By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech football team used Wednesday as a recovery day following Tuesday evening's intrasquad scrimmage, and the Hokies returned to work Thursday, as they continue preparations leading up to the season opener against Boston College on Aug. 31.
"Lots to work on – on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game," Tech head coach Justin Fuente said. "We'll start to move this week into some crossover work in the kicking game, and that will be good for us. We've got a tremendous amount of ground to cover before we're game ready, but I'm excited about the way we're progressing."
The Hokies practice for three consecutive before practicing in their final intrasquad scrimmage of August on Sunday.
2019 VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS
(The Virginia Tech Athletics Department put individual football game tickets on sale Monday morning. Fans interested in purchasing a ticket to any of the Hokies' seven home games may do so by clicking here).
Fuente, several assistant coaches and several players met with the media Thursday afternoon. Here are a few takeaways:
QB BATTLE
The battle for the starting quarterback job looks to be down to two players – Ryan Willis and Hendon Hooker. The duo took most of the reps in Tuesday's scrimmage. Willis went into August practices with the edge in experience, having started the final 10 games after Josh Jackson went down with an injury and throwing for 2,716 yards and 24 touchdowns. But Hooker, who played sparingly last fall, put in a lot of work this spring and summer, and that work has put him in his position.
"Ryan and Hendon are the two guys right now taking most of the reps with the 1's [first team unit]," Fuente said. "We'll continue to evaluate that and see how it goes. I will say this. I've been really impressed with Hendon and the work he put in this summer. He continues to improve and Ryan has had a good camp as well. We'll continue to look at it and get through the last scrimmage and see where we're at."
HOOKER PATTERNS GAME AFTER NFL GREAT
Hooker fielded several questions at Thursday's news conference, including one about his favorite quarterback. He told the media contingent that his favorite was former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, who retired in 2001 – when Hooker was only 1 or 2 years old.
"He's very explosive, and I think that's something I bring to the game," Hooker said. "I watch film of him all the time, just trying to get moves from him."
Hooker learned about Cunningham by doing his research on NFL greats.
"When you're a quarterback and you want to play at the next level, you've got to do your research, so knowing the history of the game is a big part of that," Hooker said. "Watching all the old quarterbacks before me in the years before me, you just pick up on things and say, 'Oh wow, I like this guy.' That's pretty much how that happened."
TENUTA IMPRESSING AT OT
Offensive line coach Vance Vice loves his group, saying that there is competition at all five spots. He said that he doesn't have any starters in mind at the moment and isn't even worried about that because of the depth in his position meeting room. Several players continue to stand out, but Luke Tenuta continues to catch Vice's eye and the eyes of several other coaches. The 6-foot-7, 315-pounder worked with the first-team group during portions of Tuesday's scrimmage.
"He's had a great, great offseason," Vice said of Tenuta. "I know we were able to redshirt him last year, and he's put on about 50 pounds since I've got to know him. He fits in great with this group — he works every day. Just like most of them right now, they're all fighting for one of the five spots. Obviously, he's intelligent and understands what we're trying to do. He's able to play multiple positions also, so he's got a lot of value right now. He's had a great camp so far."
SHUFFLING AT LINEBACKER
Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Bud Foster pretty much expects Rayshard Ashby to be the starter at mike linebacker, with Dax Hollifield the starter at backer. Foster likes Keshon Artis at mike behind Ashby, but he also revealed Thursday that he has been giving Hollifield some reps at mike just to build some depth to keep his best grouping on the field at all times.
"He's played a little bit of both early," Foster said of Hollifield. "I feel confident about him playing there. He can make all the calls and can do all that we're asking that position to do coverage-wise. He's a guy that could play both.
"We've worked Dylan Rivers there here recently as well to try to get him in position. There's a little bit of a logjam at backer, with Dax, with Dylan and the guy that's had a tremendous camp … Alan Tisdale has been phenomenal, and I like Amaré Barno. He's a JC [junior college] kid. I wish he had been here in January. I think we'd have more information, but he's bene a quick learner. He's been impressive at times, but also like a newcomer at times.
"Trying to find a way to get our best people in the right position to maximize our strengths. That's been a good situation."
BUILDING DEPTH AT DE
There has been some concern about depth at the defensive end spots behind projected starters TyJuan Garbutt and Emmanuel Belmar. As most know, Houshun Gaines is not expected to play this season, and recently, Zion Debose went down with a foot injury – an injury that may shelve him indefinitely.
But line coach Charley Wiles remains confident in his depth at the two spots, particularly Eli Adams and Jaylen Griffin, who moved from linebacker to defensive end before the start of August practices.
"I'm excited," Wiles said. "Eli has come on. He was a dynamic football player in high school . Multiple, multiple sacks and very active. He's undersized. He's not very tall [5-foot-11]. He was 250 [pounds] in the offseason. He's 241-242 now. Eli's been playing good and having a good camp.
"It's been a good move for Jaylen Griffin. We've made a living doing that – guys that are maybe a step slow and get them closer to the line of scrimmage. Jaylen's a great kid [and] got a football IQ. Things have come to him. He's strong – he's been able to eat. It was all he could do to stay under 250., and now he's 260 pounds and he's a 400-plus bencher [bench press]. He's strong, and he's getting better all the time. I'm excited about him."
Wiles also singled out Jaevon Becton, a redshirt freshman from Ocean Lakes High in Virginia Beach. Becton certainly provides the size at 6-4 and 255 pounds, and he also has shown an ability to be disruptive at the point of attack.
"Jaevon Becton has all kinds of ability," Wiles said. "The more he plays, the better he is going to be … He scrimmaged the other day and was very productive. Nate Proctor is battling for some time there as well.
"I'm excited about those guys. I feel very comfortable about those guys playing half the time."Gallery: (8/15/2019) 2019 FOOTBALL FALL PRACTICE 12
