Virginia Tech Football Preview: Dedication to offseason conditioning could lead to ACC title run

By Nathan Warters

Published: August 20, 2008

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech lost a lot this offseason.
Defensive tackle Cordarrow Thompson dropped about 30 pounds. Tight end Greg Boone lost 15. Starting interior offensive linemen Sergio Render, Ryan Shuman and Nick Marshman shed close to 80 pounds combined.
Many of the Hokies spent the summer getting in shape, something that coach Frank Beamer couldn’t be happier about.
“I think when guys are working like that, it tells you their intentions for the fall,” Beamer said.
Tech’s intentions haven’t changed, though its players may have tweaked their methods to getting there. Despite losing 11 starters and a kicker from last year’s team, the Hokies still expect to compete for an ACC championship.
“Not being brash or overconfident, but I would be disappointed with anything less than a trip to Tampa (for the ACC championship game),” Tech fifth-year senior quarterback Sean Glennon said. “That’s the best way to put it.”
Glennon isn’t the only one who feels that way. The Hokies, ranked 17th in the preseason Associated Press poll, were picked to win the ACC’s Coastal Division crown during the league’s July media gathering.
Beamer appreciates the respect his team is garnering, but “we’ve still got work to do,” he said.
Glennon is still battling sophomore Tyrod Taylor for the team’s starting quarterback job. The team has six capable running backs but no clear-cut No. 1 yet, and four of its top five receivers are freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
And the jury is still out on the Hokies’ defense, which will debut seven new starters when the season opens Aug. 30 against East Carolina.
With so many new faces on offense and defense, some might call this a rebuilding year for the Hokies.
“That’s what they said in 2004, and we won the ACC and went to the Sugar Bowl,” said Glennon, who was a backup quarterback on that team. “This team is similar.”
Offense is Tech’s biggest concern. Experienced players return at quarterback and along the offensive line, where four starters are back, but there’s virtually no experience at the skill positions.
That was a similar concern for the 2004 team, but by the end of the season, receivers Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan and Josh Hyman were reliable targets, and Cedric Humes and Mike Imoh were a dangerous one-two punch at running back.
“It may be a rebuilding year in terms of us being young, but I don’t think it’s a rebuilding year in terms of what you should expect from us,” Glennon said. “I don’t think there’s a game on the schedule we couldn’t win.”
The Hokies expect to make quarterback and running back decisions in the next week, possibly as soon as this weekend. Beamer wants to wait until after Friday’s scrimmage to make final evaluations.
There aren’t any tense starting battles on defense, but several players are vying for backup spots.
“I think the guys stepping into the positions that we replaced are quality football players,” Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “One of our biggest issues is going to be depth all across the board.”
Despite the personnel changes on defense, the Hokies expect the standards to remain the same.
Last year’s defense finished fourth nationally in yards allowed per game and third in points allowed per game. The two previous seasons, the Hokies finished first in the country in yards allowed per game.
“There’s going to be new faces, but it’s going to be the same old lunchpail defense,” senior defensive end Orion Martin said.
Martin was one of the many players who spent the entire summer in Blacksburg getting stronger in preparation for the coming season. For some, that meant losing some blubber.
The offensive line led the way. They were out running in the summer heat or pumping iron in the weight room.
“(Offensive line coach Curt Newsome) doesn’t want to see that look in our eyes when we come off after four plays and are huffing and puffing,” Marshman said.
“That’s not going to be a problem this season.”
Tech is hoping it’s not a problem for anybody else, either.
“If us big guys can do it,” Marshman said, “there’s no excuse for anybody else.”