Before we get to regular game preview stuff, here is a preview of my story for tomorrow on Branden Ore ...

BY DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

BLACKSBURG – Two or three times a day during the summer, former Virginia Tech tailback Branden Ore unlocked the door to the weight room at Indian River High and worked out with his cousin Darren Banks. Ore knew this football season could offer him a final opportunity to resurrect his career, and maybe continue it in the NFL.

So as he awaited word on whether he’d be admitted to West Liberty (W.Va.) State College, he spent the summer at home in Chesapeake, where he and Banks passed the days by fishing, crabbing, running and lifting weights at Ore’s old high school. (He had a key to the weight room.)

“Sometimes, we were in there at 10, 11 o clock at night,“ Ore said.

Ore on Thursday finally was cleared to play at West Liberty, a Division II school that was attractive to him because Banks is a senior cornerback there. Ore will have one year of eligibility remaining and will be the Hilltoppers’ starting tailback Saturday when they open the season at home against Edinboro (Pa.) University.

West Liberty is a world away from Tech, whose head coach, Frank Beamer, dismissed Ore from the team in the offseason. While the Hokies play this season at Nebraska, a college football Mecca, West Liberty’s road games include trips to Fairmont, W.Va.; Institute, W.Va.; and Greensburg, Pa.

“It’s just like a fresh start, not with only football, but for life in general,“ Ore said. “I know this is my last chance, and I’m going to make the best of it.“

(That’s the main news of it all. Check tomorrow’s paper for more; no need to bog the blog down with all of it.)

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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Former Notre Dame and South Carolina (and William and Mary) coach Lou Holtz was notorious for downplaying his team’s chances, even before games against pushover opponents. His son, East Carolina coach Skip Holtz, sounded just like Dad earlier today in a teleconference with reporters who cover Tech.

Granted, Tech is favored in this game, but I think most people would give the Pirates more of a chance than Holtz seemed to give them. “For Virginia Tech, it’s probably a warmup to get into the conference,“ he said. “I think we’re gonna have to play an almost perfect game to be competitive. We’re gonna have to play over our head in a game like this.“

Some more details on ECU (there will be more on the first two items in tomorrow’s paper, so I’ll just get to them quickly) ...

- Junior Patrick Pinkney will start at quarterback over junior Rob Kass. They rotated last year.

- Senior Brandon Simmons will be the main tailback Saturday after ECU lost three of its top four tailbacks from last season—Chris Johnson to graduation, Dominique Lindsay and J.R. Rogers to injuries (Lindsay’s is season-ending).

- Senior defensive tackle Brandon Setzer, who would have started, also is out for the season with a knee injury.

- Junior Ben Hartman was ECU’s kicker last year. He made 13 of 22 field goals including two game winners at the buzzer (I refuse to refer to these as “walk-off” field goals) against North Carolina and Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl—arguably ECU’s two biggest wins of the season (ECU hadn’t won a bowl since 2000). But Hartman strained his hip in June and still isn’t right. Holtz said the coaching staff can’t figure out why it’s taking him so long to heal. True freshman Ben Ryan will kick against Tech. He made a 50-yarder in a preseason scrimmage.

- As for what kind of confidence ECU can take from last year’s 17-7 loss to Tech in Blacksburg—the Hokies’ first game after the April 16 shootings—Holtz said, “I think this is a different team and it’s a different year, and it’s gonna be a different team for Virginia Tech. Trying to take the confidence from that game and work it into this season is almost like a false sense of security.“ Good point.

- Holtz said it’s been challenging to prepare for both Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor, but the Pirates have had some practice with it because Kass and Pinkney are similar in style to Glennon and Taylor, respectively. “I think that’s a huge advantage because you definitely have to approach each one differently,“ Holtz said.

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COMING UP IN THE RAG: Keep your eyes peeled for a long story in Wednesday’s paper on Tech assistant Jim Cavanaugh, who has recruited the Richmond area for various college since the early 1970s. Spent some time chatting with Cav—as many refer to him, and as he answers his own office phone—during the preseason and also talked with many of those who have known him for a long time. So I hope the story is a complete picture of a guy who has been a fixture in the state of Virginia ever since he came down from Queens, N.Y., to attend William and Mary in 1966.

Posted by Darryl Slater in • College Sports • Virginia Tech
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