A Look Ahead: Virginia Tech vs. Maryland

By Justin Cates

Things finally came together on offense in the Hokies 42-24 upset win over the Miami Hurricanes.

After turning the ball over eight times in the previous two games, quarterback Logan Thomas was nearly flawless in Miami Gardens completing 25-of-31 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns.

Thomas added another 42 yards on the ground, but for one of the few times this season he wasn't the Hokies' primary running threat.

Redshirt freshman Trey Edmunds exploded with 14 carries for 74 yards and four touchdowns while sophomore J.C. Coleman tallied 22 carries for 68 yards.

Tech also has two breakout receivers in Willie Byrn and Josh Stanford.

Byrn has impressed with his toughness and speed all season, but the light didn't fully come one for Stanford until the last two games.

Against Boston College Stanford finished with 171 yards and the 'Canes were burned for 107 including a magnificent tackle-breaking run on a 32-yard touchdown.

The Hokie offense presented a balanced attack that both exposed weaknesses in the Miami defense and showed what the Tech unit is capable of when not turning the ball over. The trick is maintaining the momentum.

It won't be easy with major questions surrounding Tech's already shaky kicking game.

Kicker Cody Journell was dismissed from the team this week ending his bizarre four and a half year odyssey of occasional on field brilliance and off field stupidity.

That leaves the Hokies (7-3, 4-2 ACC) with no kickers on the roster who have made a field goal in a college game. Ethan Keyserling kicked against Marshall earlier this season but missed three kicks in the rain.

He'll likely get the start but Michael Branthover, Mitchell Ludwig and freshman walk-on Eric Kristensen all got a look in practice this week.

Senior day in Blacksburg will see Tech's senior corners on the sidelines as both Kyle Fuller (groin) and Antone Exum (ankle) won't dress Saturday.

Thankfully for the Hokies, corner is the deepest spot on the team and freshmen Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson will start in their places.

They will face a Maryland (5-4, 1-4 ACC) team that has hit a major wall in the second half of this season.

After starting 4-0, the Terrapins have dropped four of the last five with only a one point win over Virginia in that span.

Talented quarterback R.J. Brown just hasn't been the same since suffering a concussion in a 63-0 loss at Florida State, but there aren't many healthy bodies to throw to right now.

Five wide receivers are out for this game including leading receivers Stefon Diggs and Deon Long.

That makes it tempting to lean on the running game and tailback Brandon Ross, but it's a tall order against a Tech run defense currently ranked fourth in the nation.

The Hokies have to win out if they want a chance to make it to the ACC Championship game in Charlotte. They need help too, but a loss to Maryland or Virginia will spell disaster.

An early season match up between these two teams would have looked a lot different. A healthy Maryland offense would have presented an interesting challenge for the Hokies.

As it stands now, it should be a happy senior day in Lane Stadium.

Comparing Notre Dame and Virginia Tech's Recent Draft History

By Justin Cates

Just like recruiting in college, you can never be sure of the success of an NFL Draft class until years down the line.

However, initially the 2013 draft is a reflection of last season when Notre Dame broke out in a positive way and the Hokies fell flat on their collective faces.

The Irish had 6 players selected this year—the most since 2007—while Virginia Tech had only two players picked.

The first Hokie wasn't taken until the sixth round with pick 171—the lowest the first Tech player has gone off the board since 1993 when no Hokies were drafted.

A number of the undrafted players agreed to free agent deals with various teams just moments after the final pick was made Saturday, but today we're looking at the draftees.

Earlier in the week Brian pointed out a note from NFL.com writer Gil Brandt pertaining to the most successful college programs in terms of players drafted.

Corey Fuller hopes to add depth to the receiving corps in Detroit.

Not including this class, both Virginia Tech and Notre Dame have seen 50 players selected since 2001.

Currently, there are 34 Irish alumni and 27 Hokies on NFL rosters though of course this will likely change a good bit in the coming months.

Still, the numbers give us an interesting look at one of the similarities of two programs that few people would make a connection between apart from Brian and I.

That will change soon with the announcement that Virginia Tech will travel to play Notre Dame in South Bend in 2016.

Tight end Tyler Eifert was the first Irish player selected with Pick No. 21 (Cincinnati) 

It will mark the first meeting between the schools in football and it comes as part of Notre Dame's agreement with the ACC to play five football games per season against conference members.

It remains to be seen when the return date in Lane Stadium will be, but either way we're very excited to finally have a meeting on the field.

It may be a long way off, but consider the gauntlet thrown down for our game preparations.

Lane Stadium: The First Game

On October 2, 1965 Virginia Tech opened the still unfinished Lane Stadium with a 9-7 win over William & Mary.

The stadium has changed a great deal in the 45 years since. Tech has added nearly 24,000 seats over the initial capacity of 40,000 and it's without a doubt one of the top facilities in the nation.

While I fully intend to detail the stadium's history in the future, today's post was spurred on by a recent video released by the university showing footage of that very first game.

Also of note, three stadiums to my knowledge used the same initial blueprints; Lane Stadium, Grove Stadium at Wake Forest and Memorial Stadium at the University of Indiana.

Each facility has changed in it's own way over the years, Lane most noticeably, but you can tell they all started out the same. I've included an older Lane photo for comparison.

Brent Bowden

As I start typing there's only about an hour and 45 minutes until the Hokies take on North Carolina in Lane Stadium.

A uniform update for those who care and haven't heard, it's orange tops with maroon bottoms tonight for Tech. Punter Brent Bowden, aka "Sunshine" will have his rendition of Enter Sandman blasting over the PA system when the team comes out.

Bowden is a real metalhead and an excellent guitarist. He also tends to kick the ball solidly. I'll post a video when it's available.

I've decided to delay my quick picks until tomorrow because, A. I've yet to do them and B. with a Tech game this close, my mental as well as my physical self have to focus.

Here's Sunshine with your standard metal riff lesson. Hammer on, hammer off. Play fast. Sounds kind of like Hokie football actually. Bowden also rocks guitar hero which is funny since most musicians I know don't excel at the game.

Song Of The Day- September, 4, 2008

Solely to maintain some journalistic balance, today's song comes from "The Spirit of Tech", The Marching Virginians. The sound quality isn't great but this is every Hokie's favorite song, "Tech Triumph".

Tech Triumph was composed in 1919 by Wilfred Pete Maddux (Class of 1920) and Mattie Eppes (Boggs). They were both from Blacksburg, neighbors in fact, and Pete would frequently play violin while Mattie accompanied him on the piano.

On a summer evening, Pete asked her to help him write a fight song for 'ol VPI (Virginia Polytechnic Institute). They wrote the first two verses (really the only ones ever used) and they are as follows:

"Techmen, we're Techmen, with spirit true and faithful,
Backing up our teams with hopes undying;
Techmen, Oh, Techmen, we're out to win today,
Showing pep and life with which we're trying;
V.P., old V.P., you know our hearts are with you
In our luck which never seems to die;
Win or lose, we'll greet you with a glad returning,
You're the pride of V.P.I.

Just watch our men so big and active
Support the Orange and Maroon. Let's go Techs.
We know our ends and backs are stronger,
With winning hopes, we fear defeat no longer.
To see our team plow through the line, boys.
Determined now to win or die:
So give a Hokie, Hokie, Hi,
Rae, Ri, old V.P.I."

I'm one of the few members of the civilian public (members of the corps of cadets are required to learn the words) under the age of 55 or so who knows all the words. Most people only know the last couple lines.

The first version below is the full band performing in Lane Stadium during half time.




This is just a really sweet acoustic cover of the song. This guy is the man.