Aaaaannnnnddddddd good afternoon everybody! How are you today?

A bunch of random things to address today, on the eve of Virginia Tech’s second of three preseason scrimmages. Let’s get to it.

1. FAIR POINT, MIKE: It’s a rough day for those of us who have long enjoyed the comedic (and sometimes informative) antics of Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, one half of the “Mike and the Mad Dog” radio program on WFAN in New York City. Russo has left the station after 19 years, putting lots of New Yorkers like myself (upstate, not the city) in a “tough spot,“ as Russo might say. I realize I’m probably one of the few New Yorkers down here—Tech assistant Jim Cavanaugh and Virginia wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, both from Queens, are the only two with whom I’ve briefly chatted about The Big Apple—so I’ll get to my point quickly on this: Even in this era of endless analyzing and message-board missives, if you think the media and fans down here are tough (and I’m not sure how many of you think that), visit wfan.com one afternoon and listen to some of the (hilariously) merciless rants of the guys who call in to what has become the beacon of sports talk radio in this country—for better or worse. At the very least, it’ll make you laugh.

2. BACK TO THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED RYAN WILLIAMS DEBATE: OK, thanks for indulging the above nonsense. A few of you e-mailed with your opinions about whether Williams, Tech’s prized true freshman tailback, should play this season. Before I include some excerpts from those, I’ll try to clear something up.

There seems to be some uncertainty around whether Tech’s coaches promised Williams playing time this season—or whether they said that all depended on whether he was ready to play. Running backs coach Billy Hite said he told Williams it depended on him being ready. Here’s the exact exchange I had with Williams the other day about the topic (I realize we’re sort of hammering this thing into the ground, so I’m just going to stick to what Hite and Williams told me, in their own words; I spoke to Williams first and Hite second—for what that’s worth) ...

And they promised you that you would play?
“Right. I mean, they didn’t give me any specific time, any specific certain amount of plays or anything. They just knew for a fact that I wasn’t going to redshirt.“

That’s what they told you?
“That’s what they told me. And it’s my job to work up to the spot where I want to be.“

Did they say there was a chance if you don’t play running back [this year], you could be a punt returner?
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, no doubt. They asked me a lot of questions as far as like what can I contribute to this team. I told them I can punt return, I can kick return, I can play receiver, I could be a running back. I could do multiple things on the offensive side.“

So if you end up not playing running back and punt returning instead, would you be disappointed?
“No, not at all. I just want to get on the field. I want to get a feel of what this is like my freshman year.“ (After this, Williams continued with some stuff I posted yesterday, so no need to repeat here.)

*

NOW TO YOUR E-MAILS. I’ll refrain from attaching names to these comments—not because they’re inflammatory or anything, but because I’d rather ask before including someone’s name here, and I didn’t have time to do that. Away we go ...

- I’ve been back and forth on whether he should redshirt or not. I think we all have to remember how early it really is right now. I mean we aren’t even two full weeks into PRESEASON camp yet! There is no reason to make that decision now, so if i were Hite, I’d continue to ride his [butt] into the ground about learning the playbook and continue to evaluate him to the very last scrimmage. I think he’ll be able to contribute at some point this year. He’s one of those “natural runners.“ Like Kevin Jones. As you may or may not remember, Jones didn’t contribute a tremendous amount the first couple of games of his career. But after a key injury and hardwork he blew up WVU for almost 200 yards. I think the same thing could happen for Williams if he continues to work hard. I think he plays this year, with play time increasing as the year goes on.

Note: Jones’ true freshman season was 2001. In the season’s first game, against Connecticut, Lee Suggs suffered a season-ending knee injury, thrusting Jones into a significant role. He played every game that season and started the final four. In the first four games, his rushing yards were 63, 75, 76 and 90. In the fifth game, at West Virginia, he had 67 and a 44-yard touchdown on 16 carries. He went insane in the regular season’s final three games—155 (Temple), 181 (Virginia), 160 (a 26-24 home loss to No. 1 Miami). He had 55 in the Gator Bowl and, as many of you know, finished his three-year career with 3,475—second on Tech’s all-time list. He almost certainly would have broken Cyrus Lawrence’s school record of 3,767 if he stayed for his senior season.

- Depends on the commitment VT coaches made to Williams. If they said he would not be redshirted then they should stand by their remarks. However, if Williams does agree to redshirting I think it be wise to do so.

- (The subject of this e-mail was: “yes and no on Ryan Williams playing for the Hokies this year.“) Evidently, a promise of some sort was made to Ryan. It is unclear whether this was an unconditional promise that Ryan would see the field his freshman year no matter what—or a promise based on one or more conditions. No player should play if he could endanger himself or his teammates. From looking at Ryan Williams, he should redshirt because of his size and skill level. He is a high school player right now trying to play with adults and has admitted as much. Now, that could change in a few days or a few weeks. I don’t know. However, if you are physically unable to protect your QB from an on-rushing linebacker and that QB gets seriously injured, that is irresponsible.  The coaches have to trust players that they can get the job done, if for no other reason than to lessen the physical risks to themselves and other players. I think Ryan Williams will play this fall but I don’t think he will see the field very much in the first game against ECU. He is not ready.

- The jump from high school to big-time college football is an incredible step. Unless a rising freshman attends a school that needs immediate help at the position, or unless you are a superstar (Adrian Peterson at Oklahoma), a redshirt is necessary to become acclimated to the demands of the game. Even Knowshon Moreno took a redshirt. From his quotes the first week of practice it seems like he thought he was going to be handed the running back job. It also seems that his idea of “not redshirting” means starting and getting the majority of the carries. These last few days I think he is finally coming to terms that accomplishing what he wants to accomplish (playing this year and contributing heavily) is going to be harder than he thought it would be. I personally think RW is going to play in certain packages the first game. Get a good majority of playing time in the second half against Furman. Then I believe he will be in the three-back rotation and end up getting his fair share of carries by Nebraska. I know that is a bold prediction, but it’s just my hunch.

Thanks to all who chimed in. As always, comments are welcome. 

3. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR a story in tomorrow’s paper on third-year sophomore defensive tackle John Graves, from Meadowbrook High. I was going to segue from that announcement to a question about whether college football players should have a fifth year of eligibility, but this post is getting fairly long, so I’ll just start another thread with that topic.

Your thoughts on Ryan Williams (tommorrow is big for him, running backs coach Billy Hite said) ... John Graves story coming tomorrow ... a sad moment today for native New Yorkers.