A good evening to you, and how ya be?

Just finished hammering out some notes off today’s 96-play scrimmage. I’ll spare you the stats, because those are readily available on Tech’s Web site. Let’s get right to some observations ...

- NO DUAL THREAT TODAY: I guess Tech’s coaches are pretty comfortable with Victor “Macho” Harris at wide receiver, because for the second consecutive scrimmage, he didn’t line up there once. Yet head coach Frank Beamer maintained afterward that Harris will play receiver this season. Still, it would have been neat to see him line up there today.

- ANOTHER SET OF STALLIONS?: Running backs coach Billy Hite said the tailback competition remains wide open. For what it’s worth, Kenny Lewis Jr. was in with the first-team offense on the first series. Hite said there’s a chance three or even four tailbacks could see regular action this season—a philosophy that could open the door to true freshman Ryan Williams playing (more on this later). “I’ve done it before,“ Hite said. “There’s no reason why I can’t do it again if I need to.“

He mentioned his original Stallions. The nickname was first given to his backs in 1983, when Otis Copeland led the team with 709 yards. But Tech’s tailbacks combined for 2,143 yards, with Maurice Williams, Eddie Hunter, Desmar Becton and Ricky Bailey all chipping in. Williams, a freshman in ‘83, went on to have the best career of the bunch, finishing with 2,981 yards—currently fourth on Tech’s all-time list. (Branden Ore, who has 2,776, almost certainly would have passed him this fall if he hadn’t been kicked off the team during the offseason.)

Quick tangent here: While doing some research on the Stallions (I was born in ‘82, so I sort of missed this era of Tech football), I came across a 1998 Roanoke Times story on former Tech sports information director Jack Williams. The story was a collection of Williams’ fondest and funniest memories from his career. Here’s one I found quite amusing (I think I had heard the story previously from current Tech sports information czar Dave Smith):

All Hokie tailbacks are nicknamed ‘'The Stallions.‘’ So, naturally, we photographed Maurice and Eddie for a football brochure cover with a real-live stallion at a stable near Blacksburg. The horse tried to bite Maurice. They definitely did not hit if off. But we got the picture somehow and it made a nice cover.

- MORE FROM RYAN WILLIAMS: OK, back to the present. Not to turn this blog into The Ryan Williams Show, but the kid looked much better today, and he’s a very candid interview, so I hate to shortchange you guys from reading good quotes that don’t make the paper because of space issues. Quickly, here’s what Hite had to say about Williams today: “He knew what he was doing out there. I think he’s understanding our scheme better. He didn’t have to ask the quarterbacks one time today what he was supposed to.“ Hite also said he didn’t have to give Williams tip sheets before the scrimmage, as he did before the first scrimmage.

Williams said his only mental mistake happened when he went in the wrong direction on a pass block. But he regrouped and ended up making the block. He also made a nice block on true freshman defensive end Isaiah Hamlette, getting low and taking Hamlette’s legs out. On one series, here’s what I recorded for Williams (these yardages could be off by a bit): 8-yard catch on screen, 6-yard run up middle, 5-yard run up middle.

Some Williams quotes ...

On the day overall—“The plays came a lot more second nature. I ran a lot harder. I’m getting adjusted to the game speed day by day. Today was more of just getting a feel of what hitting the hole is like because I’m really not a downhill runner. I did very well.“

On what Hite said to him—“All he said was good things. I kind of felt good about that, because I’m used to hearing [that] I’m not having my head on the right side or not doing something in the right place.“

On whether he thinks the coaches are being hard on him because they think he can contribute this season—“My high school coach always told me: If they’re not saying anything to you, then that means that they really don’t care. Obviously, they care a lot about what I’m doing and really trying to have me learn the system as fast as I can so I can get on the field.“

Williams said he still thinks he will play and is completely opposed to redshirting. Asked if it would be a major disappointment if he did redshirt, he said, “Yeah, because that was one of my major reasons why I chose this school. It’s still only the second week. What they told me while they were recruiting me was: You need to come in, you need to learn what we teach you, get acquainted, just get everything right so we can play you. I feel like I’m coming along very fast throughout these two weeks.“

And if he did happen to redshirt anyway? “I guess I’d have to take it because I can’t un-redshirt myself,“ he said. “So I guess I’d just have to take it and just go with the flow.“

- GOLDEN CORRAL: A buffet of other observations from the scrimmage ...

1. Wide receiver Ike Whitaker looked very impressive, certainly more so than Danny Coale, the guy who is ahead of him at the X spot. Coale, who has seemed to be Tech’s top receiver, had no catches and at least one drop. But as receivers coach Kevin Sherman said afterward, he’s looking for consistency from Whitaker, so let’s see if he can keep up these kind of performances.

2. True freshman receiver Xavier Boyce made a nice 9-yard catch, pulling down Sean Glennon’s high pass.

3. But the offense was still sloppy and sluggish at times. Twelve penalties for 80 yards—including several false starts—is not going to get the job done in a big spot.

4. On tight end Greg Boone’s 8-yard run against the second-team defense, poor Dorian Porch just happened to be standing in Boone’s path and literally bounced off the 290-pound tight end. Boone had a solid day: three touchdowns, 17 receiving yards, 12 rushing yards.

5. Rookie mistake by Ervin “Swerve” Garner on a punt return. He called for a fair catch near his own 7-yard line—gotta let that ball bounce into the end zone—and still muffed the punt, which Boone recovered for a touchdown.

6. Didn’t realize Cody Grimm was so quick. He brought down Harris from behind on a punt return.

7. Speaking of punts, Brent Bowden boomed a 60-yarder that drew loud applause from the crowd—a rare sound to a punter’s ears.

8. For a second, I thought a linebacker or safety had burst into the backfield to clobber Williams after he caught a pass on a swing route. Nope, it was just 282-pound defensive tackle John Graves (Meadowbrook).

9. This got cut out of my notebook for tomorrow: Fifth-year senior Dustin Keys remains the leader in the field-goal kicker competition. He missed the first scrimmage (right hamstring) but made both of his field goals yesterday, from 26 and 31 yards. … True freshman Justin Myer is the leading contender for the kickoff job, with Keys and redshirt freshman Tim Pisano also in the mix. … Tech’s final open scrimmage is 3:15 p.m. Friday at Lane.

*

That should do it for now. Next week is the third and final week of preseason (thank goodness). There are interviews Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday—with Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practices open to we media mongrels. So I will be blogging accordingly. Thursday’s practice is closed with no interviews. Friday is the scrimmage. Saturday is a script scrimmage—closed to media, no interviews afterward. And then comes game week for East Carolina.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I’m about to plunge into episode five of “The Wire: Season Five.“ Prop Joe just got offed in the last episode, so the season is picking up steam. Oh, and some guy named Michael Phelps is jumping into a pool tonight, too, so I might try to catch that. Later.

Ryan Williams improves ... Tech could play four backs this season (a new group of Stallions?) ... offense still looks shaky ... Brent Bowden impressive again.

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