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2016 Hokie Football Preview - Change Brings Opportunity

So, here we are on the eve of another Hokie football season, although one quite different than we've had in almost 3 decades.   Because for the first time in 30 years, there will be no Frank Beamer on the VT sideline.    No need to rehash everything Coach Beamer has meant to Virginia Tech, the town of Blacksburg, the whole New River Valley region, or to me personally.   Everyone knows his legacy, and the good man that he is.  I've shed my tears over his departure, and he seems to be happy in his retirement, which he has richly earned.

Playing with the grandkids

Pedicures and milkshakes!

So with one more"Thank you, Frank", we'll turn the page to the Justin Fuente era.


Since arriving in Blacksburg, Athletic Director Whit Babcock has really had no missteps.  From facility improvements to the hiring of Buzz Williams, he's been a superstar since his arrival.  But one thing loomed large when he was hired:  everyone knew Frank's retirement was impending, though no one knew exactly when, and this athletic director was going to have to handle the departure of a legend, and even more prickly was the fact that said legend's teams had been on the decline for a few years.   When all was said and done, we really could not have asked for a more perfect scenario.  Frank, with his usual grace, announced he would retire at the end of the 2015 season, and did so on  November 1, in order to give Whit a headstart on the coaching carousel that happens at the end of every year.    By the end of that month, Whit had landed one of the biggest fishes available in the pond:  Justin Fuente, an offensive mastermind who had turned around a Memphis team that was at the bottom of the barrel.   A guy who is so lowkey and down-to-earth in his demeanor, he's like Frank 2.0.   Most experts ranked our hire as one of, if not THE, best hires of last year.


But, as if that coup wasn't enough, we got to keep Bud Foster too, something that rarely happens with a coaching change like this, especially when that coach is so closely tied to the outgoing big whistle. Needless to say, we Hokies should be thrilled and grateful to Frank & Whit for helping accomplish such a smooth transition.

So here we are, ready to kick it off against Liberty tomorrow - Game 1 of the Fuente era.    Coach Fu is a tad more secretive than the Beamer regime, so there has been very little seen or heard of practices, scrimmages, etc.    We know he runs an up-tempo spread offense.  We know Bud will take care of business on D.   But other than that, there's a lot of unknowns, and some big question marks at important positions.   Here's my preview of what to expect:

The Quarterbacks

The QBs: Jack Click, Jerod Evans, Brenden Motley, and Josh Jackson

This was probably the single biggest question mark of the off-season.  Who would be the starting QB?   We landed a big JUCO transfer, 6'3" 238-lb Jerod Evans, who had been recruited by Fuente while he was still at Memphis.   There was also fifth-year senior Brenden Motley, who had been pressed into a starting role last season when QB Michael Brewer went down in game 1 with a broken collarbone.  Motley had some good moments, but was inconsistent.   Neither separated himself from the other during the spring, and then late into fall practice, a surprise candidate appeared: true freshman Joshua Jackson began to impress, and suddenly we had a 3-way battle for the job.  Dwayne Lawson, previously heralded as the next big thing, was so far down the depth chart at this point, he transferred out to a community college.   On 8/25, just a little over a week before game #1, Fuente named Jerod Evans as the starter against Liberty.  Still, it wasn't exactly a rousing endorsement - Fuente wouldn't rule out any or all of the QBs playing, and only indicated it was for the Liberty game.   Motley and Jackson were both listed as co-backups.   So it wouldn't surprise me to see someone other than Evans out there against Liberty tomorrow.   Best case scenario would be this: Evans is able to make the leap from junior college to Power 5 without a hitch, and flourishes in Fuente's system.  Motley is there as a smart serviceable experienced backup should an injury (God forbid!) occur, and we are able to red-shirt the obviously talented Jackson.   Then we have 2 years of Evans, with Jackson ready to step right into the job in 2018, having had a lot of time learning this scheme.    Of course, the opposite side of the coin could be that the reason none of the 3 could separate was because all of them just aren't that good.   I guess we'll see starting tomorrow....Fingers crossed!

The Running Backs
We have quite a stable in the RB corps this year, even given the departure of former starter Trey Edmunds to Maryland.   Ironically, Fuente's spread will probably lean heavily towards the passing game just when we have a fully stocked RB cupboard to draw from, but these guys will still get their moments.   We'll start with Sam Rogers, a former walk-on who is just everything you love about a football player.  Hard worker, tremendous leader, does anything and everything on the field.  I love it when guys like this get their shot and work their ass off and make the most of it.  Plus, he's not beneath playing with Coach Fuente's adorable daughter, Charlotte, and her dolls.



Surprisingly, last year's breakout star, 1000-yard rusher redshirt sophomore Travon McMillian was not listed as the starter.    Coach Fuente seemed a bit disappointed with him in spring, but it sounds as if he's had a much better fall camp so I expect he'll be a factor.    We have Marshawn Williams and Shai McKenzie (doesn't it seem like these guys have been around forever at this point?) both returning from ACL tears (in Shai's case, his 2nd).   But one name I think is also going to make some noise this year is redshirt freshman Deshawn McClease.   The buzz around that one is strong.   In any event, we seem to be in good position here.

The Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Isaiah Ford

Bucky Hodges

So obviously in a Fuente offense, this is one of the most important positions on the field.   Luckily, we have one of the best in the country, junior Isaiah Ford.   Last year he had over 1100 receiving yards and snagged 11 touchdowns.   In this offense, those numbers should get even larger.   Enjoy him while you can, Hokies, cause next year you'll be watching him on Sundays.   On the other side, junior Cam Phillips is no slouch himself.  Though often overshadowed by the amazing accomplishments of Ford, he's a hell of a receiver in his own right and had over 500 yards receiving last year.   Between a pass-happy Fuente scheme and Ford getting a lot of attention from opposing defenses, I expect Cam to get a lot of opportunities this year.    And yes-I-know-he's-a-tight-end-but-really-he's-kind-of-a-WR redshirt junior Bucky Hodges.   I count this as a bonus because I really thought he was going to declare for the draft, but having these 3 line up on the field together is monstrous.  Bucky is in line to make a big payday from the NFL next year, and I think he is really going to thrive in this offense as they use him all over the field.  I think in the past he has sometimes lost focus and dropped balls he should have caught, but I think he is going to have a HUGE year.  Our problem comes with depth, because if something happens to one of those three, we have a huge drop in experience, to the point that we've added basketball player Devin Wilson to the roster as a WR.   One name that keeps coming up a lot is true freshman Divine Deablo - which frankly has to be one of the best names in all of college football.  He could be a star on the rise, though his inexperience may limit him early on.  Another name to watch out for is C.J. Carroll.  He's one of the smallest kids on the field (5'8", 167), but he seems to just have a knack for finding an open seam.  If he doesn't get killed, he could be a reliable possession receiver (i.e., a Willie Byrd type).   Jaylen Bradshaw was highly touted coming in as a recruit, and I'm hoping he finally takes a big leap forward as well.

With respect to tight ends not named Bucky, our #2 guy Kalvin Cline departed to Texas A&M so those who remain are unknown quantities.   Redshirt freshman Chris Cunningham was listed as #1 on the depth chart. In Fuente's scheme, this position may play more like an H-back role so it could be an interesting one to watch develop.

Bottom line: pray everyone stays healthy.

The Offensive Line
It's been a very long time since Hokie fans could say this, but folks, it seems we actually have ourselves a decent line.  Big, experienced, TALENTED.    This could actually be one of our strengths this year, when, for far too long, it's been our weakest link.    And Fuente, not one to give a lot of high praise, has been very complimentary of how this whole unit has gone about its business so far.  We  have 2 talented seniors anchoring the right side, Augie Conte at guard and Jonathan McLaughlin at tackle.  Former defensive lineman Yosuah Nijman has successfully made the transition to offense and is holding down the left tackle spot, and junior Eric Gallo mans center.   The one big surprise on the depth chart is that arguably our most talented offensive lineman, redshirt junior left guard Wyatt Teller, has fallen to 2nd-string behind redshirt sophomore Colt Pettit.    Teller seems to be in Coach Fuente's doghouse for some reason (a similar situation occurred last year).   It appears sometimes Mr. Teller may need a little extra motivation so hopefully this demotion will light his fire, because we need him out there.  When he is on, he is by far our best offensive lineman.   Bottom line:  should be one of our strongest units.

DEFENSE
Bud always seems to find a way to just reload rather than rebuild.   But last year's D struggled more than any in recent memory.   Injuries and inexperience led to some uncharacteristic torchings by opposing offenses.  That youth may still be a factor, and depth is an issue.   So once again... stop me if you've heard this before... pray everyone stays healthy.

The Defensive Front
Some good talent graduated - Dadi Nicholas, Luther Maddy, Corey Marshall - but yet we still have a potentially strong defensive line unit in place, as long as everyone can stay healthy.  Senior Ken Ekanem is back at defensive end, and he'll be joined on the other side by redshirt sophomore Vinny Mihota.  Where we really have some talent stacked up is at the defensive tackle position.   Senior Woody Baron has.   waited his turn, and by all accounts, is ready to take full advantage of his last year.   He's been very impressive and I think he will have a breakout year.  He'll be joined at the defensive tackle spot by another senior, Nigel Williams.  But the name everyone is most intrigued by is redshirt freshman Tim Settle.  He came in overweight as a true freshman last year, but a year in the strength and conditioning program has him ready to roll.  He is a HUGE athlete - 6'3", 328 lbs - but freakishly quick for someone his size.

Tim Settle could be terrorizing a lot of QBs like this

He has the potential to be the next great defensive lineman at Tech.   It wouldn't surprise  me to see him crack the starting lineup by seasons' end.   He's going to be a fun one to watch.

The Middle 
If the QBs were the question mark of the offense, then without a doubt the linebackers are the question mark of the D.   The days of Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall seem like a lifetime ago.   Last year Andrew Motuapuaka was thrust into a starting role last year probably before he was ready, struggled with an MCL sprain that he most likely returned too early from, and, based on a recent interview, was partying pretty hard in his off-time.  All that added up to some seriously bad run defense, where at times he looked completely out of his element.   Bud seems to have a lot of faith in him though, and he has apparently straightened out some of his off-field partying.   If he can step up his level of play from last year, it will be a huge plus for the Hokie D.    Bud's defense works best with hard-nosed backers roaming the middle.  Hopefully we'll see that from Motu this year.   There's also a potential breakout star in this position - Tremaine Edmunds.   He's another player getting a lot of positive buzz, and he just could be the breakout linebacker we've been looking for.

The Secondary
DBU wasn't very DBU-like last season.  We lost superstar Kendall Fuller for pretty much the entire season to injury, and he's off to the Redskins this year.   The remaining backs struggled with youth and inexperience.  This is another unit that has some question marks.   If redshirt junior Brandon Facyson can stay healthy, he's as good as anyone in coverage, but he seems to have been snakebitten by injuries for most of his career.   Senior Chuck Clark has proven to be a dependable DB so no worries with him.   Greg Stroman made the move over from offense, and has made it to first string on the CB depth chart.  He was burned badly and repeatedly in last year's East Carolina debacle, so hopefully we'll see some improvement there.  Another intriguing name is Adonis Alexander, who showed some flashes of great playmaking ability last year, but got himself into some trouble after the spring game and is currently suspended from the Liberty game.  When he returns, however, he may be another name to watch.   There's a lot of youth and inexperience though in this secondary, and virtually no depth, so how quickly we can develop the young guys here may be key.

The Specialists
Kick returner Greg Stroman has shown an explosive ability to take kicks to the house, but he has also had a tendency at times to dance around too much and not just go forward with the ball.   He can be a gamebreaker though.  Joey Slye has turned into a pretty darn reliable placekicker.  He's been pretty much perfect on field goals under 50 yards, but has yet to make one over 50....strange because we know from practice footage he's been known to boot them over 70.  But we can feel pretty good with Joey should we need a field goal at a crucial time.  The real question mark here is punter.  With the departure of AJ Hughes, one of the best we've had and we had him for 4 years, we were left with a huge void here.  This one remains a real question mark - Mitchell Ludwig was named the starter but no one seems to feel real confident about this one.   Hopefully with Coach Fuente's high-flying offense, punting won't be needed as often!

Fearless Prediction
So where does Coach Fuente end up after year 1?  As much as I want to think everything will magically fall into place, it takes time to install a whole new offensive scheme.   I think we may see some struggles early, and things will start to gell a bit more as the season progresses, but we have to be realistic.  It could be a year or two before he is really able to get the personnel he needs and really get the offense running on all cylinders.  Still, the offense has been so bad  for so long, there is really no where to go but up.   Our non-conference schedule is really tough, with the Battle of Bristol looming against #9 Tennessee (although they didn't exactly light the world on fire in their fluky overtime win over Appalachian State) and a trip to see Touchdown Jesus and play #10 Notre Dame.  Road trips to Pitt and UNC will be no picnic either; Pitt in particular always seems to have our number and they are a team on the rise.   But all that said, I will firmly put on my orange and maroon glasses and predict a 9-3 season, with victories over Liberty, Tennessee, Boston College, East Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Syracuse, and, of course, Virginia, and losses to North Carolina, Pitt, and Notre Dame.    That's probably aggressive, given a new offense and some of our depth issues, and the Tennessee and/or Miami games could easily go the other way.  But I'm going to stay positive and stick with 9-3, which just might be good enough for a return to the ACC Championship as winner of the Coastal division.

The Fighting Fuentes are ready to roll!  Go Hokies!  Beat Liberty!  And if nothing else, for God's sake, please beat Tennessee!

A word about Tim Russert

Tim Russert died today very suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 58. Just a note about him. If there's one thing I hate, it's the news media in this country. And if there's something I hate anywhere close to how much I hate the media, it's politics. Strange then how the death of NBC's chief political reporter left me so profoundly sad today. Here's why....in a world where the news media is all about sensationalizing and "creating" stories rather than reporting them, and where entire news networks exist to present news with their own political slant ("fair and balanced"??? Yeah, right.), this was a man who represented what is right about journalism. I think it's testament to how well he did his job that until he died, I never had any idea which way his own personal politics ran (in his early life, he campaigned for a Democratic senator from NY). He never seemed to be pushing his own agenda nor one of any party. The other thing I always enjoyed about him was how truly passionate he was about what he did, and also what a genuinely good down-to-earth guy he seemed to be. He loved his dad, raised a great son, and would've been a great guy to tailgate with, I think. RIP, Mr. Russert. Election Night 2008 will certainly not be the same without you.

DETROIT RED WINGS!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!

2008 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Vegas Baby!

Just back from 8 fabulous days in Las Vegas!! Stayed at a great Wyndham Grand Desert condo just a couple blocks behind the new Planet Hollywood casino (formerly the Aladdin). We could zip right down all the back streets to get pretty much anywhere we wanted to go. It was a really nice place. The weather for this trip was unreal....after temps in the 100s the week before we got there, it dropped about 40 degrees and was in the 60s when we arrived and even colder at night. The first few days we were there we were actually chilly which was quite unexpected! It steadily warmed thoughout the week but the only really hot day we had was the final Saturday when it got back up into the 90s

My friend Lyn and I arrived early evening on Saturday, May 24. Grabbed some dinner and did a little gambling at Planet Hollywood. On Sunday, we had found a way on the Internet that you could join the Wynn player's club and, by playing a certain game, win enough points for 2 free buffets without losing any money. We went over and decided to do that, but instead Lyn won $25 free play and I won two tickets to their Cirque de Soleil show, Le Reve! Those puppies were about $100 bucks apiece! We never did get the buffets though....LOL!

Sunday night we went to see Cher at Caesars Palace. We both thought the show was great!! The coliseum at Caesars has all this multimedia capability, and she used it all to the hilt. The show was kind of a retrospective of her entire career and she must've had about 20 costume changes.

Monday we hit the outlet mall for a while and then found this new shopping area down near that end of Vegas called Town Square...more of a local place than a tourist. It had several upscale restaurants that had great happy hours so we partook at the Yard House (world's largest selection of draft beer!) and this wonderful martini bar called Blue Martini. I had a Caramel Swirl martini that was absolutely out of this world.....vanilla vodka, butterscotch schnapps, amarula cream liqueur, and caramel. Ohmigod, it was incredible. Then did something I've always wanted to do...taken a pic with the Vegas sign.

Tuesday we hit downtown for a while...went a little further south downtown than we usually do and found some of the old Vegas neon signs that the Neon Museum preserves. Here's me with a couple of them:


And here's Lyn at the very divey downtown El Cortez with the slot machine she was obsessed with for the whole trip, Super Jackpot Party (I'm a Village People Jackpot Party fan myself):

Wednesday, Lyn was brave enough to join me yet again on another Harley motorcycle ride. It was looking doubtful because we had tried all week and the rental places were either all sold out or what they had available was a little too grand for me to be comfortable with. But we finally found one on Wednesday....a Harley Fat Boy! First we stopped at In n' Out Burger for sustenance and then headed up to Mount Charleston, the highest elevation in Nevada. It was amazing to start out in desert and end up in pine trees and snow....but boy, was it cold! Here's Lyn about 2/3 of the way up:

And at the top where we found the Mount Charleston Lodge...I love that they still had their Christmas wreath and lights up.


We stopped there for some refreshments before heading back down and then over to Red Rocks Canyon, which was a beautiful 14-mile loop drive. Here we are there:

Then we headed just a little further on to this little fake "Western" town called Bonnie Springs, which had a tiny train, fake stagecoaches, a petting zoo, and a bar. Very bizarre place. Here's me relaxing with a beverage (trust me, I would never drive a motorcycle if I looked as drunk as I do in this picture!) and one of Lyn hopping the stagecoach:


On our way back into town, we stopped at the Red Rock Casino...this place is fabulous. We didn't stay long because it was dark and we still had to get back into town on the motorcycle. By the time we made it back to the condo, we were dragging badly. We managed to get to Ellis Island for their famous 4.99 steak dinner, which is now 6.99. Inflations strikes everywhere! WE were so exhausted that I thought Lyn was literally going to fall asleep in the middle of her plate. It had been a very long but fun day.

On Friday, our friends Fran and Lyne' arrived. We picked them up at the airport and then headed to Mandalay Bay to a Mexican restaurant called Border Grill. It was pricey, but the food and margaritas were wonderful. Friday night we saw Barry....Fran, Lyn, and I had 2nd row seats and Lyne' was in one of the stage seats. I have to confess that I just wasn't too excited about seeing the show....mainly because I've just seen it too many times and I'm ready for a change. He is always great though. Afterwards, we went to the Top of the World bar at the Stratosphere for yet more martinis...here's Lyn, Fran, and Lyne' with the fabulous view behind them.

Saturday was our last day...after breakfast at Terrible's, we headed downtown for a while. Had a good time playing $3 blackjack down there but I was on a horrible losing streak. We had dinner at Benihana at the Hilton which was great (other than the totally obnoxious guy at our table) and then on to see Barry again. I have to confess...going in I was really not excited at all, but on this night, Barry really turned it up a notch. He was in a very silly mood and everything was just up on a different level than the night before. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Below are some pics of the big guy in action:





Had an early Sunday morning flight home. It was a great trip and we always have so much fun when we Broads get together!

One Year Later

IN REMEMBRANCE OF HOKIES:
Ross Alameddine; Christopher Bishop; Brian Bluhm;

Ryan Clark; Austin Cloyd; Jocelyne Couture-Nowak;

Kevin Granata; Matthew Gwaltney ; Caitlin Hammaren;

Jeremy Herbstritt; Rachael Hill; Emily Hilscher;

Jarrett Lane; Matthew La Porte; Henry Lee;

Liviu Librescu; G.V. Loganathan;

Partahi Lumbantoruan; Lauren McCain;
Daniel O’Neil; Daniel Perez; Juan Ortiz;

Minal Panchal; Erin Peterson; Michael Pohle, Jr. ;

Julia Pryde; Mary Read; Reema Samaha;

Waleed Shaalan; Leslie Sherman;
Maxine Turner ; Nicole White

First Renovation!

On Saturday, I undertook my first renovation on the new house...taking up the carpet in the living/dining room and replacing it with laminate flooring! First chore was figuring out which floor to choose...there are so many styles and colors, and it's virtually impossible to envision what it will actually look like in the room when all you have is about a 6" sample. I finally settled on a Pergo called Durant Beech. Last weekend, Mom, Dad, and I made our first runs of moving some furniture over to the house (a couple of couches, some shelves, an old console TV from my basement) and several friends and family came over for their first peek. My dear friend Chris and her kids and fiance' Rusty came down. Rusty just happens to do home construction and remodeling and very graciously offered to come down this weekend along with his nephew to help me put down the flooring.

Monday before leaving town for work travel, I lugged home 23 boxes of Pergo and unloaded it in the house so it could "acclimate". Unfortunately, due to a death in Rusty's family, his nephew had to travel to Ohio so he was left with a much more inexperienced crew....me and Chris. My parents came over and also helped, with Dad helping to pry up the old carpet tackboards and Mom on clean-up duty. Chris and I helped pull up the padding and then went around removing the old staples from the floor.

Here's a couple of before shots with the carpet:

Here's proof that I actually worked...check out my hot kneepads:
Chris got cocky once she learned how to run the saw! Here's a shot with all the carpet and padding removed....along with a portion of the 23 boxes I hauled in the house! And now....TA DA!....the finished product!
Rusty and part of his very tired crew....
I think it turned out GREAT!!! Many thanks to Rusty and Chris who worked way into the night...we were all exhausted. And Mom and Dad also.