Friday, November 16, 2007
Hokies line coach Newsome feeling better these days
Randy King
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Hold off on the Grecian Formula, the Tums, and the
Maalox for a while. Curt Newsome might be OK for the rest of the season.
Certainly, no one has felt any better about the recent turnaround
of Virginia Tech's offense than Newsome, the Hokiest' first-year offensive
line coach.
Thanks in large part to better play in the trenches by Newsome's bunch,
the Hokiest' offense has flourished the past four games. Tech's offense
has averaged 396.5 yards during the span, a number that dwarfs the anemic
274.5-yard average of Tech's first six games.
Breaking down the numbers, Tech's rushing average has climbed from 122.8 in the
first six games to 147 in the last four; the passing average has jumped
from 151.7 to 249.5 in the last four contests.
While Newsome's group has continued to yield more sacks than he would
like -- Tech's 35 sacks allowed is second-worst in the ACC and 112th
among the nation's 119 Division I-A teams -- the bottom line is the
big boys upfront have given the quarterbacks more time to throw
the ball and opened more holes for the ground game.
"Yeah, yeah, I've been smiling a little more lately," said Newsome
this week. “It’s been a little more enjoyable the past 4-5 weeks.
"We've been a lot more productive. You can see some improvement, and
that's just good to see. We're going to have to continue to play because we've
got two great defenses [
The turnaround started in Tech's seventh game, an Oct. 13 trip to Duke. It's no
coincidence that game marked the debut of right tackle Ed Wang, who missed the
first six games rehabbing from a broken leg sustained on Aug. 5. Wang's return
allowed Newsome to move Nick Marshman from right tackle to left guard, an
inside spot that's more suited for Marshman's 350-pound body.
At that point, Tech's line consisted of the five players it had expected to
have last summer. That plan, of course, changed with Wang's injury, which
forced Newsome to move Marshman from guard to tackle.
The rotation Newsome wanted didn't long, however. Center Ryan Shuman
sprained his ankle in the second quarter of Tech's Oct. 25 game against
Newsome said he was "scared to death" about the prospect of Warren's
first college start coming against Georgia Tech, a team that blitzing you
coming off the bus in the parking lot.
"I know we gave up six sacks in that Georgia Tech game, but I thought for
the amount of blitzes we had seen going in and with a center [Warren] who had
to identify some things, I thought we really stepped up to the
challenge," said Newsome, of a game in which Tech's offense recorded a
season-high 481 yards.
"There was stuff coming from everywhere in that game. I mean I
remember a time a few weeks ago when [
Senior left tackle Duane Brown said the line's best game of the season came
last Saturday in Tech's 40-21 win over
"That's probably the best D-line we've faced since LSU," Brown said.
"Just being able to give [the quarterbacks] time back there to operate was
the biggest thing for us. We didn't run the ball a whole lot, but we had some
big gains on the ground.
"We feel good about it, man, finally being able to click like we have and
put together some big games back to back. We knew it would happen
eventually."
Sophomore guard Sergio Render's renewed vigor also has been a key factor in the
turnaround. Render admittedly "hit the wall" in the first 4-5
games and has returned to the form that made him so impressive last season
as a freshman.
"I just got my stuff back together and I've graded out at over 80 percent
the last 3-4 games," Render said. "Just everything was going wrong
for me early on, like school work, that little incident I got
into," an off-field situation that triggered Coach Frank
Beamer to suspend him for the first quarter of the William and Mary
game on Sept. 22.
"It was just everything coming onto me at once," added Render,
"but I'm back so ... "
Render said it feels much better to be a Tech O-lineman these days than it
did six weeks ago.
"We still have a lot to learn," he said. "We're still making
mistakes, but everybody is playing hard, we're being physical and getting
better and better each week.
"If we give up one sack, though, people are going to talk about us. I
really don't care what people say cause they're not out there playing and they
don't know what we go through, so it really doesn't bother me
anymore."
Brown and Render said it's nice seeing Newsome wearing a smile on his face in
the O-line meeting room these days.
"Before that [Duke] game, he would come in there and everybody was just
down because we knew we would have to hear the music," Brown said.
"After that Duke game, he came in there with a smile on his face and
joking around and all that stuff. It was just a happier feeling in there.
"Before, he would just turn on the film and tell everybody where they
messed up. You know, nobody really wanted to be there."
Beamer said he could tell the stress was wearing on Newsome early in the
season.
"He stressed over it, no question," Beamer said. "He cares a lot
and he wants things right. I'm proud of the way he's hung in there, and I think
we're seeing good results right now."
Such words from the boss are much of a soothing tonic than any
of those items from the lead paragraph.
TOTALLY RENDER
As old-time television host Art Linkletter used to say, "Kids say the
darndest things." Well, the guy would have loved Render, a big country boy
from
After a reporter mentioned that a flailing
"Oh, most times when I shoot ... they dead, you know what I mean? I don't
look to wound," replied Render, sparking a roar of laughter among the media.
