Spring Football is in the Air

The Virginia Tech spring game is kind of a big deal. Last year 41,000 fans were in attendance according to the Collegiate Times. For the casual fan the spring game delivers the opportunity to tailgate with the certainty that everyone will be happy downtown afterward because no matter what we win. Not even considering the fact that this is the only football until September, it is a chance to reunite with people from college, grill out and party on a warm spring afternoon then enjoy ridiculously cheap drink specials downtown during the evening.

Honestly there is just something to Blacksburg when spring is in the air and the drill field is full of members of the fairer sex walking around in sun dresses with sunny dispositions to match the weather. With Dewey Beach travel still a month away this is the first time of the year to go to a big party outside, in great weather, without getting on a plane.

With all that said everyone knows that Virginia Tech is a football school with some of the best fans in the country and this is a chance to enjoy Hokie Nation's favorite pastime. There are quite a few things that I'm looking forward to seeing from the spring game.

Been far too long since I've heard Enter Sandman

The Program

The spring game is of course all about football, and it has become an increasingly important piece for promoting the football program. There is of course the basic aspect of the spring game, which is player development, which I'll get to later, but there are many things beyond that now. ESPN has even gotten into the game of televising some of these games which have transformed them from more than glorified scrimmages. Some schools such as Oklahoma even charge for admittance to these games.

The attendance of the spring game is a big indicator of the support a program enjoys. Reading down the list of schools that have the highest attendance in spring games you can see a lot of college football royalty in the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, and Florida with Virginia Tech in the the top ten most attended spring games in the country.

A quick look at the list and you can see that Virginia Tech has the fifth highest percentage attendance to capacity, also we are the only school on the list to have not won a national title. This is not to say that filling the spring game will bring a national title, but it is an indicator of a strong program. I'm sure when AD Jim Weaver sees the support of the fans it helps justify the financial impact of paying more salary to new coaches, and recent facility upgrades. Also more important to the future of the program than administration and media seeing the fan support is for recruits to see this support as the spring game is commonly utilized as a recruiting tool.

Recruiting

Recruiting has been described as the lifeblood of a college football program and the spring is one of the best times to impress. In the spring recruits don't have their football games to worry about and many high schools have breaks in which it makes logistics a lot easier for recruits to make the trek to Blacksburg. A ton of recruits go to spring games and for a good bit of them this is their first up close look at the campus and a chance to envision how it will be running through onto Worsham Field.

This year is an important year in terms of recruiting and battling with UVA for the states top recruits. The state of VA produces a lot of talent and this year is a great year for top recruits in state, with many of them having already visited Charlottesville earlier this month, and are headed to Blacksburg this upcoming weekend. Mike London can shed emotional tears and talk all he wants about how UVA is on the come up, but recruits could judge with their own eyes how much enthusiasm there was in their stadium the beginning of this month to watch an awful display of football.

LOLUVA

I have no idea how any recruit could move UVA up their list of schools after watching that game and I'm sure there were at least some recruits trying to match what Mike London has been selling them with what they saw on that weekend. The only point I could see as maybe being an attraction is that the play was so awful during the game a recruit could see themselves playing early. For most recruits though I hope that they want to come to a successful program to come to learn, compete, and hopefully earn a spot rather than being defaulted into one. With our track record of developing players and reports from spring scrimmages I'm looking forward to seeing a great performances from our players.

Replacing a Legend

Virginia Tech has lost arguably the best QB in program history, but this spring we have an heir to the thrown whom has been groomed and anticipating this moment since August of 2008 in Logan Thomas. The expectations of some fans has reached to unfair levels with some of that stoked by media comparisons to Cam Newton, but I would just like to remind fans that LT is not the next anyone but is the first LT and will make his own impact with his own style. LT doesn't have the shake and bake of Tyrod Taylor, but is very athletic with good straight away speed and if he's running down the field in his size 18 shoes he's big enough to inflict punishment (one thing to note is that apparently some of the kids on campus call him Thomas the Tank Engine). Another thing you will notice is that LT has great height which should make it easier to throw some pass routes that would be harder for a shorter QB to see over the offensive line. So far from all reports of the scrimmages Logan Thomas has had a really good spring especially in the last scrimmage this past Friday in which he was 9/16 for 214 yards with 2 touchdowns to Danny Coale.

I want to mention someone that has been overlooked a lot in the program but has been instrumental in the potential success of LT and this season. LT enjoyed the opportunity to have a redshirt year because of Ju-Ju Clayton and having that redshirt year is huge in the development of a QB and was a luxury that Tyrod Taylor never got to enjoy. Ju-Ju was also the one to provide competition to help push LT in the spring of last year and when it became evident that LT was the heir apparent Ju-Ju has been a great team player. It takes a lot of character to be able to accept a role that you don't necessarily want but stay on and help the team. During the spring game I'll make sure to raise a glass to the high character athlete that loves Virginia Tech football even if his turn to shine on the big stage might not come.

The most scrutinized player by fans in the spring game will be Logan Thomas and fans will generally judge their expectations of him by this game until we face Appalachian State. His performance in the spring game combined with previous practices will be a big part of the narrative on VT in spring preview articles and preseason polls. My guess from looking at previous practice reports is that he will put on quite a show and showcase the ridiculous amount of talent we have at WR.

Chart from What Do You Expect Out of Logan Thomas? article look at first year starters. I would be really happy with stats similar to Marcus Vick but with less interceptions

Best Group of WRs at VT EVER?

The one position group at VT that everyone should feel comfortable with is our wide receivers and I'm expecting to see a great performance from them. This year's group could challenge the talent we had in 2006 when the Hokies enjoyed 3 players that are now in the NFL catching passes for a living in Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, and David Clowney. This year Jarret "sausage fingers" Boykin and Danny "always open" Coale have a chance to etch their names in the VT record books for their career numbers and we all know how electrifying Dyrell "yurting" Roberts can be both at WR and as a return man.

Boykin and Coale could both beat the previous records for catches and yards by wide receivers. Boykins would have to catch 3 more TDs this season than he did last season to tie the TD record

Unfortunately Dyrell Roberts suffered a huge injury that is keeping him in a blue non-contact jersey this spring but should be 100% by the fall (the pics of what he's recovering from are not for the squeamish). Along with the proven guys there is also great potential in a pair of raising juniors who didn't play the position until college.

There are two up and coming junior wide receivers in Marcus Davis and DJ Coles who are physical freaks of nature that could make the spring game their showcase. Marcus Davis has almost unbelievable measurables at 6'4" 231 pounds with a 4.35 forty yard dash, 44 inch vertical, 345 bench, and 405 pound front squat. DJ Coles, the current holder of the front squat record for WRs at 450 pounds, has great workout numbers and size very similar to Davis as well. Football of course isn't played by just combine numbers and these guys have had to learn the wide receiver position in college while playing behind the previously mentioned proven trio of now seniors. This spring Davis and Coles have been letting their presence felt with Davis in particular challenging for more playing time after breaking out some late last year in the UNC game. Marcus Davis is one guy who has the potential to steal the spotlight of the spring game especially since the back-flipping, rabbit-catching star of the offense won't be at the game because of track responsibilities.

The Whip Battle

Last year the most maligned position group on the defense was the whip linebacker spot. There of course was going to be some letdown with Cody Grimm aka the "Death-Backer" going to the Buccaneers after the 2009 season but the 2010 season saw the position become a liability for most of the season and saw the position replaced by an extra defensive back a lot of the time as VT started using a nickle defense a good bit of the time. Jeron Gouvia-Winslow was the struggling starter at whip in 2010 and behind him was Alonzo Tweedy who battled injuries all year which limited him to special teams.

This spring Alonzo Tweedy and Jeron Gouveia-Winslow have been trying to redeem the position under new coach Cornell Brown. I specifically mention those 2 because they are currently battling for the #1 spot. I wrote in an earlier article how I would like to see Dominique Patterson challenge for the starting position but I guess you can't discount the experience gained for the 2 redshirt juniors. The strength of Tweedy is his speed (4.33 forty yard dash) which Bud Foster praised by invoking animal comparisons while JGW has the experience factor. It will be in something to look for in the spring game if one of them could step up and deliver a big performance.

Return of the Dominant Defense?

Last year was the worst year for our defense in awhile but we have a potential upgrade at every position next year. The Bud Foster led defense for the Hokies have carried the program over our time of ACC dominance and had been a top nationally ranked defense every year since 2003 except last year.

The 2004 season was VT's first in the ACC and also the start of the streak of winning 10 games a season. The 2004 season also saw a change in the defensive scheme.

Last year there were issues of experience and injury woes on the defense. There was of course the aforementioned whip issues but there were issues all over and one can look at the Boise State and Stanford games to see mistakes. We had a young defense last year playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores but that experience should benefit tremendously this year. I would generally have to say everyone on the defense has something to prove, but Jayron Hosley, including Eddie Whitley the only senior projected to start has been challenged by Torrian Gray to be more of a playmaker rather than just getting everyone setup in the defensive backfield. From reports of the practices a lot of the defensive players have stepped up.

One player that has stepped up tremendously in the spring and offseason in general is Excalibur award winner James Gayle. When Virginia Tech has had a dominant defense there always seems to be a dominant player at defensive end and one player that has been killing it in the spring is James Gayle. Gayle is looking to make a huge impact and has lofty goals to follow in the tradition of Jason Worilids, Chris Ellis, Daryl Tapp, Corey Moore, John Engleberger, Bruce Smith, and Cornell Brown (who currently assists the defensive line). Gayle had 4 sacks last year as a backup to Chris Drager, but has been quoted as aiming to have 10 sacks this year. I expect to see #99 dominate in the spring game and set the tone for this upcoming season.

Wait until 2012

The spring game gives a great chance to look at players that won't be seeing much time this fall but could have major contribution in 2012. The two players most scrutinized because of their great physical tools are Vinston Painter and Nick Acree whom have made progress this year but don't seem ready for the spotlight yet.

This is a critical point in Vinston Painter's football career at VT who will be a redshirt junior this fall. Painter is now at offensive tackle, his high school position, after starting out as a defensive tackle and then moving to guard. There is no workout warrior that can compare to Painter with his impressive numbers that include a 465 pound bench press and 485 pound squat. Early reports have shown that Painter has improved at what seems to be his natural position. It will be interesting to see how he does against the first team defense during the scrimmage and I imagine the coaching staff will be giving him plenty of time out there. Vinston Painter isn't projected for much playing time this year with DeChristopher being the starter ahead of him and Michael Via being the utility back up at center and tackle but could be contending to be a starter as a senior in 2012.

Nick Acree is one of the most anticipated players by Virginia Tech fans to turn the corner because of his impressive physical tools at a critical position. He passes the eyeball test as being what you look for in a football player and from his weight room numbers. He could be described as having tiger blood and Adonis DNA even after he slimmed down this winter after Gentrification. One thing to remember is that despite his weight room numbers he is still raw as a football player and has a lot to work on regarding technique. From the spring reports he still has work to do and might not be a contributor until 2012. To put things in perspective he is only a redshirt freshman this year, that missed his entire senior year of high school, and even Ndamukong Suh didn't start until his redshirt sophomore year. Right now there is a big need for depth at DT but for next season, unless there is a big improvement from previous spring reports, it probably will have to come from someone else.

Predictions

There are several awards handed out during the spring game for the hard work done during the spring and here are my predictions just based on the practice reports:

• Paul Torgersen Award (top newcomers during spring practice)
- Offense: Mark Leal; Defense: Detrick Bonner

• President's Award (players who demonstrate the most outstanding leadership during the offseason program and spring workouts)
– Offense: Logan Thomas; Defense: James Gayle

• Dr. Richard Bullock Award (players who show the most improvement during spring workouts)
– Offense: David Wang; Defense: Jeron Gouveia-Winslow

• Frank O. Moseley Award (players who exhibit the most hustle during the offseason and spring workouts)
– Offense: Danny Coale; Defense: Eddie Whitley

• Coaches Award (players who had an exceptional spring)
– Offense: Marcus Davis; Defense: Derrick Hopkins

• George Preas Award (MVP's of spring practice)
– Offense: Logan Thomas; Defense: James Gayle

• Don Williams TEAM UNITED Award (the offensive and defensive player who put the team first)
– Offense: Chris Drager; Defense: Barquell Rivers

** I'm down to bet a round of rails for anyone who wants to do put up their prediction of spring awards against mine

One thing that I can predict with certainty is that it should be a great time at the game and that I will be enjoying a few rails at TOTs Friday and Saturday.