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Guys, I was at the weekly Blacksburg Sports Club luncheon today, where defensive coordinator Bud Foster was the keynote speaker. And as each coach who speaks usually does, Bud had some good tidbits with the Hokies.
*First, an injury update. Foster didn't give a timetable, but said senior quarterback Michael Brewer was back throwing yesterday during practice. Brewer has had a plate inserted on his collarbone to help stabilize it and speed up recovery. Brewer still isn't doing much and Foster said he believed Brewer had to be really sore today, but he did some individual work yesterday. It sounds like for now, this will be a couple of times a week thing, where Brewer does as much as he can throwing, but not actually doing much practicing. This makes it sounds like Brewer could be back towards the second half of next month at the earliest, though the safe bet is still by Georgia Tech in November.
**With sophomore linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka, Foster said he also did individual work yesterday, with a sprained MCL. Like Brewer, Motutpuaka is going slowly, but Foster said he expects to have him back as early as next week for Pittsburgh. At the very latest, Foster said Motuapuaka should be back by the NC State game Oct. 9, which would still be about a week ahead of schedule.
***Senior defensive tackle Corey Marshall has a sprained foot. So it sounds like his foot is actually a little worse, since it was diagnosed as plantar fasciitis last week. Foster said Marshall was a game time decision last week, but that his injury got worse last Wednesday and that's when they decided the likelihood of him playing wasn't high. It sounds like Marshall will again be a game time decision and that this week, he's going light in practice.
****The other injury Foster touched on was senior linebacker Ronny Vandyke. He has tendinitis in his foot and was apparently limping yesterday. Foster still said Vandyke is doing well and shouldn't miss any time.
*****Foster spent quite a bit of time talking about VT's defensive backs and how they're taught to play, as the question was asked. First off, Foster said he believed a cornerback on an island is the hardest position to play in football, but that he believes Torrian Gray is the best secondary coach in college football. Foster said DBs are taught a few different terms, such as 'in-phase' when a DB is hip to hip with a wide receiver. The Hokies tell their DBs that if they can pin the wide receiver towards the sideline, they have the freedom not to look back. A 'zone turn' is when a DB turns away from the receiver, while a 'man turn' is when the DB turns into the receiver. Foster said DBs sometimes get 'out of phase' when they panic and look back. Foster's rationale is that when a DB looks back, it creates separation, which he doesn't want. The DBs are taught to read the receiver's eyes and hands and high five the receiver's hand when he raises it. According to Foster, this isn't something only VT does, but rather something that is taught on all levels of football.
******In addressing all the penalties the Hokies have accumulated, Foster said not many have occurred defensively, which is a plus. He said he and the staff have addressed it. He didn't mention fines, but because that system no longer exists, Foster said that the staff has addressed penalties with up-downs. If someone is offsides in practice, the whole team stops and does up-downs. Foster said the day after games is when the game penalties are addressed and that offending players did up-downs "until we feel like we get our point across." He said he wants the Hokies to play aggressive but controlled aggressive.
*******Foster recapped the past three games and said the Purdue win was the most complete effort VT has had this season. He said the Hokies just didn't execute against Ohio State because the Buckeyes "are not 42 points-worth good. There's not a huge difference between them and us." Foster then said that Purdue's offense reminded him of Boston College. He specifically pointed out Sean Huelskamp and Adonis Alexander for their efforts. Overall, though, Foster said that "Any time you feel good about yourself, you get your tail knocked off."
********Finally, Foster shared a couple of childhood stories that his mother had apparently passed on to someone at the sports club. Apparently when his family moved to St. Louis, many of the people there had nicknames. Foster's nickname was "Turk" because he could move his head like a turkey. And the other story that drew laughs was that when he was very young and living in Macomb, IL, his family had a pear tree. Foster and some of his friends thought it would be funny to find the rotten pears and throw them at passing cars. But one time, apparently someone stopped and started coming after them. The boys all ran to the house and acted like they were playing cards. The guy topped following them, but they confessed to Foster's mother what they were doing.
