Tech seniors deliver a message
Thursday, Nov 06, 2008 - 12:07 AM Updated: 12:27 PM
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Virginia Tech cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris has made some great plays this season, but also has been on the wrong end of big plays, such as this one by Florida State receiver Greg Carr.
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By DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech's coaches adjourned the team meeting Saturday, but the Hokies' seniors remained in the room at the Merryman Center. Coming off two consecutive losses, they had planned all week on delivering a message to their teammates. This seemed the best time to do it, as the Hokies returned from a two-day break.
Cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris took charge, telling the underclassmen that he and his fellow seniors were seeing less enthusiasm on the sideline than they saw last season. The seniors wanted to convey a sense of urgency, a need to finish the season strong and not be the first Tech team since 1992 to miss a bowl game.
The Hokies (2-2 ACC, 5-3) have four games remaining, beginning with today's 7:30 p.m. meeting with Maryland at Lane Stadium. At least tonight, the game could hinge on Tech's quarterback situation. Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon (high left ankle sprains) will be game-time decisions. Third-stringer Cory Holt would start if Taylor and Glennon can't play.
For the long haul, senior left guard Nick Marshman thinks the seniors' message resonated, though he also knows the Hokies are young -- a logical culprit for their inconsistency, in sideline demeanor and play, this season.
"Maybe it's some of the younger guys that haven't played, that haven't been there," Marshman said. "Maybe us as seniors, we haven't instilled that part on to the younger guys."
Though it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of hiccups in an intangible factor such as enthusiasm, it is easy to see at least part of the reason why the Hokies are so green this season; why 32 of the 66 players who traveled to their last game, at Florida State, were sophomores or younger; why there were more freshmen (11) in the two-deep that game than seniors (10).
Attrition -- that's why.
College football is inherently cyclical. Teams won't always be as experienced as Tech was for last season's Orange Bowl, when the Hokies had 13 seniors and eight freshmen in the two-deep. But coaches can't plan on losing almost half of their recruits in a three-year period, as Tech has.
Of the 61 players who signed with Tech from 2004-06, 30 either never came to Tech, left with eligibility remaining or currently are suspended. From the 2001-03 signing classes, just 20 of 64 recruits fell into that category. Those early departure numbers don't count three players who left early for the NFL: Brandon Flowers, DeAngelo Hall and Kevin Jones.
The reasons for no-shows or early departures range from academics (receiver Todd Nolen) to injuries (offensive tackle Aaron Brown) to simply being kicked off the team (running back Branden Ore).
Two of Tech's thinnest positions, offensive line and wide receiver, were hit hardest. Of the 2004-06 early departures, six were offensive linemen and five were wide receivers. On top of attrition, the Hokies have lost three starters since the summer to season-ending injuries: receiver Brandon Dillard, tailback Kenny Lewis Jr. and rover Davon Morgan.
Tech recruiting coordinator Jim Cavanaugh declined to comment for this story.
Dillard's ruptured Achilles tendon was a blow to a position that Tech's coaches have had trouble recruiting in recent years. Receiver recruits knew they probably wouldn't be able to contribute immediately because, until this season, Tech had four players entrenched at the position: Justin Harper, Josh Hyman, Josh Morgan and Eddie Royal.
When the Hokies take the field tonight, injuries and attrition could leave them with a freshman at tailback, three freshmen at receiver and a fifth-year senior quarterback making his first career.
Asked if he has ever entered a game with such inexperience at his skill positions, 22nd-year Tech coach Frank Beamer didn't hesitate.
"Never," he said.
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Contact Darryl Slater at (804) 649-6026 or
dslater@timesdispatch.com.