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.
Whether this is a reflection of the Hokies’ strong run defense or a struggling rushing attack has yet to be seen, it will be a battle to watch come Saturday.
One of the biggest questions coming into this season was how the Hokies would replace first team All-ACC punter Brent Bowden and kicker Matt Waldron. So far, Tech’s coaching staff remains undecided.
In its second scrimmage, the Hokies missed four field goals. Junior place kicker Justin Myer missed from 49 and 50 yards, while redshirt senior Chris Hazley missed from 45 and redshirt freshman place kicker Cody Journell from 32. Hazley and Myer remain in close competition for the No. 1 kicking spot. The scrimmage’s misses weren’t what Beamer wanted to see, however, all four misses were affected by the wind.
“The one thing that affects the football is the wind and I think it affected the scrimmage today to some degree,” Beamer said. “But I think when the wind blow, it affects everything.”
Entering the new season, there have also been questions about Tech’s defense.
The Hokies enter 2010 without six starters from last season’s team, including leading tackler Cody Grimm, defensive end Jason Worlids and strong safety Kam Chancellor.
Surprisingly, the defense has seemed unaffected early on. Redshirt freshman defensive back Antone Exum led the team with nine tackles in the first scrimmage and redshirt senior defensive end Steven Friday, redshirt junior defensive tackle Kwamaine Battle and redshirt freshman James Gayle each recorded two sacks.
In the second scrimmage, the Hokies saw flashes from sophomore cornerback Jayron Hosley, who led the team with six tackles.
“The other side of it, defensively, we’re moving all the time, and we make it as hard as it can be. We figure in the end we’ll learn from it and be better from it,” Beamer said. “Overall, I really felt the effort was good, and the execution was good for the most part.”
For the spring game, students are only permitted to sit in the west and lower east stands. Gates one through six will open at noon. Admission is free and concessions will be available, but ATMs will not be available for use. Parking is first come, first serve.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.