Word just came from the Hokies 66-play scrimmage this evening that the Hokies defense got 10 sacks on 66 snaps. And, that was with both James Gayle and JR Collins sitting out of the scrimmage to do classwork. Either the defensive line will be unstoppable this year, or the offensive line may be abysmal. Let's hope it is the former.

Other notes from the beat writers:

Logan Thomas was 9-13 for 70 yards. Michael Holmes lead the running backs, and a little bird told me that Martin Scales may have passed J.C. Coleman on the running back depth chart... Coleman didn't gain a yard on 6 carries.

During spring football, hope "springs" eternal. Hope and expectations for the following football season abound, and any struggles can be dismissed as the learning curve that every college football team must endure as seniors graduate and future NFLers head to the draft.

Let the Countdown begin in earnest. See y'all April 21st.

Source photo: Josh D. Weiss Photography

As the Hokies start to ramp up spring practice, we outsiders have received trickles of information that have started us down the road of starting to formulate conclusions about the makeup of the 2012 Hokie football team. What are some of mine?

On Oct 21, 1892 W.E. Anderson, despite playing right tackle, scored the first touchdown for Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College ever. Coached by Professor Ellison A. Smyth, the VAMC football players beat the St. Albans football team 14-10. These forefathers of Hokie football purchased their own equipment and had a hard time finding enough people to man a team to play on a wheat field carved out by plow. As hard as it was to get started, this was the beginning of something that 120 years later we sit here anticipating the tidbits of news from the first day of spring practice.

As we stand on the eve of another spring football season, I resign myself to worry about the Hokies. I worry that the linebacker depth has evaporated. I worry that all the moves in the secondary rob Peter to pay Paul. I worry about offensive line continuity and new running backs. And, I worry about finding punters, place kickers, returners, and guys who can make things happen in coverage.

But, it is the promise of expectation and potential which brings us back every year and lets us hope to dream the impossible dream. And, when I look at the Hokies roster this spring, the thought of Mark Shuman and Laurence Gibson winning jobs on the left side of the offensive line gives me something to aspire to hope for.