After much speculation as to who would be the front man in Virginia Tech's offense this week, the Hokie faithful were treated to yet another two-quarterback system – though this time unexpected. With Taylor still out, veteran Sean Glennon and tight end turned running back turned quarterback Greg Boone led the Hokie attack.
Click here for a photo gallery from the game.
Glennon emerged as the starter in a less than impressive third-and-out on Virginia Tech's opening possession that began with a false start penalty, and culminated in a short run out of bounds by Glennon for a loss on third and long.
Led by junior quarterback Chris Turner, the Maryland Terrapins came out airborne. With three long pass completions in four plays, one might even think that these turtles could fly.
However, they were grounded when their place kicker, Obi Egekeze, missed a 46-yard field goal attempt less than six minutes into the game that would have put them on the scoreboard and in the lead.
The real stories of the game, however, were those told by Greg Boone and Darren Evans.
Greg Boone, a 6'3", 280-pound muscle machine was converted into a tight end when he came to Virginia Tech after being rated the No. 15 quarterback in the country out of high school. After being originally recruited at that position, Boone redshirted his freshman year in 2005 and made the switch to tight end in the preseason before the 2006-2007 year. He has been a regular starter there ever since, and so his story began.
Up until the Florida State game, it was safe to say that Boone did not see a return to the quarterback position in his immediate future, if ever. But with Taylor out early and Glennon soon to follow, Cory Holt would obviously need some help.
Since then, Boone has been taking snaps as quarterback at practice in addition to his normal tight end routine. In some sense of irony, he offers a running game just as Taylor does for us. Although instead of ankle-breaking cuts and speed, Boone brings to the field bulldozer-caliber strength and the ability to run two men over before he is taken down.
At one point in the first quarter, in arguably the most bizarre setup in recent history, Boone lined up at quarterback and Sean Glennon, who only plays quarterback, lined up at wide out. Unfortunately, the play did not involve using Glennon at that position for some sort of "Hail Mary" touchdown fiasco, but it was still a little crazy to see.
Although Glennon led the offense for the majority of the game, Boone was able to do what was needed when he was called upon - power through to get short yardage and even make some big time receptions, including one for a touchdown.
Tech should hope Taylor returns soon and makes an impact for the remainder of the season but, in the mean time, the Hokie faithful can rest assured that they have someone to help out Glennon, in the form of Gregory Eugene Boone.
The other big story Thursday night was that of Darren "New Single-Game Rush Leader at Virginia Tech" Evans.
The redshirt freshman tailback ran the ball 32 times for a grand total of 253 yards and a touchdown. From runs up the middle to slants out on the perimeter, Evans did it all with ease - he even showed us his inner bulldozer as he ran over a Maryland defender late in the game on a nine-yard first down carry.
As implied by his new nickname, Evans broke the single-game rushing record tonight by eclipsing former Hokie great Mike Imoh's 243 yards a few years back.
In addition to that accolade, Evans can also say that no one in the country has single-handedly rushed for more yards against a Ralph Freidgen-coached Maryland squad.
If that is still not enough, Evans is only in his first year on the roster. That means he has three more to get, in the immortal words of Kanye West, "harder, bigger, faster, stronger." He's already accumulated 788 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground this season.
As the Hokies can rest assured knowing that they have a quality quarterback in Glennon and someone great to help him out in Boone, they can also rest assured knowing that they have a up-and-coming standout tailback in Evans.