Hokies notes

By Nathan Warters

Published: September 27, 2008

LINCOLN, Neb. — Redshirt freshman right guard Blake DeChristopher returned to Virginia Tech’s starting lineup Saturday night.
He missed two games and most of a third with a variety of injuries, including a bruised kidney and bruised leg, sustained after taking a jarring hit during the first drive of the Hokies’ season-opening loss to East Carolina.
DeChristopher returned to the field last Saturday against North Carolina, though he didn’t start. He played 48 snaps against the Tar Heels, and starter Richard Graham played 18.
“He did OK (against the Tar Heels),” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “It was good to have him back. He will make a difference on our football team. ... I like his toughness. I like his effort. I like his smarts. I think he’ll help our football team.”
DeChristopher said it felt good to finally get back on the field.
“It was real difficult (sitting out) because I worked all summer to come out here and compete, and then to go out there for not even a series (before getting injured was hard). I wanted to prove to the fans that I could play. I’m a physical guy, and I couldn’t really (show them),” DeChristopher said.
Morgan injured
Hokies sophomore starting rover Davon Morgan left Saturday’s game with a right knee injury with 10:40 left in the first half.
It was announced after the game that Morgan tore his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season.
Morgan, who had 16 tackles and a fumble recovery in Tech’s first four games, suffered the injury while returning a kickoff.
Junior Dorian Porch filled his spot for the remainder of the first half. Porch would likely step into the spot.
Block party
Tech junior cornerback Stephan Virgil blocked Dan Titchener’s punt in the first quarter, and the ball trickled through the end zone for a safety.
It was the fourth blocked kick of the season for the Hokies, and the 121st in Beamer’s Tech coaching career.
The Hokies have blocked at least four kicks in 18 of Beamer’s 22 seasons in Blacksburg.
The first time
Saturday’s game was the second meeting between Virginia Tech and Nebraska. They first played in the 1996 Orange Bowl.
In that game, the Cornhuskers, who finished the 1996 season with a No. 6 national ranking, led 24-21 in the third quarter before wearing the Hokies down in an eventual 41-21 victory.
Beamer, who is in his 22nd year as Tech’s head coach, remembers coming away from that game with a different understanding of what it took to be successful in major college football.
“I thought they taught us what it took to be big time that night,” Beamer said. “I think we kind of hung in there with them with our first group, but that second and third group that Nebraska had, that’s kind of what got us.”
Before last night, the Hokies were 109-35 with 11 straight bowl appearances since that game.
Nebraska won a national championship following the 1997 season and played for another national title in 2001.
Before last night, it was 102-41 with nine bowl appearances since last playing the Hokies, but many of those losses came in the last five seasons.
Hokies connection
Nebraska defensive ends coach John Papuchis graduated from Virginia Tech in 2001 with an undergraduate degree in business management.
The Gaithersburg, Md., native didn’t play or coach for the Hokies when he was in Blacksburg, though.
His coaching career started at Kansas. He was a graduate assistant there from 2001-03 while earning his master’s degree in sports administration.
From Kansas, Papuchis joined the LSU staff as a grad assistant and was there from 2004-07.
Savvy schedule-maker
Nebraska opens its season with five straight home games. It beat its first three opponents – all of which came from non-BCS conferences – by a combined score of 120-43.
Before Saturday, Nebraska’s strength of schedule ranking, according to Jeff Sagarin’s ratings, was 141st. Virginia Tech’s was 25th.
“(Nebraska athletic director) Tom Osborne is doing a good job with that schedule,” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “I’m going to have Jim (Weaver, Tech’s AD) talk to him.”
In fairness to the Cornhuskers, their five-game homestand to open the season included Saturday’s game against the Hokies and a matchup with No. 6 Missouri next week.
Extra points
Tech donned the same all-white throwback jerseys it wore at home against Furman. It didn’t wear the white helmets, though. Those were auctioned off after the Hokies’ 24-7 win over the Paladins. ... Nebraska’s famed Sea of Red crowd was speckled with black dots Saturday night. The Cornhuskers advertised a black out game, but there weren’t many participants.