After Hokies "Whupped" UVA, Recruits Come Away Impressed with Tech's "Dominant Offense"

When you invite dozens of top recruits for a game against your hated in-state rival, a 52-10 final score is just about the best result you could possibly hope for as a coaching staff.

The Hokies certainly did not lack for motivation to beat UVA for the 13th straight year, but Justin Fuente and company had to know just how good it might look for Tech to lay the smack down on the Hoos with so many prominent visitors in the house.

"They whupped them pretty good," 2018 LB Dax Hollifield of Shelby (N.C.) HS told The Key Play. "You could tell their fans were excited to be playing UVA, and they were even more excited after the game after they whupped them like that. It was probably the best atmosphere, other than the Miami night game, that I've been to at Virginia Tech."

For players on the offensive side of the ball like 2018 OG John Harris of Hoschton, Ga.'s Mill Creek HS, Tech's high-scoring performance was even more impressive.

"Basically, they just dominated," Harris said. "They did whatever they wanted to do, which is good to see from my end. When you put up 52 points, it's always good to see that because you know you're going to a place that has a good, dominant offense."

Harris has gotten to see a pair of explosive performances from the Hokies this year — his other visit to Lane Stadium came as the Hokies beat down Boston College 49-0 in September. But even during his second visit, he found the team's entrance just as impressive as anything they did on the field.

"I'd always heard it was crazy when they first run out to 'Enter Sandman,' but seeing it firsthand, it was crazy just how loud everyone was," Harris said.

As a VT legacy with numerous visits under his belt, 2017 ATH Dazz Newsome of Hampton HS wasn't quite as surprised by the atmosphere, but was excited to see it nonetheless.

"They never have a bad day at Lane Stadium, it's always a good day," Newsome said. "Especially when they're playing a rival like UVA and they win by 50-something....The offense did whatever they wanted to do."

But for all the offense's dominance, 2017 RB Jalen Holston of Stockbridge (Ga.) HS said Justin Fuente and RBs coach Zohn Burden felt like the team's 289 yards on the ground weren't enough to match what the Hokies were capable of.

"The running game looked excellent to me, but Coach Burden and Coach Fuente were kind of mad because they felt like they left a lot of yards on the field," Holston said. "But to me it looked really good, and the offense looked electrifying."

Holston got plenty of time to discuss the running game with Fuente and his potential future position coach over the course of the whole weekend, since he was in town for his official visit. On Sunday, Burden even sat with him to show Holston how he could've helped the Hokies pick up those yards they might've left on the field.

"We actually broke down film from the UVA game that they'd played the day before, and he was just telling me that that's why they're recruiting guys like me," Holston said. "He was showing me things they could've done better and that he feels like I could do better in the future. And he was just talking about trying to get me up there even more, even trying to get me to commit."

Fuente was even more direct with Holston in the pair's roughly hour-long meeting before the RB headed to the airport to head home.

"Coach Fuente has always told me that I'm the missing key in the offense that they need, and he feels I could help take them to the next level, to a national championship," Holston said. "The recruiting class that they have coming in has a lot of offensive players and he wants me to be one of those guys that takes them to a championship."

But the Hokies' coaches could only go so far in describing what it's like to actually be a player in Blacksburg. That's where Holston's hosts, CB Greg Stroman and OL D'Andre Plantin, came in.

"They got to show me college life and how the atmosphere was at night after the game," Holston said. "Even though that was just my first time meeting them, it just felt like family. I felt like I'd known those guys for years. It was great."

By contrast, Newsome got to spend some time with actual family on the trip — his brother Deon is a backup rover for the Hokies. Yet the Maryland commit also got to catch up with Burden (his area recruiter) for a bit, and press him for details on when a VT offer might come his way.

"He said basically the same thing he's been saying for a while, to give it time and an offer was going to be there," Newsome said.

Turns out Burden didn't need much time at all to produce a scholarship for the younger Newsome — the Hokies turned right around and offered him three days after the game.

"I was pretty excited, I wasn't expecting anything," Newsome said. "They offered me as an athlete, so I can play wherever. But I think I'd fit more on the offensive side."

Newsome isn't quite willing to say the offer will change his status as a Terp commit just yet, but it's clear that Tech finally pulling the trigger will have an impact on his final decision.

"I feel like now I'm still committed to Maryland," Newsome said. "But it's a great feeling to know I could play with my brother, and one of my old teammates, Jovonn Quillen."

Now, he's planning an official visit to Tech on Jan. 20 and he suddenly sees his recruitment process dragging out quite a bit longer than he originally anticipated.

"I should end up scheduling some more (visits)," Newsome said. "So you never know what happens between now and signing day. I guess just stay tuned between now and signing day."

Holston doesn't want to wait quite that long to make his commitment, stressing that he'll "definitely be committing to a school before signing day."

"But my team is still in a playoff run, we have two more games before the state championship, so I'm trying to get it all figured out before the end of December," Holston said. "Probably the middle of December before Christmas."

He can't be sure that his trip to Blacksburg will end up being his last visit before he makes his decision, but it would seem that the Hokies did enough on his official visit to make Tech his team to beat.

"I'm still planning some, talking to a lot of schools, but a lot of schools would have to beat out Tech on their visit," Holston said. "I'd say that was actually the best visit I've been on."

For juniors like Harris, the timeline is just a bit different, but he seems similarly comfortable with the Hokies.

He says Tech first reached out to him in the spring, and he got to meet the coaches for the first time at one of the program's satellite camps in Atlanta in June.

"It gave me a good chance to work with Coach (Vance) Vice and see how he coaches," Harris said. "They just think I have really good feet and good footwork. I just fit well with their idea of what they want to build."

The coaches then convinced him to visit Blacksburg with his family for a small scale trip in July, and get his first look at campus.

"I loved everything," Harris said. "The campus was beautiful and the city was beautiful. And the food was really, really good."

Fuente then proceeded to offer Harris in person, and he came away especially impressed with his demeanor as a coach.

"He's really laid back when you talk to him, but when it's time for a game, he gets into it," Harris said. "It always seems like he's always positive with his guys, he's not negative towards them, which is really good. Because when a coach just yells at you all the time, it sometimes doesn't go over well with other players, so it's always good to see him teaching and coaching and just being positive with players."

Now, he's hoping to return to Tech for a junior day in February, with visits to Wake Forest, Clemson, Duke, UNC, Rutgers and "probably some others" also on tap.

Hollifield has a similar plan in mind. He expects to swing by junior days at VT, South Carolina and UNC this winter. But he has a specific goal in mind for his trip to Blacksburg.

"I like Virginia Tech's basketball atmosphere a lot, they get really into that too," Hollifield said. "I love basketball in general. I'd love to go up there and see a game. I went to the Clemson game last year and the atmosphere was crazy, they were going wild."

But it's no mistake that Hollifield tabbed those three schools for winter visits — he feels "pretty sure" they make up his top three. Though he plenty of time left to make his final decision, he thinks he's starting to get close.

"Those are the teams that I try go to visit most often," Hollifield said. "Those are the three schools I see myself playing at the most."