Thursday, September 14, 2006
A crossroads for Holt, Bell?
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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One has to seriously wonder if Cory Holt and George Bell will finish their college football careers at Tech.
Certainly, it’s a relevant question considering the current plights in which the two third-year sophomores find themselves in on the Tech roster.
Holt wants to be a quarterback, but his chances of ever being the Hokies’ No. 1 guy don’t exactly look promising. He’s behind third-year sophomore starter Sean Glennon and redshirt freshman Ike Whitaker right now. And next year, hot-shot recruit Tyrod Taylor of Hampton enters the fold.
Playing behind two guys with little or no experience, Holt will be lucky to see the field at QB this fall. If he does, it will be nothing more than a paucity of meaningless late-game snaps in a blowout-city type game.
Holt should have been tipped off what was in store when Tech coach Frank Beamer asked him to audition for a punter’s protector spot midway in August drills. Holt, a lifelong QB, wasn’t a bit enamored with that move. Now, the 6-foot-4, 221-pound Holt finds himself working as a wide receiver, another position he never has played.
Tech coach Frank Beamer noted that the Hokies need a sixth wide receiver this week, and Holt could possibly fill the bill. Seriously, though, how much can a sixth wideout, especially one with no experience at the spot, expect to play this season? Shoot, the five experienced guys already locked into the deepest spot on the team already are grumbling about not getting enough action in the passing game.
"Well, last week we went into the [North Carolina] game not knowing if Eddie Royal is going to play," Beamer noted. "So sixth is one place from being fifth, a couple of injuries from being fourth."
I’m quite sure that assessment can’t possibly have Holt performing cartwheels in excitement.
Bell, who entered this season thinking he could finally show Tech fans what he can do on a football field, can’t be happy right now.
Desperately in search of a viable backup to No. 1 tailback Branden Ore, Beamer and running backs coach Billy Hite decided to move redshirt freshman Elan Lewis into a tie with Bell at the No. 2 tailback spot so Lewis can get some more practice reps. Plus, the Hokies have moved freshman Kenny Lewis Jr. up the from the scout team. From all accounts so far, the son of ex-Tech standout tailback Kenny Lewis has shown promise in workouts.
Bell has looked slow and hasn’t shown a lot of burst in his 13 carries for 38 yards this season. He then committed the cardinal sin in Hite’s eyes last week at UNC when he fumbled the ball on his third and final carry.
Face it, Bell looks like permanently damaged goods. He has never fully recovered from a horrific knee injury he sustained in his junior year of high school. That was five years ago, so what are the chances of the knee ever returning to form?
Holt certainly would be welcomed by a lot of I-AA programs should he decide to bolt. Bell, though, might not be afforded any possible other options.
Here says at least one of the two winds up calling the moving van.
SUDDENLY POPULAR GUY: After intercepting the first pass of his Tech career and returning it 69 yards for a touchdown last Saturday at North Carolina, fifth-year senior whip linebacker Brenden Hill said that his lift suddenly got a little more frantic.
"I had a lot of voice messages, a lot of text messages not long after the game," said Hill, when asked if he had heard from a lot of friends, family and fans about his big play.
"It was kind of a hectic time. And I felt bad because I really couldn’t get back to everyone. I definitely appreciated all the support. It was kind of cool to know that so many people noticed. I didn’t figure it to be nationwide, but I had friends in Texas who saw it.
"I actually have mobile web on my phone, so I got on there and checked my email, my text messages. I had calls from former players like Vinnie Fuller and Eric Green. A lot of those guys were happy for me and congratulating me, so it was kind of cool."
On Sunday morning, Hill said a ringing phone awakened him.
"Cory Holt called me about 9 o’clock in the morning and I didn’t answer the first time," Hill said. "Then I was like, ‘who is calling me at 9 in the morning for a reason?’ So I called Cory back, and he asked me if I had seen my picture in The Roanoke Times, and I told him no.
"So I went to 7-Eleven and picked up a few copies and it was really cool. That picture was really flattering."
When I told him it was nice to hear he bought three Sunday papers at $1.50 a pop, Hill grinned.
"I’m a supporter ... so as long as y’all keep writing about me, I’m with you."
COLOR FLOWERS GOLD: His play hasn’t been the only thing golden for Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers this season. Hey, just check out the guy’s teeth.
In what’s become one of his game-day rituals, Flowers dresses up his teeth in gold slide-on caps. He says the look helps him play better.
"They’re gold all the way across when I smile," the Hokies’ talented third-year sophomore said. "I kind of like that when I look in the mirror before the game ... seeing that shine all the way across. It makes me feel like I’m in back home in Florida again when I put them in."
Evidently, it’s a Florida thing.
"Usually, the Florida guys have the long hair and the gold teeth, but it takes so long to grow the long, long hair, so I just wear my gold teeth as my little Florida trait," Flowers said. "David Clowney [Tech flanker] has the hair, so I’ve got to go with the teeth. You’ve got to have at least one of them."
Flowers said he’s been wearing the gold caps in games since his days at Delray Beach’s Atlantic High School, where he and Clowney were teammates.
"I keep the gold teeth in my locker ... nobody messes with ’em," Flowers said. "Like I say, it makes me feel like I’m in Florida ... like I’m just Florida playing in Virginia."
