Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech place kicker Cody Journell says he learned much from the Hokies' last two kickers, Matt Waldron and Chris Hazley.

BLACKSBURG -- He's stood in line for almost two years. He's tired of waiting.

Now that the acceleration lane to Virginia Tech's No. 1 place-kicking job has finally opened, Cody Journell knows it's his time to mash the pedal and go.

Although the job won't be won until August preseason practice, Journell has moved from the back seat and, at worst, has his fingers on the ignition keys to the Hokies' starting job this fall.

"I've been here two years now and I'm ready to step in those [next] three years," said Journell, a prep All-American kicker coming out of nearby Giles High School in 2009. "Obviously, there was a little bit of pressure for me coming out of high school ... like everybody wanted me to jump in and be the No. 1 guy right off the bat, but I think redshirting and taking those couple years were probably the best for me.

"Well, I'm ready. I'm ready to prove that I deserve that scholarship now."

A place-kicker on a full scholarship. Doesn't happen at many places, especially Tech. The Hokies have been incredibly successful with walk-ons and transfers the past decade. Take the past two seasons. In 2009, Matt Waldron, a Penn State transfer, was 20-for-23 on field-goal attempts. Last season, Chris Hazley, another fifth-year senior, missed only once in 22 attempts.

Like many Tech fans familiar with his work at Giles, where he booted a 54-yarder his junior season, Journell entertained visions of immediately stepping on campus and drilling 3s for the team he has pulled for since his childhood days in Ripplemead.

It didn't happen.

After redshirting as a freshman in 2009, Journell was slowed by a hip flexor in last year's spring drills and never could make a serious run for the job.

"The hip flexor has given me a little bit of trouble since I've been here," Journell said. "I'm 100 percent right now. I think when I got here I just wasn't used to kicking that much, like all at one time, and it took me a little bit to get acclimated to it, but I'm ready now."

Journell said he learned a lot from Waldron and Hazley the past two years.

"I've gotten me a lot of experience being behind those two guys -- a pair of All-ACC guys," he said. "They really took me under the wing and showed me the ropes, and now that I've been here long enough, I feel like I'm ready and I've got the experience under my belt that I need."

No doubt there was a huge transition for a kid coming out of small Giles to Tech and the ACC.

"Coming out of high school you always think like: 'I'm ready to jump right into it ... I'm going to be the No. 1 guy as soon as I get there,' " Journell said. "But once you get here, that first summer camp is a real eye-opener. I had a lot to learn.

"And I could tell from the guys who have been here a couple years, or even three or four years, and not having kicked yet ... like they've taken that time to get better and do what they need to do. So being where I am at now and knowing that I'm ready, I realize that I really wasn't ready."

He'd better be now. Tech's kickers will be getting work in upcoming scrimmages this week. Tyler Weiss, a fifth-year senior transfer from Division I-AA Murray (Ky.) State, and senior kickoff specialist Justin Myer are among Journell's competitors for the job.

"Coach [Frank] Beamer stresses everyday that the spring is when you get your playing time," Journell said. "Scrimmages are obviously big deals, you want to go out and make all your kicks ... make sure you're 100 percent or whatever when spring practice is over."

Beamer said before the Hokies opened spring drills March 30 that he felt "Journell was ready to step it up."

Sounds good to the guy trying to do the stepping.

"I have a lot of support out there," Journell said. "My parents tell me that people come up to them all the time asking about me. I'm more excited than anything to show everybody. I know they've been waiting since I got of high school for me to have this opportunity so I'm just ready to take advantage of it.

"I'm focused. I'm determined. I'm just ready to go out and make every kick that I need to make."