The BTN 2004 Hokie Football Preview

It’s a new season and new surroundings for Virginia Tech, as the Hokies make their way from the Big East into a conference against whose window their noses have been pressed for 50 years. It’s an apt season in which to do that, as this season would have been a change of pace by any standards. Gone from the headlines are RB Kevin Jones, CB/PR/WR DeAngelo Hall, WR Ernest Wilford and (for now) QB Marcus Vick; other contributors who will be sorely missed include unanimous All-American C Jake Grove (1st rounder to the Raiders), rover (SS) Michael Crawford, K Carter Warley and P Vinnie Burns.

So for the Fanblogs ACC crowd, here’s your chance to get to know one of the new guys; for my BTN Hokie crew, this is a not-so-quick primer on what’s changed and what stays the same.

The Offense

There was talk over the off-season about Tech opening the offense up, as we’ve seen for the past several years. As with the past several years, I expect we’ll see an air show against overmatched opponents (Western Michigan, Duke, Carolina) and a reversion to the old ways against the teams the coaching staff takes more seriously. Permanent changes will be incremental at best.

The discussion has to start with senior QB Bryan Randall. If he stays healthy, the Marcus Vick suspension will likely be a plus for this team; last November’s collapse was greatly aided by intra-team dissension over and the coaching staff’s mishandling of the QB controversy. Randall doesn’t have a natural passing touch, but he’s a smart player who doesn’t try to do more than he’s capable of. Perhaps his worst trait is a tendency to go ultra-conservative when rattled; the 2003 West Virginia loss was a case in point, where Randall got shaken up early, tried to play pocket passer and failed rather badly. He needs to run some to be comfortable, but due to the QB situation I expect there’ll be less designed runs for him this year.

Of course, if Randall gets hurt, our defense may well outscore our offense. Behind Randall are two true freshmen, Sean Glennon and Cory Holt (Holt will redshirt unless needed).

RB could be a Hokie strength, given time and good health. This year’s bruiser is junior Cedric Humes, stepping up from a split second-team role with fellow junior Mike Imoh last year; the question for Humes is whether the broken leg suffered during spring practice is fully healed. Second-string right now is yet another junior Justin Hamilton, a recruited RB who was converted to WR to get some playing time, then re-converted this year when Imoh received a three-game season-opening suspension. Look for Imoh to step back up once he returns, as the 5’7”/197 Imoh offers a quick, shifty change of pace that the Hokie coaching staff has been fond of in the past. If anyone involved is hurt, we could also see heralded true freshman George Bell step into the mix. Fullback for the Hokies is a primarily blocking position; neither Jesse Allen nor John Kinzer has distinguished himself so far.

The receiving corps is undistinguished at best, with the loss of Jacksonville third-round pick Ernest Wilford. VT needs a breakout season from junior Chris Clifton, a converted QB now at split end. Amazingly, senior flanker Richard Johnson has been passed on the depth chart by redshirt freshman Josh Hyman. Past them, it’s sophomore David Clowney, true freshman Eddie Royal (who will play quite a bit), and that’s it; you may occasionally see RBs Justin Hamilton or Mike Imoh at split end.

The offensive line returns three starters, but C Will Montgomery is moving from guard, attempting to fill the big shoes of Jake Grove. The line is large, averaging 6’5”/317, but hasn’t played much together as of yet, and depth is sketchy; this could be a problem as the season wears on. You will likely see more holding penalties out of this crew than in years past, as they’re all aware that their primary mission in life is to keep Bryan Randall healthy at all costs.

The Defense

Honestly, this group can’t get much worse than they were at the end of last year, after being beaten down by Pittsburgh, Boston College and Virginia, then deep-fried by Cal in the Insight Bowl. If anyone on the VT coaching staff has a job in jeopardy, it’s DC Bud Foster; his life will be slightly helped by not seeing nemesis Walt Harris this year, but he still has to face Rich Rodriguez, and adds Chuck Amato and Ralph Friedgen to the schedule.

There was talk of the defense shifting from the eight-in-the-box “attack defense” to a more traditional 4-3, but as of the USC game, the old defensive position terminology was still being used on the depth chart (one linebacker specified as “whip”, strong safety replaced by a “rover” SS/LB hybrid); the season will tell what changes are in store.

On the defensive line, we get senior DT Jim Davis back, joining brothers Kevin (senior) and Jonathan (junior) Lewis as a co-starter. Senior DT Jason Lallis appears to have switched to DE, but this is not confirmed; what we do know is that junior Darryl Tapp is firmly locked into one starting position at DE, and the other is currently in the hands of sophomore Noland Burchette. Foster loves to rotate DLs, so you’ll see a lot of Lallis, junior DT Tim Sandidge and whoever is odd man out of the Lewis/Lewis/Davis combo; Davis may also play some DE as necessary.

Linebacker is in a state of flux; senior Mikal Baaqee returns, but is being pushed hard by redshirt freshman Vince Hall. Beside Baaqee we have junior Blake Warren, also under pressure by redshirt freshman Xavier Adibi (brother of graduated Hokie and Steeler draft pick Nathaniel Adibi), and junior James Anderson at whip, which if the 4-3 rumors are true will lose some of its coverage responsibilities from previous campaigns. Last year LB was a trouble spot, and until proven otherwise it remains so; Hall and Adibi have good press and lots of upside, but they’re freshmen.

In the defensive backfield, there’s lots of shuffling going on. Senior juco transfer James Griffin becomes the rover (strong safety?). Senior Vincent Fuller and junior Jimmy Williams swap positions, with Fuller taking FS and Williams as a CB, which should benefit them both. FS allows Fuller to make up somewhat for his lack of speed with a strong football mind, while Williams frequently looked lost in space at that position last year; CB will allow him to leverage his speed in coverage and simplify his responsibilities a bit. Senior Eric Green returns as the other CB. Freshman CB Roland Minor is the only backup DB to have distinguished himself so far, which makes this a thin spot for Tech; with the heavy coverage responsibilities a VT DB faces, this could get ugly if injuries mount.

Special Teams

The placekicking group has totally shifted from last season, with sophomore Brandon Pace taking over FGs and PATs and true freshman Jared Develli handling kickoffs. Both will have to prove themselves to Hokie fans, as Pace only took the occasional kickoff last year (Jon Mollerup handled the majority of those duties) and Develli is a freshman. In punting, we have one more year to enjoy the skills of senior Vinnie Burns.

The return side is a bit disorganized. There’s no clear indication of who will handle punt returns, though Jimmy Williams probably has the best angle on the job. For kickoffs, true freshman WR Eddie Royal has been making waves in pre-season practice, though it’s likely he would at best share the job once Mike Imoh returns from suspension.

What It All Means

10-2 (7-1), with losses to USC and Miami, would be spectacular overachievement for this team this year. 8-4 (5-3 or 6-2), adding losses to (UVa or WVU) and (NCSt or GT), would be a good year, but I think 7-5 (4-4 or 5-3) is more likely. If Randall gets hurt early, 5-7 at best.