Tech's big night

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The Hokies hope to get off their slide with a pair of Thursday games.



From 1998 to 2005, there was one stone lock in college football: Take Virginia Tech on Thursday night on ESPN.

During that span, Tech amounted to gold in front of the cable sports network's friendly television cameras, rolling to 12 consecutive victories by a staggering average of 21 points per game.

Tech's Thursday night gravy train has slowed down the past three years, though. Thanks to their new nemesis, Boston College, the Hokies have lost twice in four appearances the past three years.

If the Hokies (5-3, 2-2) want a shot at winning the ACC's Coastal Division for a third time in four years, it's imperative they rediscover their ESPN magic the next two Thursdays.

First comes 23rd-ranked Maryland (6-2, 3-1) at 7:45 tonight at Lane Stadium.

"We like being on ESPN ... we love that stage," said Hokies senior defensive end Orion Martin, when reminded that Tech goes to Miami (6-3, 3-2) in another Thursday gig next week.

"The thought of the whole country looking at you makes you want to go out and play your best. Because people are going to have their own views of Virginia Tech by what they see the next two Thursday nights. It's a chance to show we can play."

Tech must play now. Coming off consecutive losses at Boston College and Florida State, the Hokies can't afford any more missteps.

While Tech is the only team in the six-team Coastal that still controls its own destiny, it will have to win its final four games -- it closes the regular season at home against Duke (Nov. 22) and Virginia (Nov. 29) -- or else get help in order to capture the division.

The Hokies would much rather do it the Smith-Barney way. They want to earn it.

"It comes down to a four-game season," Martin said. "Everything we've done -- good and bad -- that's over with."

Tech hasn't lost a November game in three years.

The Hokies have won 10 consecutive games in the calendar's penultimate month since a third-ranked Tech club got waxed 27-7 by No. 5 Miami on Nov. 5, 2005, in Blacksburg.

Speaking of wax jobs, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen knows the feeling. The Hokies have cleaned the Terrapins clock in the two programs' only two meetings since Tech joined the ACC in 2004. Tech annihilated the Terps 55-6 in Lane in 2004, and then whipped Friedgen's club 28-9 in College Park in 2005. Coincidentally, both games were Thursday night ESPN affairs.

Friedgen, a close friend of Tech coach Frank Beamer, knows all too well what his club is going to face tonight in Blacksburg.

"It's very loud and there's a lot of team spirit ... it's the only show in town," said Friedgen, whose Maryland teams are 3-6 in ESPN Thursday contests since his hiring in 2001. "We'll have to deal with the crowd noise and the atmosphere. We can't turn the ball over and we have be sound in our kicking game. We can't have something that will get them going."

The Hokies' biggest concern is who's going to be their quarterback.

Starter Tyrod Taylor and backup Sean Glennon are both listed as questionable for the game with left ankle sprains.

Third-stringer Cory Holt has taken the bulk of the reps the past week and half.

"We're expecting whoever plays to play well," Friedgen said. "I think they're blessed to have three good ones. I'm anticipating all playing."

Beamer, who admits he would rather never coach against his long-time buddy, said Tuesday that Tech's QB will be a game-time decision. Of the two regulars, Glennon is more apt to go than Taylor.

Beamer is not showing his cards. All he knows his team needs to find an ace in the hole somewhere amid their all-maroon uniforms tonight.

"We're really looking forward to getting out here in front of our home folks and hope they're going to be ready to help us try and win a football game," Beamer said.

Beamer said all is right there on the table for his team. Win out and the Hokies are heading to the ACC title game on Dec. 6 in Tampa, Fla.

"Yep ... absolutely," responded Beamer, when asked if he would have taken this scenario in August. "With four games to go and three of those at home, ... I would have liked to have been better, but I think the reality of it is we could be worse.

"So we've got an opportunity. It's in our hands, and that's a good place to be."

 

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Tech seniors deliver a message



-- Virginia Tech's coaches adjourned the team meeting Saturday, but the Hokies' seniors remained in the room at the Merryman Center. Coming off two consecutive losses, they had planned all week on delivering a message to their teammates. This seemed the best time to do it, as the Hokies returned from a two-day break.

Cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris took charge, telling the underclassmen that he and his fellow seniors were seeing less enthusiasm on the sideline than they saw last season. The seniors wanted to convey a sense of urgency, a need to finish the season strong and not be the first Tech team since 1992 to miss a bowl game.

The Hokies (2-2 ACC, 5-3) have four games remaining, beginning with today's 7:30 p.m. meeting with Maryland at Lane Stadium. At least tonight, the game could hinge on Tech's quarterback situation. Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon (high left ankle sprains) will be game-time decisions. Third-stringer Cory Holt would start if Taylor and Glennon can't play.

For the long haul, senior left guard Nick Marshman thinks the seniors' message resonated, though he also knows the Hokies are young -- a logical culprit for their inconsistency, in sideline demeanor and play, this season.

"Maybe it's some of the younger guys that haven't played, that haven't been there," Marshman said. "Maybe us as seniors, we haven't instilled that part on to the younger guys."

Though it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of hiccups in an intangible factor such as enthusiasm, it is easy to see at least part of the reason why the Hokies are so green this season; why 32 of the 66 players who traveled to their last game, at Florida State, were sophomores or younger; why there were more freshmen (11) in the two-deep that game than seniors (10).

Attrition -- that's why.

College football is inherently cyclical. Teams won't always be as experienced as Tech was for last season's Orange Bowl, when the Hokies had 13 seniors and eight freshmen in the two-deep. But coaches can't plan on losing almost half of their recruits in a three-year period, as Tech has.

Of the 61 players who signed with Tech from 2004-06, 30 either never came to Tech, left with eligibility remaining or currently are suspended. From the 2001-03 signing classes, just 20 of 64 recruits fell into that category. Those early departure numbers don't count three players who left early for the NFL: Brandon Flowers, DeAngelo Hall and Kevin Jones.

The reasons for no-shows or early departures range from academics (receiver Todd Nolen) to injuries (offensive tackle Aaron Brown) to simply being kicked off the team (running back Branden Ore).

Two of Tech's thinnest positions, offensive line and wide receiver, were hit hardest. Of the 2004-06 early departures, six were offensive linemen and five were wide receivers. On top of attrition, the Hokies have lost three starters since the summer to season-ending injuries: receiver Brandon Dillard, tailback Kenny Lewis Jr. and rover Davon Morgan.

Tech recruiting coordinator Jim Cavanaugh declined to comment for this story.

Dillard's ruptured Achilles tendon was a blow to a position that Tech's coaches have had trouble recruiting in recent years. Receiver recruits knew they probably wouldn't be able to contribute immediately because, until this season, Tech had four players entrenched at the position: Justin Harper, Josh Hyman, Josh Morgan and Eddie Royal.

When the Hokies take the field tonight, injuries and attrition could leave them with a freshman at tailback, three freshmen at receiver and a fifth-year senior quarterback making his first career.

Asked if he has ever entered a game with such inexperience at his skill positions, 22nd-year Tech coach Frank Beamer didn't hesitate.

"Never," he said.

 

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Cheeseman will get carries at tailback

Beamer said junior Jahre Cheeseman and redshirt freshman Josh Oglesby will get carries at tailback Thursday as the Hokies search for a reliable second option behind redshirt freshman Darren Evans.

Cheeseman moved from tailback to fullback earlier this season, then moved back to tailback last week, when the Hokies were off. Junior Kenny Lewis Jr. was Tech's second tailback option, but he ruptured his left Achilles tendon Oct. 4 against Western Kentucky. In the two games since, Oglesby has 10 carries for 24 yards.

Senior left guard Nick Marshman said Cheeseman is excited about the opportunity. He has just four carries this season for 21 yards. He entered the season with 14 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown - all last season. He had a 70-yard run at Georgia Tech - the Hokies' longest run of the season.

"I think he knew that being a tailback, we don't use the fullbacks that much," Marshman said. "Ultimately, this week, he looks at it a little bit different. I think there's a little bit more pep in his step about being back at tailback."

 

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Terps' Scott out of the running?


It was a few days before the Oct. 25 North Carolina State game, and Da'Rel Scott was quietly upbeat.

The shoulder that had nagged at the Atlantic Coast Conference's leading rusher since he was slammed into the turf against California in Week 3 was finally healing, and coaches had begun saying he had "his burst" back.

"I'm getting really close to 100 percent now," Scott said then.

But after his 23rd and final carry against the Wolfpack in the rain, Scott got up cradling the injured left shoulder. On Maryland's sideline, coaches cringed. Scott had performed well in the 27-24 victory, but his hard-charging style had exacted a physical toll.

As they travel to Virginia Tech for tomorrow night's game, the Terps once again find themselves uncertain about Scott's status. Scott, whose average of 103 rushing yards leads the ACC and ranks 26th in the nation, is listed as questionable. The team says the redshirt sophomore from suburban Philadelphia will try to play.

"He's a tough guy," coach Ralph Friedgen said.

Friedgen said the elusive Scott has transitioned this season from possessing a track and field athlete's fragile sensibility - Scott was a high school sprinter - to understanding that football is all about playing with pain.

"I think this time of year everybody is beat up a little bit," Friedgen said. "Everybody has got some injury that is bothering them."

Scott has been wearing a yellow jersey in practice so the defense knows to avoid contact with him. Coaches have lightened up on contact drills for the entire team lately to allow bodies to heal.

Doctors have said it would take three to four weeks without contact for Scott to be at 100 percent.

But Maryland doesn't have the luxury of sitting Scott for that long. Not with four regular-season games remaining and the Terps clinging to first place in the ACC's Atlantic Division.

The statistics demonstrate Scott's value. He has proven a worthy successor to Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore, who left Maryland last season ranked No.4 and No.14, respectively, on the school's career rushing list.

Scott needs to average 56.4 yards over the next five games - including a bowl - to become the seventh Maryland back to rush for 1,000 yards and the first since Chris Downs in 2002.

Maryland's offense can bog down when Scott struggles, as he did in rushing for 36 yards on 11 carries in a 31-0 loss at Virginia.

Scott said the team has kept his spirits up in trying times. After the running back fumbled three times in the first half against Wake Forest, offensive coordinator James Franklin loudly announced to all the players at halftime that Maryland wasn't going to stop giving Scott the ball.

Scott finished with 73 yards on 18 carries.

"The team kept me up. That's how I got through the second half," Scott said.

 

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Maryland offense vs. Virginia Tech defense: Virginia Tech has won 87percent of its games the past five years at Lane Stadium. The Hokies have won 14 of 17 games on ESPN's Thursday Night Football. They are adept at creating turnovers by pressuring the quarterback. Maryland will hope to get its short passing game going - screens and quick-developing plays - to counter pressure.

Maryland defense vs. Virginia Tech offense: The Hokies present a quarterback mystery. Starter Tyrod Taylor and backup Sean Glennon have ankle sprains and are questionable. Third-stringer Cory Holt will start if the others can't play. The Terps will be aided if LB Dave Philistin, their second-leading tackler, can play. He's questionable with a shoulder injury.

 

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Terps scramble to solve mystery


The seconds slipped away at a snail-like pace, 13 of them in all. N.C. State's Russell Wilson stood in the middle of the field. And he stood. And he stood.

It was the first mobile quarterback Maryland saw all season, and his multifaceted skill set almost dealt the Terrapins a costly loss Oct. 25.

And now Maryland might have to contend with another quarterback like Wilson just 12 days later.

Might.

The Great Virginia Tech Quarterback Mystery will dissipate Thursday, when the Hokies (5-3, 2-2 ACC) trot out Tyrod Taylor, Sean Glennon or Cory Holt to start against the No. 23 Terps (6-2, 3-1) at Lane Stadium.

Taylor and Glennon are both questionable with left ankle sprains suffered two weeks ago at Florida State. Taylor, the regular starter, is perhaps more elusive than Wilson. Holt, a third-stringer who moved to wide receiver late last season, is also quick.

It leaves the Terps in a tight spot - preparing for three quarterbacks, two of whom possess the same traits as the player who recently confounded Maryland's defensive line, ran past the Terps' linebackers and left defensive backs in coverage for an eternity.

"It's the fundamentals: Stay with your man while the quarterback is scrambling," cornerback Jamari McCollough said. "At the same time, when you know the quarterback likes to run, it's like a magnet trying to pull you. It's like, 'Is he going to run, or is he going to throw it?' The main thing is to stay disciplined."

It's easy to say but hardly simple to follow through on when it's something new.

The Terps' struggles with opponents unleashing speed on the perimeter in recent years is well-chronicled, and Maryland planned to constrict the pocket with a greater reliance on bull rushes against N.C. State. When it didn't work, it left Wilson with plenty of time to maneuver - a tendency the Hokies likely observed. "We had some schemes set up to contain the quarterback, but some of them made it worse," defensive lineman Dean Muhtadi said. "Live and learn. We're better adjusted to them."

Any schematic tweaks don't change the problems the Terps encountered when they lost containment against Wilson. If Taylor's high ankle sprain is almost fully healed, he could create havoc even if he can evade one or two defenders near the line of scrimmage.

Given the Hokies' reliance on the run - Taylor is averaging 83.6 yards passing and 63.1 yards rushing - containing a quarterback could be the most significant task facing the Terps on Thursday.

"We just have to keep them inside the pocket," linebacker Moise Fokou said. "I think this game is going to be a running game, a physical game. Pound, pound, pound 'em. Hopefully they don't get up like Florida State did to them."

There's also the matter of who will play for the Hokies. Coach Frank Beamer remained tight-lipped for more than a week on the subject, closing practice in Blacksburg, Va., and offering few meaningful details.

Taylor, a run-reliant sophomore who started the last seven games, is a nuisance if healthy. Glennon, last year's ACC title game MVP, is a more traditional pocket passer.

Getty Images Sophomore Tyrod Taylor is one of three Hokies quarterbacks the Terps could face Thursday.

Then there's Holt, a fifth-year senior who was 3-for-6 for 28 yards and a touchdown against Florida State in his first work at quarterback in more than a year. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder might be a hybrid of the two ailing players ahead of him.

"I don't think he's as fast as Taylor, but I think he's very athletic," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "I think Glennon can probably run pretty good too straight ahead. Holt is, I think, a combination of both."

That leaves plenty for Maryland to ponder as it begins its push for an ACC title this month. The Terps are playing their first game as a ranked team in nearly two years and know they need no outside help to lock up the ACC's Atlantic Division over the next four games.

What remains uncertain is whether they can handle a mobile quarterback in the season's closing weeks.

Muhtadi said facing Wilson provided an undeniable benefit. Then again, it's unclear how much it will help until the Hokies unveil their quarterback.

"We don't know who's going to play until we line up out there," McCollough said. "They can even be warming up and come out there the first play, and it's somebody you don't even expect. It's basically whoever's out there is out there and we have to be ready."