The calendar tells me New Year's Day is in January, and the top of the schedule reads September. But for we the college football-crazed, the real beginning of the year comes in August, when official practices start, tickets arrive and a randomly cool Sunday morning fills the air with the scent of FOOTBALL.

And as most major world religions would tell you, when making a new beginning, it's important to own up to your failings. Hokie fandom is no different. So, meet The Key Play's contributors as we offer our confessions and humbly request the Hokie Bird's forgiveness, then share your own in the comments. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, you know.

via: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

Under first year head coach, and former VT fullback H.B. "Puss" Redd, the 1932 Hokies went 8-1. May I ask at what point in history fantastic nicknames like Puss finally ceased to exist? Their lone loss came at Alabama (angry fist shake) 6-9, the two teams first meeting ever.

So sometimes when I have writers block I like to drink a couple of beers and see where it takes me. What happened next tonight is I arrived at the metaphorical red light. Well that never happens to Hank Moody. So I ran it. I drank a couple more beers, mixed in some bourbon, some conversation with Mrs. TKP, good tunes and a little chit chat with y'all on the Twitter. Now normally by that time I'm speeding. I'm able to find a voice, some perspective or an interesting point of view. Tonight I've got nothing interesting to say. Only this, I want Hokie football now.

via: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

Trivia*:

1. Name the Hokie pictured above.

If anyone has pictures of general Hokie awesomeness that they'd like featured on the countdown email them to me (thekeyplay [at] gmail [dot] com). I'd appreciate it.

*The first person to leave a comment with the correct answer(s) gets a point. Each correct answer is worth a point. At the end of the season the most points wins a free tee from GameDay Passion.

Oh look, Ryan Williams just dragged another corpse into the end zone.

1. In ____ Don Strock threw 53 passes completing 34 of them against _________.
2. Who did the Hokies beat 34-6 to win their 100^th game in Lane Stadium?

*The first person to leave a comment with the correct answer(s) gets a point. Each correct answer is worth a point. At the end of the season the most points wins a free tee from GameDay Passion.

I mentioned a little while ago that the team was taking their summer workouts very seriously. Eighty players have been on campus this summer getting bigger, faster and stronger on Dr. Mike Gentry's watch. The BeamerBlog has been posing results of the top performers and it's evident they've been training hard.

Hello, I'm Eric (@BeerControl) and as Joe noted in a previous post, I'm the newest writer for the TKP. This is my 4th try to write this post. I've had more stops and starts than UVa football has had intentions to become relevant. Anyways, how best to introduce me to you... Oh I know, a question and answer session with myself.

Michael Cole the soon to be senior at Cave Spring High in Roanoke committed to Virginia Tech this evening. Coles stock shot up after impressive performances at camps and he ultimately selected VT over Penn State. He's 6'3" tall and weighs 198 pounds. Depending on how he matures he'll most likely play whip, backer or rover. Like most of the 2010 commitments he's an under the radar kid with high potential.

Ladies and gentleman welcome to the Tyrod Taylor show.

Trivia*:

Good morning, actually it's a fantastic morning. The first Monday of August. The season is right around the corner and as promised positive things are happening here. This is version 2.0 of The Key Play. Briefly:

Thanks VTjawo, magduffs

In a little more detail:

Over the last week or so you may have noticed there have been technical issues with the site. It has either been completely unresponsive, images aren't loading or the commenting system isn't working properly. It seems like I made the poor decision of choosing the UVa football of hosting companies. Until now I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but it doesn't seem like they are professional or competent enough to fix whatever issues they're having in a timely manner. I'm taking matters into my own hands and come Monday hopefully everything will be fixed. At that time there will be new positive news. Thank you for your continued support!

via: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

Trivia*:

1. Which Hokie clocked a 4.26s time in the 40-yard dash, fastest on the team, during off-season testing?
2. Which Hokie receiver led the team with 40 receptions in 2009?

If anyone has pictures of general Hokie awesomeness that they'd like featured on the countdown email them to me (thekeyplay [at] gmail [dot] com). I'd appreciate it.

via: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

In the mid-90's, George Del Ricco put his indelible stamp on the Mike linebacker position. Hokie fans grew very familiar with the sound of Del Ricco's name being called over the Lane Stadium loudspeaker as he was credited with yet another tackle. Del Ricco had 130 and 137 tackles in 1994 and 1995, by far the two highest single-season tackle totals for a Tech defender since 1987, when defensive tackle Scott Hill was credited with an amazing 177 tackles.

One of things I learned from watching the following video is nothing bad happens when you pitch the ball to Lee Suggs.

Trivia*:

It's November 2008. The offense is struggling. T-Mobile was sidelined in last week's loss to Florida State. Our chance to repeat as ACC Champions is looking bleak. Ranked Maryland is coming to town on Thursday night. Bryan Stinespring decided now's the right time to crack open the Wild Turkey to shoot some life into the struggling offense.

The Wild Turkey is just a badass name for a set of plays run out of the single-wing formation. The single-wing isn't anything new and can be traced all the way back to Pop Warner. What makes the Wild Turkey, or any team's Wild ________, so sexy is the quarterback is replaced by a playmaker. "THE KID WITH THE JETS IS GETTING' THE BALL, WE'S GONNA SCORE." That doesn't happen as often as play callers would like or fans think. However, because it's relatively simple for an offense to install, yet extremely effective at breaking defensive reads and keys, it's successful.

Let's get back to the game. Greg Boone (BOOOOOOONNNNEEEEEE) took a handful of snaps out of the Wild Turkey. Statistically speaking his performance was insignificant. Darren Evans went ham, rushed for a school record 253 yards and totally overshadowed the Wild Turkey's debut. However, the Turkey did help to resuscitate the offense. Both players and fans were energized watching big Boone hurl his massive body through the Terp defense. And at the end of the day, that energy level and potential is why I (and I'm sure most of you) love the Wild Turkey.

The Turkey was kicked in 2009. Possible reasons include Boone's sprained right sternoclavicular joint, the emergence of other playmakers, etc... That was unfortunate.

This season there's a plethora of veteran talent returning so let's take a look at the players who may command the Turkey...

via: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

On the second carry of his collegeiate career, tailback Cyrus Lawrence ran 59 yards for a touchdown. It would e the longest run of his Tech career.

via: 2000 Virginia Tech Football Media Guide - History Part 1

via: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

Smith was a four-year letterman and a three-year starter for Virginia Tech from 1996-99. He finished his career with 301 tackles with 27 tackles for losses, including six sacks. Smith was voted second team All-America by the Associated Press in 1999 and first team All-Big East Conference. He was a semifinalist for the Dick Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's top linebacker, as he led the Hokies with 89 tackles (52 solos) as a senior with eight TFL and one sack. He also led Tech in tackles as a junior with 99 stops.

Trivia*:

1. Which Hokie had 47 total tackles in 2009?
2. The Hokies played in their _____ game, a 47-0 win against James Madison in 1999.
3. The win against JMU started a __ home winning streak.

If anyone has pictures of general Hokie awesomeness that they'd like featured on the countdown email them to me (thekeyplay [at] gmail [dot] com). I'd appreciate it.

*The first person to leave a comment with the correct answer(s) gets a point. Each correct answer is worth a point. At the end of the season the most points wins a free tee from GameDay Passion.