BLACKSBURG -- When Virginia Tech hits the practice field next spring, quarterback Sean Glennon will look around and won't see any of the four guys he's played a ton of "pitch and catch" with since the fall of 2004.

Josh Morgan? Gone.

Eddie Royal? Out of here.

Josh Hyman? Adios.

Justin Harper? He's history, too.

"Boy, I'm going to miss those guys next year," Glennon said. "I'm losing four guys who all have a chance to play at the next level, guys who have been scoring touchdowns for four years in a row, guys who have been a huge part of this offense for four years. It's going to be tough not having them around."

Fifth-ranked Virginia Tech's date with No. 8 Kansas in next Thursday's Orange Bowl will mark the end of the college football road for Morgan, Royal, Hyman and Harper, a quartet of senior wide receivers that has produced 397 receptions for 5,966 yards and 42 touchdowns the past four years.

While those totals are far from earth-shattering when compared to some figures from other more free-wheeling, pass-happy offenses, the story here is about some other numbers: Four players, two positions, one ball.

It was a crowded situation that in many cases would have never worked. To their credit, however, the four seniors were somehow able to push aside any individual goals and numbers they may have had in mind, and instead blend together as a group that cared only about one bottom line.

"Winning games," Royal said. "Those are the only numbers we've ever been concerned about."

Hitting it off fast

Good thing the four bonded instantly they hit the field together in 2004. With the exception of David Clowney, who had played as a freshman the year before, the Hokies were woefully thin at wide receiver and desperately required production from Hyman, who had redshirted as a freshman in 2003, and true freshmen -- Morgan, Royal and Harper.

"When they recruited us, they told us we had the opportunity to come in and play," recalled Harper, a 6-foot-4, 214-pound Catawba, N.C., native who prepped at Hargrave Military Academy before coming to Tech.

"That was a big part of my decision to come here. They told us from the beginning that we've got four freshmen that we're asking to play here.

"So coming in, it really just wasn't competing for playing time ... it was just freshmen who have got to play. So we all went out there and were just playing, getting our reps in practice, and regardless of who was eating that day and taking full advantage, the next practice we had to take advantage. The competition was always a good competition. I don't think there's ever been one bad competition day between us."

Hyman, who is almost two years older than Harper and more than two years older than Morgan and Royal, said each member of the foursome kept a house that easily could have gone awry by simply hanging "tough."

"We all knew that within each other there was some jealousy, some frustration, but we didn't tell anybody," said Hyman, a 5-11, 190-pound Chesapeake, Va., native. "We talked it over as a group ... like we're not going to the coaches crying and moaning and all that stuff. We talked together and got better ... eventually. It was all just about coming close, becoming brothers, becoming one as a group of the football team."

Harper said after the Hokies won the ACC championship in 2004 there was never any question about all four staying in Blacksburg for the duration.

"I don't think nobody ever wants to leave after that," Harper said. "It was just always our goal to get another one and that's exactly what we did this year."

No greed

Glennon said it's the total unselfishness of the group that's allowed it to pay big dividends.

"For four years, they've rotated themselves ... and I think that speaks a lot about them," Glennon said. "And all could be the guy, or could be a standout receiver on maybe some other teams. If you get some selfish guys, they're not good about subbing in and out. It's pretty amazing there's literally been no bitterness or animosity between the four of them ... five of them when Clowney was here.

"They've [carped] at me!" said Glennon, laughing. "But not at each other."

Sure, every wide receiver wants the ball. If not every play, then every other play. Royal, who was Glennon's star receiver at Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., said he and his three amigos knew all along that there wouldn't be one who was going to reside among the nation -- for that matter, conference -- receiving leaders in a given year.

"We try not to pay attention to all that," said Royal, a 5-10 speed burner who has been the ACC's top return man the past two seasons. "You kind of know coming to Virginia Tech that you're not going to put up crazy [receiving] numbers, so that's not really the reason we came here. We came here to win. And we've been winning, so we're happy.

"We're really not concerned about that everything else. I mean if you watch a game, you can tell that we're athletes, that we're good receivers. So anybody that knows football knows that we can make plays."

The quartet has spread the numbers well. Hyman was the lead guy in 2004, when he had a career-high 27 catches for 491 yards and five touchdowns. After Clowney took over in 2005, Royal was the leading numbers guy last season (31 catches, 497 yards, three TDs). This fall, Morgan and Harper rank 1-2.

"It's been a different person each year, so at the end of the day you can't be mad," Hyman said. "We look at it all as one -- as a receiver."

Oh, well ...

In Dolphin Stadium next Thursday night, the Hokies will face a Kansas offense that loves to spread the field with three- and four-wide sets and throw the ball at will.

Ever thought about how life might be in that offense, fellows?

"Oh, I'd love it," said Morgan, a 6-1, 220-pound Washington, D.C., native. "But, hey, we're having fun here, too."

Second that, Harper said.

"You can only imagine about numbers you might put up in an offense like Kansas," Harper said. "But at the same time we wouldn't have won two ACC championships and we wouldn't have been the winningest class in Virginia Tech history."

Like any good coach, Kevin Sherman duly noted his bunch has another big workday ahead.

"Kansas has got a great secondary ... big, tall, physical guys who are going to challenge us, so I'm challenging our guys that we're not finished yet," Tech's second-year receivers coach said.

"You just tell them it's about winning and it doesn't matter who does it, that's our goal. These guys have been great about that. It's always been one guy here or there. Man, I'm going to miss these guys."