Hokies trample The Herd 52-10: Afterthoughts

Sorry for the delay on this, but a wedding and some friend commitments this weekend delayed my recaps. Skins will come tomorrow after work. Promise. I only got to watch the first half in real time (due to previously mentioned wedding), but I watched the replay online of the second half. Here are my quick thoughts on the domination.

• Tyrod is still a work in progress. He HAS to have the run game set him up, and Stiney finally realized that. Once T-Mobile got comfortable, his passes stopped floating behind his receivers and he got into a zone. He can be effective, but his arm is probably our third best option right now.
• Ryan Williams is a “north-south” runner. I swear the two old codgers on 360 didn’t say anything else for the first 25 minutes of the game. While I didn’t think this was necessarily true before Saturday, Ru proved me wrong. He broke tackles, showed a great head of steam, and wonderful vision. Even if he doesn’t prefer it, he looks REALLY good when he hits a hole and knows where he wants to go.
• David Wilson might be the fastest back I’ve seen at Tech. Now that’s only since ’95, but the kid’s got some wheels, and a little bit of lumber. He’s also hard to bring down, and damn can he fly. Two backs over 160 yards makes me feel really good…especially considering we’re still missing D.E.’s thunder this season. Look out 2010.
• Our linebackers are still learning but they will be good. I think we were all spoiled by the maturity of Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi when they came to Tech, but Jake Johnson and Barquell Rivers know how to get to the ball, and the pass coverage stuff will all come with time. They’re really good, raw talent.
• Our pass defense is going to struggle next week unless we get Stephan Virgil back next week. We had a few scares that could have been big plays Saturday. Luckily we made up for bad positioning with athleticism and speed.
• Our defensive tackles are no slouches. I love watching John Graves and Taco Thompson play, but Antoine Hopkins could be a VERY special player for the Hokies in the coming years.
• Blake DeChristopher is still a sieve in pass protection.

Stiney’s off the hook for calling a good game, and his athletes made him look like a genius. Nebraska is a better test (~50 overall defense in the nation) than Marshall, and won’t be run over easily. The athleticism of Ru and Wilson will come in handy on the corners against the Black Shirts, and Tyrod should have some luck in the passing game (especially finding his tight ends). Look for Sam Wheeler as a possible secret weapon next week. I’ll have a preview on Friday.