First Scrimmage Thoughts

via Mike Barber

A defense dominate enough to make you feel nervous and insecure about the offense, that's Virginia Tech football in April. The headlines are usually the same this time of year. Avid fans know what the offense is working with right now —four new starters on the o-line, rookie tailbacks, veteran-ish receivers and tight ends— but I think we gloss over what that means. It's going to look ugly now. A flawless closing night performance doesn't come right after casting. There's rehearsal, and boy does this group ever need that. There's a lot of talent on offense, what remains to be seen is if they gel, and that doesn't happen overnight.

Misleading statistic that you've probably heard 100 times: 11 sacks in 85 plays. That was mostly the second- and third-team offense getting worked. It's also important to note the defense has their blitz package in.

"A lot of people don't let the defense blitz on the first scrimmage," Beamer said. "We go the other way — blitz, learn from it on video. Then, next time we'll pick it up better, and we'll pick it up better when we're working with two groups as opposed to three groups, or third team guys that don't quite know what they're doing."

However, I can't downplay Brent Bennedict getting pantsed by Luther Maddy, who Bud Foster noted was one of the most improved players on the defense. The skinny on Bennedict was he couldn't pass block in space, but there was hope he'd be superb inside at guard. We'll see.

After another fantastic scrimmage (lone pick on LT), and overall strong spring, Ronny Vandyke is pushing for serious playing time this fall.

"He's a kid who can run," Foster said. "But he's got size. He's close to 6-4, 215 pounds. Having a long body in the flat or getting underneath throws on the corner routes and things of that nature. But he can rush the passer, he's a physical kid in the run game. And he has coverage-ability. So I think he's a complete package for us."

Straight up, he can be a playmaker at Whip. Tweedy stood out with 5 solo tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. It's going to be a battle once G-W is 100% and back in the thick of it.

Marcus Davis, an annual spring stud, caught three balls for 56 yards Saturday. We need him to be a consistent beast this fall. Hopefully he's improving on the little things: blocking, running tight routes, etc...

The offense is indeed becoming more spread-ish. "Receiver motion, tailback lines up behind Thomas and Randall Dunn lines up as an h-back?" Keep in mind the offensive staff met with former Boise offensive coordinator and present Texas coordinator Bryan Harsin. On a subsequent trip Shane Beamer met with Major Applewhite.