The Maroon-White game is Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lane Stadium.
Last season, the Virginia Tech football team ended its season on a high as the Hokies beat the Tennessee Volunteers 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, capturing the program’s sixth straight season with 10 or more wins.
Saturday, the Hokies will suit up for their first big game of a new season in the school’s annual Maroon-White spring game in Lane Stadium.
While the team is just beginning its preparation for its first real game of the season on Sept. 6 against Boise State at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., Hokies fans will have a lot to look forward to seeing on Saturday.
Returning starting senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who threw for 13 touchdowns and completed 56 percent of his passes last year, seems to be the player most ready for the spring game.
Taylor was effective and efficient in both full scrimmages in the past two weeks. In the first scrimmage, Taylor completed 5-of-10 passes for 89 yards and a completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior receiver Danny Coale.
One week later, Taylor completed 6-of-10 passes for 134 yards and connected with junior split end Jarrett Boykin for an 18-yard touchdown.
“I’m glad we’ve got Tyrod,” said head coach Frank Beamer. “He’s a guy you can win games with. You can see him getting better and better. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
Another bright spot in the early scrimmages was the play of the wide receivers. Tech’s passing game emerged last year as Taylor threw for 2,311 yards, making a vast improvement over his performance during the previous year when he threw for 1,036 yards.
Coale and Boykin, specifically, seem to be Taylor’s favorite targets early on as both have performed well. Coale reeled in three receptions for 124 yards and a score, while Boykin grabbed three receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown in the team’s scrimmages prior to the spring game.
Prior to the beginning of spring practices, many Tech fans believed the Hokies’ rushing game would be the talk of the town. This season, the Hokies return ACC Rookie of the Year Ryan Williams and welcome back redshirt junior Darren Evans after Evans missed last season with a torn Achilles’ tendon.
The combination of Williams, who ran for 1,655 yards and scored 21 times on the ground last year and Evans, who ran for 1,265 yards as a starter in 2008, scoring 11 times has booming potential.
So far this spring, however, the Hokies’ rushing game has not looked sharp.
Without Williams participating in the scrimmages, Evans and sophomore speedster David Wilson have carried the load. In the first scrimmage, Wilson led the rushing attack with 39 yards on six carries, while Evans ran for 27 yards on four carries. In the second scrimmage, Evans gained just 16 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown.
A version of this article appeared in the Apr 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Darren Evans didn't tear his achilles you idiot.
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I didn't put that. I wrote anterior cruciate ligament and the editor changed it for some reason. Not my fault.
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