Here in the media work room (oxymoron) at ACC media days in Greensboro, N.C., and colleague Paul Woody just typed a post for the Virginia blog regarding the Cavaliers’ offense, which last season ranked among college football’s worst.

So I’ll complement that with a few words here on Virginia Tech’s offense, which often found itself right there with Virginia at the bottom of the national rankings in recent seasons.

Consider the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons, and where the Cavaliers and Hokies ranked nationally in yards per game ...

2006: Virginia, 113th of 119; Tech 99th.
2007: Virginia, 100th of 119; Tech 101st.
2008: Virginia, 105th of 120; Tech 103rd.

Last season, the Hokies finally returned some respectability to forward ball progress in the Commonwealth. But while they ranked 49th of 120 teams, the Cavaliers were way down there at 118th.

Most observers expect Tech’s offense to improve even more this season—including the grizzled and bitter hacks who have assembled here, and whose presence will require Grandover employees to spend the next week hosing down their rooms with bleach.

Agreement on that point (about the offense getting better and not, I presume, the smell of sportswriters) is the only thing Tyrod Taylor has in common with this group of media swine.

“The offense is gonna have to score more points than previous years in order to win games,” he said.

With that, he summarized one of this season’s most important themes—perhaps the most important. Tech last season averaged 31.8 points and 392.1 yards—its most points since 2005 and most yards since 2003.

Continuing that pace is important because the Hokies lost six starters on defense. Moreover, they could begin the season without inside linebacker Barquell Rivers, who tore his quadriceps during offseason weight-lifting and is questionable for the Sept. 6 opener against Boise State. The offense, meanwhile, brings back everybody except left guard Sergio Render, left tackle Ed Wang and tight end Greg Boone.

If Tech’s defense isn’t its usual stingy self early, the offense might have to score more points than usual to win, as Taylor said.

Taylor has started or shared starting duties since he came to Tech in 2007 (doesn’t seem all that long ago, does it?), and as he prepared for his senior season, he returned to a familiar place: the Elite 11 quarterback camp in California. The camp is run by Bob Johnson, who coached Mark Sanchez in high school and whose son Rob played quarterback in the NFL from 1995-2006.

Taylor attended Elite 11 as a high schooler and was one of six college counselors there this summer, along with Miami’s Jacory Harris, Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson, Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins and Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert. The counselors demonstrated drills for the high school players and got to pick up some practice time of their own.

“A lot of the stuff is how far you get in your drop, just being aware of the pocket and moving around in the pocket to create passes and throwing lanes,” Taylor said.

Pocket presence—when to scramble, when to stay, how far to drop, how to set your feet—is something Taylor has worked on often with Tech’s quarterbacks coach, Mike O’Cain.

He improved it greatly last season, when he ranked first nationally with 9.5 yards per pass attempt (read: lots of big plays). How well he keeps up that progress this season could determine where the Hokies find themselves four months from now.

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