Hey guys! Rich Schnyderite here, publisher of The Knight Report aka the Rutgers-Rivals site. Just wanted to drop by and post our video from Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano's press conference today.

There is only a couple of Virginia Tech questions / answers in there, so ENJOY!

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The NCAA should impose a huge fine on Mack Brown for his public display of disdain for the leadership of the NCAA. I don’t disagree that some of their actions are inconsistent, but I find it comical and hypocritical that a football coach at UNC would spout Off about how unfair they were treated after their players had fake classes and given passing grades and they never faced any penalties.

Brock Hoffman had To sit out so deal with it, Brown. I feel bad for the player but Roddy Jones said it was a shame because Tez wouldn’t get to play with Drake Maye. What the hell does that have to do with anything. Rules are rules.

Pete B. from Two Deep joined me on Tales From The Terrordome this week to break down Purdue, the insane weather, who should be QB1 moving forward, and more!

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Better, worse, same as in the immediate aftermath of the game?

Does last night's win change your predictions for how the season plays out as a whole?

I’ll save my prediction for later. What have you guys got?

Here's my take on who you should be rooting for in some of the games most Hokie-impacting this weekend:


Who else you guys pulling for?

I'm not going to be submitting a FutureCast, but if I did it wouldn't be the Hokies at this stage.


I do think there's a legit chance that if VT wins 9 games or whatever (a tall order, I know), he might take a second look at the local program after the season, though.

I took a close look at the broadcast from Saturday evening's game (over several watches, and gong back to watch individual plays many times). A few things jumped out, some of them fixable, some not - at least not in the short term:

• Braelin Moore and Xavier Chaplin showed a lot of their youth on the left side, particularly when they were supposed to combo block (or not). There were a few times in zone blocking that Chaplin let a man free around the edge to double a guy that was lined up inside of Moore, when that edge man should've seen Chaplin take his zone step to the playside and then pivot to seal him off. Other times, they were unclear about who was going to work to the second level on their combo blocks, and both ended up leaving the first-level defender (or neither did, and the linebacker made the play). That's fixable in the short-term. It won't be perfect, but that can get better with game film.
• Both Moore brothers had trouble with leverage at times, and got pushed into the backfield a few times. From Kaden's perspective, he seemed to be spooked by his own inconsistency with the snap, and almost seemed to have the yips that affected the second phase of his play. That's fixable, and perhaps the single easiest fix now that he has a game at center under his belt. Broader leverage issues for both he and Braelin probably won't be fixed short-term, though they can get a bit better with improved technique. Shorter linemen who are struggling with leverage tend to just need more time getting stronger, and that's not gonna happen in-season.
• Parker Clements has a tendency to get rocked backwards and then shoved into the backfield at times. That's a strength issue (and perhaps partially just him being more comfortable moving backwards? It would explain why he's much better in protection than in the run game). That not fixable short-term, at least. A bit more confidence can help a little, at least.
• Brody Meadows came in and looked like an improvement on Bob Schick in terms of strength, though he had some of the same issues with knowing the second part of his assignment (when to pass off a blocker, etc.) that you might expect from a younger guy, and that we saw on the left side. The Hokies have flexibility, having given both of those guys some time, and can give full reps to the one who performs better, which means there's plenty of upside.
• The tight ends (particularly Benj Gosnell, so who got the majority of the inline blocking work) struggled getting to their spot and executing the block. That's first-game stuff, and should get better, though there's also some apparent lack of strength that will take an offseason. It can increment forward overall, but there's limited upside during the course of the year unless Harrson Saint Germain proves to be a better blocker than expected.

The most important one, though:
• The Hokies were content to run into stacked boxes, and try to block eight defenders with five linemen and a tight end. Even if you include the quarterback as someone the defense much account for, there's a free-hitter for the opposition, and one guy should be able to arrive to the ball carrier at or near the line of scrimmage. This was probably the biggest issue with last year's offense as well, but nothing ever changed because there wasn't enough comfort throwing the screen to the slot, or quick outside passes to the WRs. It remains to be seen if that persists this year, or if the Hokies were using the Old Dominion game as a testing ground to rep the run game. This is clearly very fixable, whether through self-scout or by simply being a one-game option to try to establish consistency in the run game. But until we actually se te alternative, skepticism is understandable.

Great stuff from @ConnorMardian10

...featuring star receiver Keylen Adams:

Just 28 hours to go...


I'm saving my prediction for now, what are yours?

Interesting choice:

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Running thread of the guys who have heard from the Hokies.

BLACKSBURG – Kenny Brooks announced the elevation of Lindsey Hicks to the women’s basketball program’s associate head coach Thursday afternoon. She enters her fourth season in Blacksburg and has helped the Hokies reach the NCAA Tournament in each of her three seasons with the Hokies, winning an ACC title in 2023 and advancing to the Final Four.



“I’m extremely excited to announce Lindsey Hicks as my associate head coach,” Brooks said Thursday. “She’s been instrumental in the growth of this program in the last four years and this new position is well-deserved. She’s a rising star in this business and I’m glad she’s a Hokie!”



Under Brooks’ leadership, Hicks has been key in guiding Tech to perhaps the best three-year stretch in program history. The Hokies are 69-25 overall, 35-17 in ACC play and hold a remarkable 37-8 record at home in Cassell Coliseum.



Hicks, who trains the post players, has helped develop Elizabeth Kitley, who became the program's first 2,000-point scorer and she is also first in Virginia Tech women's basketball history in field goals, blocks and double-doubles. She is a two-time ACC Player of the year, two-time Kay Yow Scholar Athlete of the Year and two-time AP All-American. Kitley is the first Hokie to hold those titles, in addition to being a three-time First Team All-ACC player and two-time All-Defensive Team member. Kitley has been a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award honoring the top center in women's basketball three times.

She was also part of the staff that saw Aisha Sheppard became the program's leader in points and 3's as she went on to become the program's highest ever WNBA Draft pick in 2022 when she was selected with the 23rd pick in the second round by the Las Vegas Aces.

In the 2023 WNBA Draft, the Hokies had two selections; Kayana Traylor and Taylor Soule for the first time in program history.



The Hokies announced their non-conference schedule Wednesday and begin the season at home against High Point at 5 p.m. on Nov. 6.

Picks for Chris Cole and Deuce Walker from @RivalsFriedman:

I caught up with our Purdue publisher, Travis Miller, for his thoughts on the Boilers' rough opener and what it means for Saturday's game:

Three observations, two questions raised, and one prediction after the ODU game.


What are your predictions?

A big week for the future Hokies. See their full output here (a couple of them will be updated):

Stay locked to this thread for the full details over the course of the weekend: