Guys, as I mentioned I would be, I was at the Hokies' scrimmage today, for post game video, photos and to take notes. Here's the main stuff from the day:
The pace was fast. VT ran 43 plays officially, though a few were called back by penalty, so it was actually more like 55. There were a LOT of penalties, 9 total, two on defense and seven offensively.
Also a few injuries to note, which I will before I get into other stuff, In one on ones with the DBs and WRs, receiver Demitri Knowles was a little shaken up. He went against Terrell Edmunds and Knowles banged his head pretty good on the ground. He walked slowly and gingerly for a little bit, but didn't really miss any time. Still thought at first, he might have had a concussion.
As has been noted a few places, DT Steve Sobczak had to be carted off the field late in the scrimmage. Trainer Mike Goforth said he sprained his right ankle, but doesn't believe the injury to be "too significant." Sobczak will likely miss at least one week, if not two, though, because of the injury. OL Andrew Williams, a walk-on, did suffer a pretty bad sprained ankle, though and will probably miss the rest of spring.
Also as been noted elsewhere, senior QB Michael Brewer was not in action again, for the third straight outing. Goforth said he's been having back spasms, but that it's not related to the earlier back injury Brewer had that cut his sophomore season short at Texas Tech. Goforth downplayed the injury, calling it "not really a big concern of ours."
I spoke on the sideline with CB Brandon Facyson, who's been out of action since shutting down his season early last fall. Facyson has battled a series of injuries a little over the past year, from a stress fracture in his leg, a hip flexor last spring and a pulled groin last fall. The stress fracture has been the main obstacle, but Facyson told me he feels better and that he's been told he's coming along on schedule. It will likely be two months, though, until he's back full and cleared to do much.
Facyson did have a lot to say about redshirt freshman WR CJ Carroll, who's been brought up a few times this spring as someone to watch. I asked Facyson if Carroll was really that good and he told me, "Yeah, because he stays so low to the ground and makes good cuts that make him hard to tackle." Carroll had a few nice catches in the scrimmage.
I really thought VT's secondary looked sharp today. They made it tough on the receivers all day, in one-on-ones and in the scrimmage itself. Edmunds had the big play, an interception on an out pattern, but I was very impressed with true freshman Mook Reynolds. It might not be this fall, but Mook has an insanely bright future ahead of him. He made great reads, had a few break ups and made a great interception in one-on-ones.
Who didn't look great was the quarterbacks. Brendon Motley ran with the ones and got the first five plays of the scrimmage before giving way for Andrew Ford. Motley did make a few completions, but Ford especially, was way off on his throws. And Chris Durkin couldn't get much protection. He did hold the ball a few times too long, but he had no chance on a few sacks. Motley's best play of the day, a zone read that would have gone about 45 yards for a touchdown, was negated by a holding penalty on Jonathan McLaughlin.
Motley's other good play on the day was a very well placed fade route for Bucky Hodges down the right sideline. The gain was for about 35 yards. Bucky was the top target a lot during the day and had more catches than anyone.
Deon Clarke, Jamieon Moss and Ricky Walker each had impressive sacks, especially Walker in blowing through the middle of the line. Yosuah Nijman also looked very strong coming off the end and once he gets his technique down, he's gonna be tough to slow down. Defensive coordinator Bud Foster still called him "raw" and after every few plays, a coach or GA would come over to him and go over good stuff and bad stuff and give him more instruction.
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