VT kicker hits 70 yarder

[gcdevil22]

Let's start with the headlines of the day:

* Kicker Jared Develli, who's probably third in line for field goal duties but has long demonstrated a big leg as the starting kickoff specialist ... NAILED a 70-yard field goal today. It wasn't under pressure, but it was a three-step kick. An actual field goal, not a running-start kickoff. Impressive.

* For the first hour of practice, and the final 15 minutes (the only times us hacks can watch), Ike Whitaker worked exclusively as a wide receiver and again donned the maroon jersey, not the QB's yellow. Either he's just pouring himself into that role for a few days to see how he can handle it ... or the back-up job is between Cory Holt and frosh Tyrod Taylor now.

* Holt can handle it if the Hokies need him to be Sean Glennon's reliever. Holt seems to be pretty accurate through seven practices and was throwing a nice deep ball today.

* Tyrod Taylor might redshirt, but he's going to be a darn good QB at Tech at some point. He can make every throw a college quarterback needs to make ? right now. I heard someone mention the "Vick flick"? ... that effortless flick of the wrist that sends the ball sailing, made famous by the now-infamous Michael Vick. Tyrod's got a bit of that flick going on. Smooth kid.

* AND A FEW QUICK HITS: Rookie corner Chris Hill is the next great Hokie DB. He's raw, but shows some amazing flashes, including one quick break on a ball and a diving near-interception of Glennon. ... Speaking of Glennon, he was frustrated with a couple of misses today, but he clearly has improved his timing with the receivers. He's throwing tight spirals, on-time out routes and in-stride deep balls. ... I'd like to announce that I've challenged sports information director Dave Smith, who's about 10 years my father's senior, to wear his (thinning) hair in my trademark spikes. In the press box. For a game. I'm offering a crisp $100 bill if he's up to the task. I promise to post pictures.

* Now for the news you've all been waiting for: freshman offensive tackle William Alvarez is on campus. He is still tangled in what seems to be endless red tape, trying to get official word that he's cleared academically by the NCAA Clearinghouse. But he can practice up to 14 days without clearance. Surely it won't still be in limbo then.

Oh, wait ... we're talking about the NCAA here. Hey, Hokies, at least you know he really exists. I was starting to wonder.


*** FRANK BEAMER ON THE SITUATION AT RIGHT TACKLE: "I think Marshman's doing OK. I just think we need to find a couple more linemen. I think we're kind of trying different things. Beau Warren had a good day yesterday. Now we're looking at him a little more at center, and maybe even playing Shuman a little bit at guard. Curt's got a lot of combinations over there right now, but in the end we need to find about eight linemen that we feel good about."?

ON GETTING ALVAREZ ON CAMPUS: "I think he's in pretty good shape. He's missed about 14 hours of work, and then another 7, 8, 9 hours of classroom work. That hurts."?

ON WHAT MARSHMAN NEEDS TO DO TO GET THE JOB DONE: "I think it's all mental, and then get as much weight off as you possibly can. It's hard to do, because you've got to keep your strength up. When you're carrying around extra weight, that gets you in the fourth quarter. You're OK in the first quarter, but the forth quarter you run out of gas. And then mentally, I think just toughness. A day like today, it's hot, it's hard, to mentally get through it and have a good practice, that's a boost."?

*** RB BRANDEN ORE

ON WHAT KIND OF SHAPE HE'S IN NOW: "I'm good, man. Right back where I need to be."?

ON WHERE HE IS ON THE DEPTH CHART: "Same spot. That situation's going to take care of itself. I'm just coming out here working hard, and that'll work out."?

ON THE SUDDEN PERCEPTION THAT SEAN GLENNON IS THE CLEAR-CUT, NO-DOUBT LEADER OF THE OFFENSE NOW: "You watch him out here and he's making much better decisions and pretty much being that leader we need him to be. So we're riding with him, and we've got his back 100 percent out here."?

ON THE BENEFIT OF HAVING THE QB SITUATION STEADY, SETTLED AND EVERYONE BELIEVING IN SEAN THIS YEAR, AS OPPOSED TO LAST: "We can focus more on playing football, instead of worrying about who's going to take care of what. We know it's all set and we can just play football."?

*** OT WILLIAM ALVAREZ

ON BEING THE HAPPIEST GUY ON THE FIELD FOR A 90-DEGREE PRACTICE I N WEEK 2: "I'm just glad to be down here, get with the team, it gets me excited. But these guys have been here a few days. I guess when the pads are on, I might not be so excited."?

ON WHETHER HE'S NERVOUS THAT HE WON'T EVENTUALLY BE CLEARED AND MIGHT HAVE TO RETURN HOME: "Yeah, I'm a little nervous, but I'm coming out here with the attitude that I'm staying, that it's going through. I'm going to be all about football, and let everything take its course."?

ON HOW FRUSTRATING IT'S BEEN WAITING ON THE NCAA CLEARINGHOUSE: "Oh, my God, this has been hard on me and my family. I want to put it behind me. My boxes were by the door, I was ready to go. Every day that passed by, I was starting to get depressed. I'm hearing about all this football going on and I wasn't part of it."?

ON WHETHER IT WAS WORSE, KNOWING TECH'S O-LINE COULD USE HIS HELP: "Definitely, realizing line was a weak spot, and I was sitting at home while I was supposed to be an asset to the team."?

ON HOW HE PASSED THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS: "I would work out a lot, go out and try to stay busy. But nothing could really take my mind off it."?

ON GETTING THE CALL: "I was waiting and waiting, and when I got that call from the coaches, I threw my stuff in the car and we were gone."?

ON WHETHER HE'S GOTTEN A WARM WELCOME: "Oh, yeah, everybody's been real cool. Duane Brown and Marshman have been talking to me a lot, telling me what to expect and giving me a few tips."?

ON WHAT TECH FANS CAN EXPECT FROM HIM IN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS: "I'm going to work hard and do everything I can to help this team as fast as I can."?

[R0cketer]

The Vick flick....soon to be the Vick stick, when he drops the soap [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

In all seriousness, good report on Hokies....I still have fear of Glennon and leader in the same sentence.

[vikescoach]

Glad to see Holt is tepping it up...I still believe he can lead taht team. I've seen first hand what he can do, and he is an amazing athlete. I hope he gets some legit time this season.