to lose. Their strategies might be different, but they are both intense and want to win in everything they do,” he said.

After the 2008 season, Spurrier named Shane was named his recruiting coordinator; perhaps the toughest job at any SEC school. Nevertheless, he was well fit for the job.

“He is so good about writing handwritten notes to recruits. When he calls them he knows their whole life history it seems. His attention to detail is great, just like his daddy’s,” Cheryl said.

Obviously, signing high school kids to play for South Carolina takes more than a simple note, and Shane goes to great lengths to secure the best prospects he can.

“Recruiting in the SEC is cutthroat, lasting 365 days a year. You have to be up to it every day,” Shane said.

In the first recruiting class since taking the coordinating job, South Carolina’s commitments were ranked 12^th in the country, according to rivals.com.

Even with their busy schedules, Shane and Frank manage to have great communication during the season.

The two speak on the phone at least once a week, usually on Thursday nights, and the subject rarely deviates from football.

“We’ll talk a lot about X’s and O’s, the previous game and the upcoming one. When we do talk, it’s usually about football,” Shane said.

Through hard work, persistence, and some ultra-strong bloodlines, Shane, 32, has developed into one of the strongest up-and-coming assistant coaches in the country, which begs one obvious question: when will father bring son back to Blacksburg?

“I think they would love (to coach together),” Cheryl said.

Several obstacles stand in the way of Shane’s possible return to Blacksburg. One is the continuity of the staff at Tech. There have only been four coaches leave the Frank’s staff since 2000. The loyalty of the assistants to the Tech program is unparalleled, and the head coach is hardly one to break that up simply to hire his son.

“It has to be the right situation, but I do think he is a great coach,” Frank said.

The second roadblock in Shane’s path home is the scrutiny he would face as a part of his father’s staff. Just 120 miles away, Virginia coach Al Groh had to fire his son and offensive coordinator Mike under tremendous pressure from the fan base to make the change.

Several other sons of great coaches have always been under a close watch. Terry and Tommy Bowden were both head coaches at Auburn and Clemson, respectively, and had to constantly deal with the pressure of being Bobby’s son.

Jay Paterno has caught great criticism at times over the years for the lack of production from the quarterback position at Penn State.

Obviously, any coach whose players aren’t performing at a high level will hear the jeers of the fans. Being the son of a coach is even worse, though, as you can be accused of only keeping your job because of your dad.

If that “right situation” ever does occur, you can bet Shane will be on the Lane Stadium sidelines once again; this time with a big-boy walkie-talkie, and real players instead of his sister.

Shane’s eventual return would only make sense for the Beamer family, whose impact on the university and community is indescribable.

Should he ever return, very little would change around the Tech program. When asked to name a difference between her husband and son, Cheryl Beamer was at a loss for words.

“Let’s just say this: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”