MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Defensive end Steven Friday (center) talks with teammates Kwamaine Battle (left) and Demetrius Taylor before practice.

BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech's football team will need its Friday guy working more on Saturday this fall.

Finally exhibiting signs he's ready to make an impact in his fourth year in the program, Steven Friday has the looks of being the club's third defensive end, defensive line coach Charley Wiles said.

Friday got plenty done last Saturday in Tech's scrimmage at Lane Stadium, making five tackles, including two stops for loss and a sack.

"Steven Friday is a guy I feel better about than I ever have before," Wiles said Monday. "I'm trusting Steven, because I'm seeing his production. I'm seeing him concentrating more in meetings. He's not been up and down in his mental preparation.

"And the kid can run. He benched 410, 415 [pounds]. ... The guy could really be a playmaker for us."

A highly decorated player at Hampton's Phoebus High School, Friday has struggled to get playing time in college. Last season, he took only 79 snaps on defense, collecting six tackles. Now, the redshirt junior sounds like a hungry player determined to be more than a mere bit player.

"I've been around and it's my time," Friday said. "I've got to do something here. So I'm trying to be more consistent and show the coaches that I can play everyday, and I mean everyday!"

Friday conceded he's been lax in studying his playbook the past two seasons. It's led to inconsistency in practice, which has kept him from getting more action in games.

The problem was "not knowing my plays and thinking too much, ... letting my mind tie up my feet, stuff like that," he said. "I'm studying the playbook more and I feel like I'm a better player.

"You have to be smart for defense. It's not just reacting, like some think. This is the college level -- it's a lot to learn, ... learn my plays, learn my blocking schemes, defeat blocks, get off blocks, and make plays, basically, to sum it all up."

Friday and Chris Drager, a converted tight end who's coming on fast at defensive end, will be the backups for starters Jason Worilds and Nekos Brown.

Getting his kicks

Barring some kind of complete meltdown in the next 10 days, Matt Waldron will be the Hokies' place-kicker in the opener. Waldron came into preseason camp as the No. 1 guy and cemented his position by going 4-for-4 in last Saturday's scrimmage, hitting field goals from 46, 42 and 25 yards (twice).

"It was nice to get four kicks in and kinda show from all angles and show that I can kick from all the different places, short and deep," Waldron said.

Waldron said he's not considering himself a lock for the job yet, however.

"There's lots of kicks left," he said. "So there's lots of time not to do good. I've just got to keep consistent and keep my head straight. I think I'll be OK."

On the mend

Freshman David Wilson was held out of a second straight practice Tuesday with a sprained left shoulder suffered in last Saturday's scrimmage.

The Hokies' third tailback said Tuesday that he hopes to be back in practice late in the week and participate in Saturday's 2 p.m. scrimmage at Lane.

"I wanted to show the coaches what I had so bad," Wilson said. "It's a heartbreaking experience when you've been waiting for something so long and get hurt. I'm a little upset, but I'm not going to let this bring me down."

Tech tidbits

Sophomore Justin Myer will handle the Hokies' kickoff chores. Last season, Myer had a 62.8-yard average on 58 kickoffs. Coach Frank Beamer said Myer is "probably the one with the most talent" in his kicking group, but needs to develop consistency before taking on the placement job. ... In almost a sure-fire sign that freshman kicker Cody Journell (Giles) will redshirt this season, Beamer said: "I think Journell is going to be very good." ... Chuck Brown, long known as the "Godfather of Go-Go" music and the father of defensive end Nekos Brown, will have a street named in his honor Saturday in Washington, D.C. "It's going to be 'Chuck Brown Way,' " Nekos said. "Man, it's going to be hard for me to ever match that. I know he's very honored."