Guys, in the past hour, the new AP poll was released, with VT fourth in receiving votes. That was the case in the coaches' poll as well. Ohio State a unanimous No. 1. Here's the full poll: http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll?2015-1

In the article linked below 2017 Rivals100 RB Khalan Laborn says his top five is FSU, UGA, Ohio State, UNC and VT but FSU & VT are his top two. He hopes to commit some time near New Year's.

Article:Top five, two leaders for 2017 R100 RB Laborn

Guys, I spoke earlier with South Mecklenberg (NC) class of 2017 DE Jake Lawler, No. 244 in the Rivals250. Lawler was at VT's camp June 14, where he picked up his offer from the Hokies. Lawler now has six offers, the most recent one from North Carolina. Other offers are from Duke, NC State, Wake Forest and Charlotte.

It's a little too early for favorites here, but Lawler said the four schools recruiting him hardest are UNC, Duke, VT and Clemson. And the Tar Heels are the biggest one to watch. Both of Lawler's parents attended UNC and he loves the atmosphere there.

VT is in this one and will stay in it because Lawler said that's the school that gave him the earliest interest. He was also at the spring game and said of the coaching staff, "They really know what they're doing." He said assistant coach Shane Beamer is the primary recruiter, but Lawson talks more with defensive coordinator Bud Foster more than anyone. So that's obviously a plus.

Clemson is also worth watching, since he mentioned them without the Tigers having offered. Lawler camped there for three days over the summer.

Right now, the visits Lawler has planned are to VT for the Ohio State game, to the UNC/Duke game Nov. 7 in Chapel Hill and to a Clemson game. the last one isn't planned. After watching Lawler at the Hokies' camp, he's legit. So this one would be one of the bigger steals from NC if they can get him.

Full story coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Guys, I know there's probably points that Kelly and I missed in our posts from yesterday. We tried to post the things that stood out. If you have other questions on individual guys, sides of the ball, positions, whatever, post them here and we'll try our best to answer them.

Guys, just wanted to do a full rundown on everything from the scrimmage, in addition to the running thread we did during the actual scrimmage itself. Kelly will also be by to add more from the second half.

*First, just a recap of the guys out for the day: In blue were Kendall Fuller, Marshawn Williams, Jerome Wright, Deshawn McClease and Xavier Burke. In green were Wade Hansen and Trevon Hill. It appears Hansen's right foot is a little worse than expected. Now a week and a half that he's been in green, though at least now it's not in a boot. Fuller had his right knee wrapped up, but it seems to just be a mild sprain at this point. That doesn't seem like a huge worry at this point.

**CJ Carroll is getting more reps as a punt returner and also even got a few reps with the one offense. I don't think that will stick, but VT is wanting to find more creative ways to use him. Great speed and since he's so little and low to the ground, he's a lot more elusive than you might think.

***Dwayne Lawson was the only quarterback not in yellow today for no contact. And he took a few good shots from defenders, who have been holding back on quarterbacks. He did mostly run plays and for the most part was successful with the third team. But he also has to be more protective of the football. He had one spot on a draw midway through where he didn't have the ball close to his chest and when he took a hit, he fumbled, which was recovered by cornerback Brandon Facyson.

****The ineptness at center continues. This time it was with freshman Tyrell Smith under center and Lawson at quarterback. Smith had one bad exchange, resulting in a fumble, then with Lawson in the shotgun, had two low snaps that went in the ground. Eric Gallo still the de facto starter, but behind him still needs a lot of work.

*****A few more touchdowns this week than the scrimmage last weekend. Charley Meyer was wide open over the middle of the field for a 24-yard touchdown pass. After that, the Hokies started a number of drives from the 30 yard line, so that contributed to the scoring, but Brendan Motley made a nice fake to Trey Edmunds, then went up the middle untouched for a five-yard touchdown run.

******A very clean scrimmage, but the only conflict came on a catch by Carroll, where he was tackled by Deon Clarke and Adonis Alexander. Alexander then bodyslammed him to the ground, prompting assistant Shane Beamer to yell, "Don't be a dumb ass!" It's getting to that point where I know the players are tired of going against each other. Just a slight lapse by Alexander who otherwise has had a very impressive fall camp.

*******The guy I'm really impressed with as far as boosting his stock, well actually, there's two, are Terrell Edmunds and Yosh Nijman. Edmunds is getting more time on the field. As a gunner, he made an impressive tackle on Greg Stroman, who was fielding a punt and then had a nice play on a blitz, getting running back JC Coleman in the backfield for a loss. His stock has really improved. Nijman is making the most of Hansen being out. During that time, Jonathan Mclaughlin has shifted to right tackle and Nijman has gotten most of the time as the No. 1 left tackle. To see where he's come since moving to the OL in the spring is very impressive.

More coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Just bought tickets to the game on the 7th. Never been to Blacksburg so can you fine gentlemen help out with bar recs and a good place to get lunch before the drinking begins? I'm 31 coming with my gf who is 26 so looking for a somewhat rowdy environment but not animal house crazy.

Noticed he didn't scrimmage. What's going on here?

Friendly staff, great store. Lowes > home depot. What do you guys think?

80% > 20%

Guys, Kelly and I will be on hand today for VT's scrimmage, which goes from 3:15-5:30 pm. I'll be posting our usual INsider, but follow along here for any big updates.

More coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Hoping to be a Bills' fan come week 1!!!


http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...-buffalo-bills/ar-BBlX8DZ?ocid=ansmsnsports11

The Hokies did their annual community service project yesterday in helping freshman students move into their dorms. Our media partners at WSLS did a nice piece with Trey Edmunds hosting on the experience: http://wsls.com/2015/08/19/hokies-football-players-help-freshmen-get-settled-on-move-in-day/

Whenever Settle gets on field for Hokies, looks like we may have a good option to pick up a yard+ on 4th down! Touchdown Tim?

Not a shock as this has been rumored most of the summer, but VT officially announced Brad Paisley will be performing the night before the Ohio State game:
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Guys, we pretty well knew this was coming, but Dematha (Md.) five-star guard Markelle Fultz will be ending his recruitment shortly and the Hokies are out of the picture. We'll see where VT goes from here:
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I'm not an Orthopedic Surgeon, but it seems, all things considered, that VT should redshirt Marshawn this year. All that I've read indicates that it would be rushing MW's recovery to play him now. That should be the biggest factor re a RS this year.

Furthermore, VT is loaded with talented backs now, though maybe not quite MW's caliber except JC; size/caliber - Shai McKenzie, who is due to come back sooner from injury than Marshawn.

Of course, God forbid, VT could have another plague of RB injuries like last year, But, seems like RS would be best for VT and Marshawn in long run and should still have full stable of stallions next year.

Thanks

Guys, this was tweeted out a little while ago. VT commits Reggie Floyd and Devante Smith from Stonewall Jackson (Va.) will both be on hand tomorrow for the scrimmage:
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Guys, I spoke a little earlier with Raines (Fla.) three-star defensive end JaQuan Bailey. He's basically become the Hokies' top target to finish up the DL, though there is a possibility of one more.

Bailey has been committed to Florida since March and said he's an "easy commit" or soft commitment there. The three schools Bailey said he's looking at are VT, Louisville and Marshall. The Gators are still in the mix, as he visited there July 24 for Friday Night Lights and spoke to the coaches and hung out there.

But to show you how much he likes the Hokies, he said he left that visit early to drive through the night with his coach to get to VT for Beamer's BBQ. That was his first visit to Blacksburg. Bailey said he loves assistant coach Charley Wiles. He likes the family environment with the Hokies, but said he felt like the coaches were all talking to him the hardest while he was on his visit. Bailey told me, "I can see myself going and playing early and I love playing under Coach Wiles."

Louisville got a visit the previous weekend and Bailey said he liked the visit. But he also couldn't remember the name of the defensive line coach. Bailey still said VT and Louisville are at the top with Florida, but that Marshall is very underrated. "I don’t think they get enough respect nationally," he said.

Bailey is trying to set up official visits, likely to those four schools, but said he's also taking an unofficial visit to VT for the Ohio State game. He also said he'd likely go to Florida Sept. 12 for the game against East Carolina. But as good a position as the Hokies are in, Bailey said a decision likely isn't coming until signing day. "To me, signing day is gonna be very interesting," he said.

Full story coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

I am new to having season tickets. If I purchase them again next year will a ticket to "The Battle at Bristol" be included? If anyone can shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Guys, I spoke a little earlier with Ocean Lakes (Va.) 2017 three-star WR Tahj Capehart. He's ranked as the No. 13 player in Virginia for the class.

It's been a bust past month or so for Capehart. He camped at Florida State, then visited Tennessee, Ohio State and Virginia Tech. Capehart was in Blacksburg July 25 for Beamer's BBQ. And like JaQuan Bailey, it's important to note that Capehart went out of his way to attend. Capehart was at the Buckeyes' Friday Night Lights Camp on July 24. He and his mother drove through the night to get to VT for the BBQ.

This was Capehart's third visit to Blacksburg. On this trip, he said he spent a lot of time talking to assistant coach Zohn Burden, who also showed him around campus. Capehart said he liked watching Burden workout the receivers. The odd thing was what Capehart said about the new indoor facility. He said he liked it, but: "I thought it would be a little more when I was in there, but I expected it would be like that." Still, it sounds like the Hokies are at or near the top of the list right now. Capehart told me, "That’s the college I talk to the most."

Capehart said he did like the Ohio State visit, even though he cut it a bit short. He enjoyed hanging out with the players and coaches and said, "Everyone wants to go there." Capehart also felt like he had a lot in common with the players he talked to there.

It's still pretty early here, or at least, there's a long way to go. Capehart said he has no visits planned for the fall right now, but hopes to see Tennessee, NC State, North Carolina and Georgia this fall. He's already seen the first three, but seems pretty intrigued by the Bulldogs. Nothing likely to happen here until at least after signing day for the 2016 class in February. But VT in good shape.

Full story coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Guys, hope you all have had fantastic weeks! We're getting closer and closer to kickoff!

This week, we're back at our regular time of 12:30 pm ET tomorrow (Friday) for our chat. I thought last week's went pretty well in our trial run at 3 pm. I haven't heard any feedback from anyone, but let me know what you thought and we'll try it once more in September. If it goes about the same or better, we'll start regularly having one chat per month at that time, to accommodate as many of you as possible.

So come join us and take advantage of your subscriptions! Happy to answer any VT related questions you have. And as always, if you can't make the chat, you can always post a question on The Gobbler, email me directly or catch the replay.

This week's chat link: http://bit.ly/1NnTT2J

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the Univ of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on probation for one year today. This is an academic slap in the face. It does not directly matter to UNC- Chapel Hill's sports programs, but.....IT IS a major-issue in academia. This will possibly take UNC outside of the notorious US News top 100 University rankings when they are next updated. The SACS is an academic accrediting agency and a one year probation stent is a warning shot to UNC regarding their academic mess. If UNC were to not comply and continue with academic fraud, they could lose their accreditation as a University. Certainly, they will comply and be off of probation in one year, but this is a gigantic slap in the face academically. You can bet the Professors at the school are far more worried about this then the coming athletic penalties.

Guys, full video on assistant coaches Stacy Searels and Zohn Burden, who go over position battles and other standouts at this point of fall camp: http://rvls.co/1Ji6d1V

Guys, I mentioned it earlier on today's chat, but wanted to officially announce HokieHaven.com's partnership with WSLS-TV in Roanoke. As many of you may know, Rivals.com has entered into an exclusive partnership with NBC Sports. In this agreement, we'll share content and be featured on the new NBC Sports Network. We've already had a long-standing relationship as NBC has aired the Army All-American game, for which we've been much of the on-air talent and also selected the players for the game.

But while nationally, NBC and Rivals are slowly integrating features, WSLS and HokieHaven.com have decided to step on the gas. We'll be sharing content, information and other online features. You'll see our content and name featured on WSLS NBC and Fox21/27 (also owned by WSLS) in Roanoke and Lynchburg and vice versa.

I'm REALLY excited about this deal, which will expand our coverage and allow us to bring you even more Virginia Tech and recruiting coverage. We were mentioned by WSLS Tuesday for breaking the news about Robert Brown transferring (helped by posts on The Gobbler) and today, you can see video shot by WSLS featured on our site. And there's plenty more to come as we really hash out what's to come.

This will help give you the MOST for your subscription and also help make us the leader for Virginia Tech and recruiting coverage. We want to earn your business and this will help us bring you the very most VT coverage.

Guys, I spoke earlier with Bergenfield (NJ) four-star tight end Jovani Haskins. This is the kid who I've said for a while is by far VT's best chance for a player from New Jersey.

Haskins visited Blacksburg July 25 for Beamer's BBQ and said he loved talking with assistant coach Cornell Brown, as well as sophomore tight end Bucky Hodges. Haskins really seems to have taken to Bucky, as he even tweeted photos of the two of them. For one, Bucky plays the same thing that Haskins does in high school and is also exactly what the Hokies would do with Haskins: a TE who also plays some H-back, splits out wide and runs deep patterns as well.

On his VT visit, Haskins said he went with his parents, broke down film and talked with Brown and others about he would fit in the offense. He also said his parents really liked VT.

The only other visit Haskins has made over the last few months was to Rutgers a few weeks ago. He toured campus and the facilities and overall, said he likes the proximity of it to where he lives. Haskins also said he feels like the staff takes care of its players.

Right now, the four schools at the top are VT, Rutgers, West Virginia and Miami. He also plans on taking official visits to all four. But as far as when he decides, he's not sure. I will say, one option that seems to be off the table now is playing with his cousin, Dwayne Haskins. Jovani made no mention of Dwayne or Maryland, for those curious.

Full story coming, but as always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.