Friday, April 28, 2006
Hokies' fall performance not in question
Randy King
Randy King's Tech Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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Now that Virginia Tech's spring practice period has closed, I've received numerous email requests soliciting my opinion on how the Hokies will fare this fall.
My early take is Tech is going to be fine.
Will the Hokies be a national title contender? No chance.
Can the Hokies win 10 games and continue to hang around the nation's top 10? It's certainly not out of the question.
Despite losing 12 players who could possibly find themselves in NFL rookie camps next month, Tech still has enough left in the tank to reach double digits in the victory column for a third consecutive season.
The first and most important thing in the Hokies' favor is the schedule, which includes eight games in the friendly confines of Lane Stadium. Funny, but I swear I think I've heard that before somewhere.
Somehow, though, I don't think it will be so comical for Northeastern, Kent State, Cincinnati and Southern Miss, the four nonconference foes who travel to Lane Stadium this fall. Yeah, SoMiss could be so dangerous, but the other three are Larry, Curly and Moe. Four eye-pokings for Tech.
The rest of the home menu includes ACC foes Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Virginia. At worst, I see Tech going 3-1 vs. that quartet. Clemson will undoubtedly be the toughest out of the bunch on Thursday, Oct. 26. While it will be a short work week for each since both play the previous Saturday, the Hokies have the edge of not having to travel.
So add up the homers and Tech is 8-0, at worst 7-1, I'm calculating.
Now to the four assignments on the ACC road, where Tech is 8-0 since joining the league two years ago.
The Sept. 9 game at North Carolina will be extremely pivotal. How will Tech's young, inexperienced starting quarterback, whether it be Sean Glennon, Cory Holt or Ike Whitaker, handle the pressure of an early season test away from home will be the question of the week.
The other game on Tobacco Road -- a Nov. 18 trip to Wake Forest -- is far from a gimme, too. The Deacons could prove to be late-season Demons to Tech, which was fortunate to win 17-10 at Winston-Salem in 2004 en route to the ACC title.
That leaves two other ACC trips -- to Boston College (Oct. 12) and Miami (Nov. 4). Neither will be a picnic. Pull Frank Beamer aside right now and ask him privately, and I'm betting he'd take a split right now and stay home.
Tech has been efficient at winning close games the past two seasons, but I see a 2-2 split in the four roadies. Add it up with the 8-0 or 7-1 home tabulations and the final ledger reads 10-2 or 9-3.
The Hokies are going to need some luck on their side, though. An offense that's going to find scoring points much more difficult than in the past because of its youth behind center can absolutely ill afford any major injuries on its razor-thin line and at tailback. As thing stand, Tech only has six or seven O-linemen who are ready to play at this level. At tailback, it's going to be redshirt sophomore Branden Ore's show. With George Bell's knees still a major question mark, the Hokies will be in a world of trouble should Ore go down.
Until the offense gets its act together, Tech is going to have to ride its defense and seemingly stable kicking game.
Bud Foster's defense looked fabulous this spring. Of course, that was against an offense that didn't exactly resemble that of the Indianapolis Colts.
Kicker Brandon Pace looked A-OK, as did punter Nic Schmitt this spring. These special teams will have be even more special, though, this time around. Blocking a few more kicks and extracting more out of the return game to set up short-field situations for the offense will be key.
Whatever happens, Tech will be heading to a 14th consecutive bowl game at the end of the year.
That leaves me with one parting shot: Anywhere but Jacksonville again, please!
Hey, I love the Gator Bowl folks, particularly the folks who run the best media hospitality room on the bowl circuit, but I think they're probably as tired of seeing me and my buddy, Jack Daniels, as I am of seeing them.
A RAW DEAL: Attention, NFL folks: Jimmy Williams is not the bad apple that some of you have tried to turn him into the past two months.
Personally, I think any team looking for a cornerback in this weekend's NFL Draft will be making a mistake if they let recent rumblings and innuendo about Williams' "character issues" steer them off the Virginia Tech All-American.
All I know is Williams has the kind of physical tools and immense talent to be a lockdown NFL corner. He'll work his hind off, too, because he wants to be the best. Ask his teammates. They'll tell you that Williams never took a day off in practice.
So what if he's a little brash, a little cocky, and loves to talk a lot. Lack of character? I call that a character myself.
Certainly, the same traits certainly haven't stopped ex-Hokie corner DeAngelo Hall, the all-time king of braggadocio and cockiness. Two years after leaving Blacksburg, Hall made All-Pro this season.
My feeling has always been you can talk the talk if you can walk the walk. Hall has pulled it off. I hope Williams pulls it off, too.
Honestly, I found Williams to be one of the most engaging personalities I've covered in my 11 years on the Tech beat. He was friendly, funny, a delight to be around. And no matter how much the media may have burned him, he always came back for more with a smile on his face.
While most players in his position would be surly and cut the media off now in the wake of the BS attacks on his attitude, it was the same fun-loving, unabashed J-Dub when I caught him on the phone the other night.
Won't you be glad when all this crap is over, I asked Williams, just knowing he would have to concur. I should have known better.
"To tell you the truth, I having fun with it, man!" Williams said. "I like just the simple fact that everybody's trying to grab at me, that everybody wants to talk to me right now. I'm kind of falling in love with it. I'm kind of hoping it don't stop."
Me, neither. Just go the league and tear it up. Shut 'em down and they can't shut you up, Deuce.
IT'S A WRAP: Speaking of shutting up, I've received those orders that's fine with me. This is the final installment of the Virginia Tech Insider until mid-August. I'm confident all of you will survive. Have a nice summer, folks.
