Virginia Tech's Improved Offensive Line Brings "The Hammer"

Bud Foster's vaunted defense has its lunchpail, Frank Beamer's special teams have "Pride and Joy", and now, thanks to starting right guard Augie Conte, the Virginia Tech offensive line has the "hammer".

A meat tenderizer of sorts dreamed up by Conte, the hammer is awarded weekly to the offensive lineman who worked the hardest in the previous week of practice.

Running backs coach Shane Beamer wasn't sure who possessed the hammer for the Furman game on Saturday, but he was willing to hazard a guess.

"I'm guessing Wyatt (Teller) won it?," Beamer asked.

Judging by the photo above taken by The Key Play's Mark Umansky, it appears Beamer was correct.

"We spend more time in the running backs meeting watching Wyatt than probably our own selves," Beamer joked, clearly impressed with the aggressiveness that the sophomore brings to the table.

Junior fullback Sam Rogers, notorious for his own unrelenting work ethic, couldn't agree more with Beamer.

"Wyatt's an animal, to say the least," said Rogers. "That's basically all you can say. You watch him on film and he's just an animal."

And while Teller may have been briefly demoted to second-string by offensive line coach Stacy Searels during preseason camp, the Hokies' left guard is clearly back in Searels' good graces.

"Wyatt Teller this past week had 7 pins and 19 knockdowns," said Searels. "I've never had a kid do that well. He's the most productive lineman we've got right now."

But the improved offensive line, which paved the way for nearly 600 yards of offense on Saturday, is more than just a one-man show.

"This past weekend was a challenge to play with better technique, to play with better effort," said Searels. "Regardless of your opponent, if you play with good technique, if you play with good effort, if you trust your fundamentals, you should get the results we want. I think they really worked at it. Jon McLaughlin got much better... Yosuah (Nijman) got better. Wyatt got better with his steps. The whole process was better. People say 'well, it's because you played Furman.' Well Furman's a good football team. We're gonna play better talent, but if (we) keep the same techniques, play with tremendous effort, it should work out."

It's notable that Searels singled out Nijman, a former defensive lineman receiving his first career snaps on the offensive side of the ball. And while Nijman is far from a finished product, Searels remains exceedingly optimistic about the true freshman's future at Virginia Tech.

"He's playing a lot. We're just trying to get him comfortable out there," said Searels. "He's doing a good job. He's a raw talent and he's going to learn, going to better technique-wise. He's a competitor."

One byproduct of the stronger play up front has been an improved running game, a positive that offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler hopes the Hokies continue to build on.

"We're a heck of a lot more consistent than we've been," said Loeffler. "But obviously you're always striving to be perfect. I think the backs are running hard. I think our line is doing a much better job. The quarterbacks are getting us in and out of plays. We're blocking the perimeter better, not perfect, but better. Running the football is a group deal, it's a team deal. We're just playing better."

And with Shai McKenzie returning to the mix, Shane Beamer has more tough decisions ahead of him regarding how he will divvy out playing time to multiple talented tailbacks.

"We've got a highly competitive room," said Beamer. "We talk about our defensive line on this team and that's a good group, but I really like the group that we have in our room from a depth standpoint and the amount of talent that we have in that room. It's a really, really good group."

But with the extreme angst surrounding the running back rotation within Hokie Nation over the past several years, Beamer understands playing four running backs isn't really practical.

"Shai, we'd like to be able to increase his reps. But we also know it's not realistic to play four, five running backs in a game," said Beamer. "I don't think anybody played more than 20, 25 plays the other day. But we'll see how practice goes each week and then every Saturday we're gonna do what gives us the best chance to be successful."

Beamer did note his entire running back room needs to bounce back from a performance against Furman that left him less than impressed.

"Disappointed with some things on Saturday. We had close to 600 yards of offense, but I don't feel like we played very well at the running back position," said Beamer. "I think overall as a group, we just could have been better without the ball in our hands. We had a couple protection busts in the third quarter which is inexcusable. We can't have that...And that goes back to me as a coach, it's my responsibility to get them ready and for whatever reason...from a mental standpoint, a couple things we missed was concerning."

Beamer echoed those sentiments as media availability wrapped up on Monday when he was asked if the running back room would be creating some kind of trophy in response to the offensive line's new hammer.

"We gotta pick up blitzing linebackers before we start worrying about handing out trophies in our room," Beamer joked, clearly ready to get back to work.

Additional Quotes

Frank Beamer

ON MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY:

"First thing I really want to talk about is honoring our servicemen there on Saturday. I think a special time to honor them, and I like the fact we did and it's just something small that we can do here at Virginia Tech. The military being a big, strong influence here, I just thought it was a special day. I appreciate everything that went on there."

ON WHERE THE HOKIES ARE WITH WR DEPTH:

"About where we were. I think it's a work in progress right now. I think those first two are really good. I think Hodges, Malleck and Cline, I think I may have talked about this Saturday, but they give you a special deal as a receiver. They're good enough, athletic enough to be a receiver out wide and tough enough to block inside. Then I think we'll keep working. (Kevin) Asante's got toughness, made a nice catch there the other night I believe. Just got to keep working."

ON THE POSSIBILITY THAT A 3RD OPTION AT WR DOESN'T EMERGE:

"Well, I think it kind of gets back to the game plan. Hopefully some guys are going to come through, and if they don't I think we've got to start game planning a little bit to save those guys."

ON DWAYNE LAWSON:

"I think he's a terrific talent. I think the first thing you go into a game and say, 'OK, how can we win it?' This week is, you're just trying to go there and win a football game and how can he help you win it? It's not like, 'let's go get him some reps.' It's how can he help us win a football game? I think it's a little bit different than just getting a guy in the game."

ON THE OFFENSE IN GENERAL:

"We got a couple things going. I think we've got an offensive line that's as athletic as we've had in some time and tough. I think we'll get better each and every week. Coach Searels does a great job. I think we've got the right kind of kids there. They want to get after it. Wyatt Teller, he plays the game in my opinion the way you want to play it. He looks like an offensive lineman and he's got the toughness and aggressiveness you like to see in an offensive lineman. I think we got good backs. I think that goes without saying. I think Travon McMillian has brought something to the table also along with the other backs that we already had. I think our receivers help us because those young guys, and Hodges and Malleck, I think it's hard to leave them one-on-one. I think it all kind of fits together when you're attacking people. The quarterback, of course that's the element right now, how's he going to be this week? But I didn't think he flinched last week...I don't think he'll flinch this week out in Indiana.

Isaiah Ford

ON IF HE THINKS MICHAEL BREWER WILL RETURN:

"Yes sir, I think so. If anyone can come back, it's Michael Brewer. He's the toughest player I've ever been around. He's taken some really tough hits this year and last year, and he's bounced back from them. I think he'll bounce back from this one."

ON PLAYING WITH A NEW QB:

"Like you said, it was a quick turnaround. But at the same time, he's (Brenden Motley) a scholarship athlete as well, so we expected him to perform at a high level. We knew we would have to elevate our game because he hasn't been taking as many first-team reps as Brewer did. We knew it was going to be a little bit of a difference, but not that much. We still expected the same thing, to come out and execute."

ON FINDING A 3RD WR:

"We're still looking, more so for consistency. In the receiver room, we have a lot of talent in there. It's just paying attention to the details and little things that can cause wins and losses. As we (saw) last year, there was a couple of games, I think we lost six, four or five of those games we lost because of minor details."

Scot Loeffler

ON DWAYNE LAWSON AND THE QB PLAN AGAINST FURMAN:

"We were gonna put Lawson in like we did. We were gonna insert him early in the game, especially whenever the game was significant. I think it's really important that a younger guy gets in there when it's real, whenever the games tied or what have not to gain some experience. But were we gonna overload him in those situations? Absolutely not. Our plan was once the game was in hand to get him as many reps as we can and get (Chris) Durkin in there too."

ON WHAT MADE LAWSON THE SECOND OPTION AT QB:

"There were probably some things that were out of Chris (Durkin's) control. He was banged up and what have not. We're gonna take that from week to week and just see where we're at."

ON CHRIS DURKIN:

"He did a really nice job of running the football. I was proud of him. It was good to get him in there and get him some experience. It was good. There were some really positive things that you saw out of Chris which was great."

ON DEPTH AT RECEIVER:

"We're gonna play our best players out there. That's what we're doing right now. We're letting those other guys develop and they're gonna get in there. But we want to make sure that every guy that's stepping on that field knows what they're doing inside and out. As you keep going in this thing, the games get bigger and bigger and bigger. Obviously this one's a really big football game for us...As we go in this deal, some of the mistakes that we made in this game can't happen in this (next) game because we'll be in a totally different situation. It's really important that we know what we're doing, doing our job. We're going to put those guys on the field that we know can get that done."

ON THE FITNESS OF ISAIAH FORD:

"Isaiah's in great shape now. It's a different deal now, with him. Isaiah Ford can play an entire football game. He couldn't last year. I mean he was 175 pounds soaking wet. He was a freshman. I thought last year was ridiculous. Isaiah Ford's a different cat now. He's a bigger, stronger, more experienced guy that can play a lot of snaps. I'm not worried about Isaiah right now. Not half as concerned as we were last year."

ON KEVIN ASANTE AND THE BACKUP RECEIVERS:

"He's doing good. They're all doing well. They're developing. They're getting better and their time is gonna come. We know their time is gonna come."

Stacy Searles

ON THE HAMMER/MEAT TENDERIZER:

"The meat tenderizer? I think Augie came up with that. And that's something, these kids, they started back in January. And they made some goals for themselves. I think the units closer than it's been at least since I've been here. They're trying to push each other and they compete for that. They award that to one another each week by the way they practice, not necessarily the way the game goes, but the way they practice."

Shane Beamer

ON HEALTH OF MARSHAWN WILLIAMS:

"He's doing everything he can from a rehab standpoint. Every time I look out my window he's doing something out there on the practice field with our training staff. He's rehabbing. He's really attacked that well. From a rehab standpoint, he's working hard. Doing everything he can to get back. He's a little bit farther behind than Shai just because of when the injuries occurred last year, but he's doing everything he can. Hopefully we can get him 100% healthy and we'll see where things are at that point."

ON WHAT MARSHAWN WILLIAMS IS FOCUSED ON:

"During the day, he's rehabbing in the training room. During practice, he's with Coach Gentry with all of our injured guys. And he's standing over with us getting mental reps. And that's more just really trying to attack the rehab. Back in August during preseason camp, he was practicing without contact. He's still doing that a little bit, but we've really been attacking the rehab and the conditioning part of it as well. He knows what to do. Marshawn's a smart kid. It's more important for him to be doing conditioning stuff and extra conditioning during practice with Coach Gentry and his staff than it is standing next to me and watching us run the inside zone. He knows what to do there."

ON THE RUNNING BACKS:

"The conversation I had with those guys is 'we got a highly competitive room and we need to make sure we're all on top of our games from a mental standpoint and the guys that are doing things right throughout the week and during games with and without the ball are the ones that are gonna play.' Having said that, I liked what Shai brought to the table. Would have liked to get him a couple more carries. We were taking Travon McMillian out. Sam (Rogers) had come out. Trey and J.C. had come out. So Shai was really our only running back left and we were running a lot of the jet sweep stuff to get the quarterback, let Dwayne (Lawson) run the ball a little bit. But that's not really Shai's thing. He at least got an extra conditioning session out of it during the game with all the running that he did back and forth without getting the ball from side-to-side. So that was good. He's gotta get in shape. But I do like the way that he ran. He ran with the same physicalness that he usually does and that was good to see."

ON TRAVON MCMILLIAN:

"Travon's just got, he's a very smart kid first of all. He's worked really hard at the running back position since he came over there last year. He knows what to do. He catches the ball well. He just does a lot of things naturally. One play that stands out to me was on their sideline the other day, we threw a little swing pass to him, jumped up in the air, made a guy miss kind of in one motion and then hit a burst down the sideline for what should have been no-gain was a 10-yard gain for us."

Sam Rogers

ON ISAIAH FORD:

"He's an incredible specimen, I will just say that. He worked this offseason, him and Cam (Phillips), they'll have these oxygen masks on just working trying (to) increase their stamina. They're just really hard workers and fun to be around. That's why I love this team. There's so many people that you can look to and draw inspiration from to just keep working hard."