So I realize most of you won’t be able to read this until tomorrow morning, but I had to take a break from staring at my computer screen for a little while. I used that time to stare at the TV and watch those interesting little tidbits that scroll across the bottom of CNN during its convention coverage. Also, was pleased to see the Mets managed to hang on against the Brewers.

But now back to something that is beginning to consume my life and yours: the Virginia Tech quarterback situation. (By the way, I’m not surprised that Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor aren’t allowed to speak with the media this week. As you might recall, Glennon was quick to publicly voice his displeasure last year when he spoke to reporters after being demoted.)

“Just a regular day in Hokie Land,“ quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain said with a smile after today’s practice, summing up the latest chapter in this soap opera perfectly, after a few of us media mongrels had joked with him about this being just another slow news day.

I pretty much covered all the pertinent stuff head coach Frank Beamer said in my story for tomorrow. Here are some leftovers from O’Cain and tailback Kenny Lewis Jr. ...

- “We tried to make it work, and we probably could make it work the other way [by playing only Glennon]. But you look at it as: What can make this football team the best? Obviously, sitting one of your best players on the bench is not the answer to that. We don’t have a lot of moves, other than people getting better. There’s not a lot of moves we could make. That is one move we could make that we feel like can make us better immediately. There’s not another player that we can move or change. The only thing that we could do from a personnel standpoint to make us better is to play one of the better players on our football team.“

- On Taylor—“My confidence in him playing, or our confidence in him playing, is very high. Now, does he still have room to grow? Obviously, yes. But I think he can go out there and execute our offense for the most part.“

- O’Cain didn’t have a whole lot to stay about how the specifics of the rotation would work on Saturday. The coaches are still determining that, he said. But he did say the rotation wouldn’t necessarily be a 50/50 split, and that whichever quarterback is playing well at the time could factor in to who gets more snaps. Of course, the plan for the rotation will change from week to week, depending on the opponent.

- Not to read too much into this—because you can get carried away with trying to dissect every syllable that comes out of someone’s mouth—but I found it interesting that O’Cain was talking about the rotation in the future tense, as if it were something the coaches were planning on continuing to use after Saturday and at least for the immediate future. I didn’t get a chance to follow up with O’Cain on this because I had to hustle over to another interview, but I get the sense this is all very much a “we’ll see” sort of thing that the coaches are taking day by day. Maybe they don’t plan on completely pushing Glennon to the side, as many, including myself, presumed earlier in the day. Plenty of season to go. I’m sure this will all sort itself out at some point.

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KENNY LEWIS JR.

On what it means to have another running threat in the backfield—“That means if I don’t get my yardage when I’m in there, Tyrod is gonna get it.“

On the decision to play Taylor—“When Sean’s at his best, Sean is the best. I kind of am shocked that he’s out here [not the starter anymore]. But then again, I’m not shocked at all, because Fantastic 5 [Taylor], we’ve seen him play before.“

On not knowing about the latest quarterback move—“I didn’t know anything about it until I just got in [to Lane Stadium to meet with reporters]. I thought y’all were playing a trick on me or something.“

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MORE ON MACHO

Lost in all this is that a guy who might be Tech’s best overall player is trying to work his way back into the lineup. Senior cornerback Victor “Macho” Harris chatted with the mongrels after practice today for an update on his injury.

- He said is feeling “a whole lot better” from when he first sprained his left foot, Aug. 22.
- Though he felt some sharp pain on the top of his foot, he managed to run around a little bit today. He described the pain as “nagging,“ like the after-effect of a sprained ankle.

- On how close he was to playing last week—“Hopefully I was just a week behind. So hopefully I get out there this week.“

- On staying home and watching the game at his apartment—“I wanted to be out there. It was tough just watching them play. And at the end, it was even tougher.“

- On what he said to his replacement, sophomore Rashad Carmichael, who struggled at points—“I told him I remember my first game I started as a sophomore, I didn’t play that well. It didn’t show because I didn’t get beat or anything like that. But as far as assignments and stuff like that, the game was just moving too fast for me. And I told him that. I told him, ‘Don’t get discouraged. It’s gonna come around.‘“

- On how tough it was to watch the game at home—“It was so brutal that I just turned my phone off. Everybody was calling me. I guess people didn’t know I wasn’t playing until they saw the game. Everybody was calling my phone in the first quarter. I had to turn it off. I wanted to get focused. I wanted to feel like I was in the game. That’s how bad I wish I was out there.“

- On how the decision worked with him staying home—“Coach Beamer, I talked to him on Friday, and he said if I feel better, I can come on to the trip and return some punts during the game if I feel good. But if not, he wanted me to stay and get treatment.“

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SOME MORE TIDBITS FROM BEAMER’S PRESS CONFERENCE

Hard as it might be to believe, there are other players on the team besides Glennon and Taylor.

- Like Greg Boone. Beamer said he wants to work his other tight ends into the game more, hoping to give Boone some rest, because Tech counts on him in punt protection. Boone and Jonas Houseright got beat by East Carolina’s T.J. Lee on the decisive play Saturday when Lee blocked Brent Bowden’s punt and returned it for a touchdown. “He looked tired at the end of the ball game,“ Beamer said of Boone.

- How close is tight end Sam Wheeler to working his way into the mix? (He didn’t even play on Saturday.)

“That’s up to him,“ Beamer said. “That knee has been a little bit of a concern.“

Wheeler, a junior, tore his ACL nine games into last season and missed spring practice. He’s still not fully recovered from the injury.

- Junior Ike Whitaker, a converted quarterback, finally has found a home at receiver. He is Tech’s third option there and tied with tight end Andre Smith for a team-high three catches on Saturday. But Whitaker also dropped a pass. Whitaker moved to receiver before last season but played sparingly because Tech had four senior receivers. (Remember the days when fans were calling for him to be the starting quarterback?) As for his play Saturday, Beamer said, “That’s the first time he’s played that many plays at wide receiver. I think Ike can be better than what he played overall.“

Posted by Darryl Slater in • College Sports • Virginia Tech
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