DAVE KNACHEL

Virginia Tech Jarrett Boykin leads Virginia Tech in average yards per reception five games into the 2008 college football season.

BLACKSBURG -- At 6 feet 2, 204 pounds, Jarrett Boykin is far from the tallest or heaviest player on Virginia Tech's football roster.

But when it comes to paws' size, there's not another dude in the locker room who can touch the freshman split end.

The biggest hands on the squad? It's Boykins, hands down.

"Actually, I didn't know it until our first game and we were getting ready to do a team prayer," rover Dorian Porch said. "And we're holding hands, and his hand went around my whole arm! I'd never seen a hand like that."

Boykin's hands are so gargantuan that he has to wear size-3X receiver's gloves.

His thick fingers bust the seams of the gloves, sending him back to equipment manager Lester Karlin often for a replacement pair.

We're talking about mitts almost the size of Rhode Island here, folks.

"I've been hearing that since I was young. ... [People] make jokes about it," said Boykin, an 18-year-old Matthews, N.C., native.

"I notice they are a lot bigger ... they're like real fat and thick compared to other people. I don't know. I like 'em."

He should. And so should the rest of the Hokies.

Boykin's humongous hands have come up large for Tech the past two weeks.

He caught two big passes for 34 and 24 yards in the Hokies' 35-30 victory at Nebraska.

The week before, the rookie snared two passes for 33 yards in Tech's 20-17 win at North Carolina.

"I guess they are a huge help playing receiver since I catch the ball with them," Boykin said.

"Everyone tells me I should catch everything and never drop a ball with hands that big."

Opportunity talks

The loss of sophomore starter Davon Morgan for the season to a torn right ACL has opened the door at rover for Porch.

"I hate it for Davon," said Porch, who will make his first start when Tech meets Western Kentucky on Saturday at Lane Stadium.

"That said, I'm more than ready. It's definitely an exciting chance for me to get out there and prove to not only the Hokie Nation, but my teammates and everybody that I'm ready to do his job."

Porch, who played the last 36 defensive snaps at Nebraska after Morgan was injured, said he's been inundated with phone calls, e-mails, etc., the past three days from family and friends back in Calhoun, Ga.

"I've been getting about a 100 phone calls a day from people talking about how exciting it was to see me on the field and how they're excited to see what I bring," Porch said.

Tyrod good

Tyrod Taylor underwent an MRI on his right knee Monday. Hokies head athletic trainer Mike Goforth said the sophomore quarterback banged his knee when he landed on the sideline turf on his fourth-quarter run in which the Huskers were called for a late hit and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The flags gave Tech a first down at the Nebraska 11-yard line.

"Purely precautionary," Goforth said of the MRI. "Just a badly bruised knee. We'll keep that padded deal on [his right knee] to kinda protect him this week. I doubt he will even have to wear it during the game."

Quick slants

Place-kicker Dustin Keys said his parents, Jack and Brenda, returned home Monday from Nebraska to find the downstairs of their Stafford, Va., home flooded with water from a leaking toilet. Good thing the kid was 4-for-4 on field goals in Lincoln, right? "That stuff doesn't settle very well with Mom, so I bet Dad was telling her, 'we had a good weekend and this is just a little something we have to fix,'" a laughing Keys said. ... Turns out, Beamer is a big fan of comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who was at the NU game. "If I had known he was there, I would have looked him up," Beamer said. "Funniest guy I've ever ... I think he's funny." ... Tech is a 28-point favorite over Division I-A newcomer Western Kentucky.