Friday, July 22, 2005
Will ACC media stand behind Hokies?
UVa-bound QB has Schaub ties
Doug Doughty
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With the ACC set to convene Sunday in Hot Springs for its annual football media day, what I’ll be waiting for is Monday afternoon’s release of the preseason poll.
When the Virginia Tech contingent made its first appearance at the ACC’s Football Kickoff last year in Greensboro, N.C., the Hokies were the media’s choice for sixth place.
All the Hokies did was win the ACC football championship in their inaugural season, and, in most preseason publications, Tech has been ranked higher than Miami and Florida State this year.
Old habits are hard to break, however, and it remains to be seen if the ACC media can bring itself not to pick Florida State or Miami. It was the Seminoles who got the nod last year, although Florida State was scheduled to play at Miami.
I would be inclined to pick Tech this year because the Hokies have Miami in Blacksburg and do not play Florida State, although it has been the nature of the Tech-Miami series that the home team doesn’t always win.
In a recent “podcast” on Roanoke.com, Tech beat man Randy King picked the Hokies to win every game and, while I was eager to goad him, I agreed with his reasoning. If oddsmakers were to handicap every Tech game at this point, the Hokies would be the favorites in every outing.
Neither King nor I really expect the Hokies to go 11-0 or 12-0, which would include a victory in the championship game in Jacksonville, Fla., but, honestly, who can beat them? N.C. State in the opening game in Raleigh, N.C., is as dangerous a game as any.
Tech will play two rivalry games on the road, at West Virginia and at Virginia, teams that beat the 2003 Hokies team in the same venue. Of course, a lot can happen between now and Week 5, when Tech visits Morgantown, W.Va., and especially Week 10, when Scott Stadium is the Hokies’ destination.
I didn’t make a prediction on Tech and King didn’t make a prediction Virginia, which I had at 8-4 (7-4 plus a bowl victory). I see the Cavaliers losing at Miami, going 1-1 in their road trips to Syracuse and Boston College, going 1-1 in their October road trips to Maryland and North Carolina and splitting home games with Florida State and Virginia Tech.
WE STOP HERE to ask if anybody would be willing to drive Roanoke talk-show host Greg Roberts to Hot Springs. Roberts has been asking for a ride from The Roanoke Times contingent “because the lease is about to run out on my car,” he said.
“Tell Roberts that if he worked more than three days a week, he could afford to buy a car,” Virginia Tech assistant athletic director John Ballein said.
Or, if he worked more than two hours a day.
VIRGINIA’S NEED FOR a quick answer from Drexel Hill, Pa., quarterback Marc Verica came into clearer focus when Boston College took a commitment from 6-foot-5, 182-pound Stone Mountain, Ga., quarterback Ross Applegate.
The Cavaliers were interested in Applegate and knew that he was set to visit Boston College over the weekend of July 15-17. Since BC had made a scholarship offer to Applegate and Virginia had not, the Cavaliers wanted to make sure they could get Verica before abandoning their pursuit of Applegate.
Verica accepted Virginia’s offer on the same day it was extended, July 14.
“They said they had passed over another kid for me,” Verica said.
It didn’t take him long to accept. When asked how long Virginia had been his first choice, he responded, “Always.”
“They were actually the first school to send me things in the mail,” Verica said. “Coach [Bob] Price was actually the first coach to visit me at my school. They were always in the back of my mind.”
That goes back to a time when Verica was on a “select” team and he had the same quarterback coach, Ernie Forchetti, that [ex-UVa quarterback] Matt Schaub had in high school. He actually coached my dad in college [at Kutztown State].”
Verica, whose top three included Wisconsin and Michigan State, joins a succession of Virginia quarterbacks from Pennsylvania that includes Dan Ellis, Schaub and third-year sophomore Kevin McCabe.
“Pennsylvania has a rich tradition of quarterbacks and this year was no exception, with Devlin and [Jeremy] Ricker and me and Frazier,” Verica said. “I was following the recruiting of Devlin because I knew Virginia was one of his top schools and Virginia was one of my top schools.
“When I saw he committed to Miami, that really opened up the doors for me,” Verica said. “I’m actually kind of excited that Devlin and Ricker [committed to Maryland] are in the ACCs and I’m in the ACC, so we’re all going to compete in the future.
“I definitely wasn’t the household name that they are. I come from a run-oriented offense [at Monsignor Bonner]. When I went to the Nike camp, I think I showed that I can compete and that I’m as good as the other kids out there.”
The top-rated quarterback in Pennsylvania, 6-4 Zach Frazer from Mechanicsburg, has committed to Notre Dame. Devlin and Ricker are rated 2-3.
