Blogs

The BCO's All 20-Year-Team

From Drop Box

BOOM!

The other day, I was curiously* thinking about NFL free agency and in some roundabout way it got me to thinking, about the Hokies ... and my All-Hokie team. Over the last twenty years (since my freshman year in 1991) what would my perfect Hokie starting lineup look like? All of the guys on my team are all conference, but they aren't necessarily the best during that time, just my favorites.

Let me just say it pained me to leave off the following players, I loved all of these guys:
Tyrod Taylor, Jim Druckenmiller, Lee Suggs, Jarret Ferguson, Bryan Still, Antonio Davis, Cornell Brown, John Engleberger, Jim Davis, Jonathan Lewis, Jamel Smith, Xavier Adibi, George Del Ricco, Macho Harris, Ike Charlton, Aaron Rouse and Torrian Gray, but they just didn't quite make the cut. You might as well call these guys my second team!

Without further ado my 20-Year-Team ...

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

36 Days

I wonder what this guy will be doing on October 1.

Sad Clemson Fan

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

VPI WR corp

What an exciting offseason to be a Virginia Tech football fan! But before we can discuss the future, we must recall the past.

After a brutal finish to a great comeback season, large question marks developed about the state of the program. Walking out of Sun Life Stadium last January I couldn't help but think how embarrasing it is to continually lose on the stage of national spotlight (Kansas OB '08, LSU, Alabama, Boise, and now Standford!?). As I drove back to the hotel, instantly sobered by the dismal 4th quarter, I prayed that changes would be made. I am grateful for the continuity of the program, but when are we going to take the next step??

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Hokie State of the Union

   This is your State of the Union. Only, for fellow Hokie fans and the docket has one thing to discuss. Football. It may be that I’ve more fully committed myself to watching any news that arises from the Hokie Camp but something smells different this year, and it’s pretty thick. Sadly however I feel that so many media outlets are pulling the average fan into a whirlwind of information. This isn’t particularly bad as a lot has gone on but with each story this Shane Train is starting to board passengers with a ticket to the future. Great. We have more commitments than any other school currently at 22. A resurgence in rivalry has become of it with UVA vying for more and more top in-state prospects.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Putting FSU recruiting into perspective

It seems like a pretty good bet that, at next week's ACC media conference, Florida State will be selected as the winner of the Atlantic Division and overall ACC Champion. You can't really blame the voters, given Florida State's 10-win season last year and unbelievable recruiting haul.

Florida State is poised on reclaiming its role as ACC overlord and destroyer-of-worlds, right? As a former FSU player said, "...Not so fast, my friend!" History shows that, if the Seminoles are going to return to the glory years, it's not going to be on the back of their recruiting rankings.

     Recruiting Class Rankings (Rivals)

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Virginia Tech Leading the Way in Helmet Safety

Simply a wonderful article by ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook, that I think everyone should see.

For years, football players, coaches and the parents of young players have been in the dark about which of the many helmets on the market may reduce the risk of concussions. The NFL does not mandate helmet types, while many NFL teams refuse even to reveal which helmets their players wear. The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, which certifies sports equipment, has been AWOL on the issue of helmets and concussions. There's been no place for the player seeking helmet safety information to turn.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

ACC - Wins Since 2004

I was curious to see just how dominant the Hokies have been in ACC football since they entered the league in 2004. So, I went through the final standings of each season and put the wins in a spreadsheet. This is what I came up with.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Big WR Joins Virginia Tech 2013 Recruiting Class

 

     Wide receiver Thomas Smith, from Lafayette High school in the Bay Rivers District of Virginia, has officially committed to Virginia Tech.  Thomas chose the Hokies over more than a dozen scholarship offers, including Ball State, James Madison, Old Dominion, and Norfolk State.  An unproved talent, Smith finished with 27 catches for 558 yards during his Junior season after missing 4 games at Wide Receiver with a broken hand.  Despite this uncertainty that has kept Smith off the radar, his raw tools are undeniable:  he stands 6’4” tall, weighs in at 215 pounds, and runs a reported 4.53 40-yard dash.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Mascot Mock Awards

In preparation for the 2011 campaign I suggest we have a vote for the top mascot mocks of 2010.  Start by selecting the best for each week's mascot, then the top five of the winners.  Contest ends in three weeks?

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Could the Hokies Land All-World Athlete Stefon Diggs?

Editor's Note: Bumped to the front. What do you guys think?

Good Counsel star Stefon Diggs, along with teammate and fellow Virginia Tech offer RB Wes Brown and three others, visited the Hokies this past Saturday during the Hokies' one-day recruiting camp.  If Diggs' comments after the visit are any indication, he has begun to sense the magic around Blacksburg and the football program.

From The Washington Post:

One question that remains is the Hokies’ ability to land the nation’s top talent. According to Rivals.com, the last five-star prospect to commit to Virginia Tech was former quarterback Tyrod Taylor in 2006, and none of the Hokies’ 2012 commitments have earned the distinction either.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Alston Smith commits to VT

Per VA Preps, and confirmed through other sources, three star tackle Alston Smith, son of defensive legend Bruce Smith, has committed to Virginia Tech. Smith had offers throughout the commonwealth of Virginia, though UVA never came through with an offer. Smith has potential to play on either the offensive or defensive line at the next level, though you wonder whether or not he'll be pushed to play offense given the need for recruits there and the big fish still in play for the defensive line.

Smith is the ninth Top 25 VA player to commit to Virginia Tech.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Bruce Smith Wishes Y'All a Happy 4th of July Weekend

The only fireworks he needed were the ones he created in the backfield.

Our sincerest well wishes to everyone celebrating freedom and the anniversary of our beautiful America. Don't drink and drive. And come Tuesday if you haven't gained 5 pounds, well, you're doing it wrong.

*I posted this last year. I think it's appropriate to post again this year.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Schedule for next few years coming together- looks like we're getting another CFAKOG

Hey all- I was following some of the free articles over at Tech Sideline and saw that we are close to signing Alabama again for another go-round in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta in 2013. Just wanted to get everybody's thoughts because as a relatively new member I'm not sure what people think about us scheduling so many high profile games to start seasons.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

10 Weeks

Til the Hokies take the field for another season.

Gotta clean the grill and cooler.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Quillie Odom and Lorenzo Williams leave football team

Editor's Note: This is reported by BeamerBall.com.

Both will stay at VT to finish their degrees.

I feel bad for Odom, who came in as a highly-regarded recruit and just couldn't seem to get things together to contribute.

Williams had a nagging foot injury that certainly didn't help things. But I wonder if this necessitates adding depth at whip with the DP move to running back.

This opens up two scholarships for the 2012 class which, at this rate, we are probably going to need. Linebacker depth is now a MEGA priority, so come on Edmunds and Clarke. With Odom's move to DE, maybe this means that Marshall gets closer to not red-shirting this year.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

National Title Talk, Year 13

We are at the point in the year where students are graduating from college, as I did over 4 years ago, and going out into the real world. Of course these kids are now aspiring to do big things in life as no one wants to just be merely average. In that way I would like to segue to Virginia Tech football in which average has risen to winning the ACC and attainable greatness for the program is now the national title.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Some thoughts on the VT Spring Game from a Central Region High School Coach

I had the opportunity to talk to my friend who coaches in the Central Region tonight and he passed along some thoughts (all very positive) about the VT Spring Game. He attended with a couple of his players and here are some highlights of what he said:

- The VT Staff did an outstanding job organizing this event. In the past, recruits had, for the most part been on their own, but not this time.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Pages