After months of anticipation, Virginia Tech will begin preseason football practice this afternoon. The Hokies have a lot of question marks going into the season, and they will begin to be answered today at 3:15.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Hokies will try to figure out who their starting quarterback will be. Sean Glennon leads, but Cory Holt and Ike Whitaker are close behind. All three quarterbacks need to get off to a good start in the opening days of practice, or they will find themselves losing ground quickly.

The Hokies also need to establish their starting offensive guards. Ryan Shuman has pretty much locked down a spot at right guard, while Sergio Render and Nick Marshman are battling it out at left guard. Right now it appears that Marshman has the lead and will open preseason practice as the starter.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Hokies will attempt to establish depth along the defensive line and at linebacker. Tech is set with three juniors at the top of the depth chart at defensive tackle, but they need to see exactly how good redshirt freshmen Cordarrow Thompson and Hivera Green will be this year.

At linebacker, the Hokies have very good starters, but the backups need increased reps, especially at the backer position.

Here is a look at the practice schedule for this season, per BeamerBall.com.

The Hokies will hold live scrimmages on Saturday, August 12th, Saturday, August 19th, and Friday, August 25th. A scripted scrimmaged will be held on Saturday, August 26th. These scrimmages will be extremely important for getting younger players reps in live situations. The results of those scrimmages will go a long way in establishing a depth chart.

The USA Today released their 2006 preseason Coaches' Poll on Thursday. The Hokies are ranked 16th, and four ACC teams find themselves ranked in the top 25. Ohio State was named the #1 team in the country, with defending National Champion Texas at #2. Notre Dame and USC tied for #3, while Oklahoma rounds out the top five.

The highest ranked ACC team is Florida State, who comes in at #10 in the nation. The Seminoles are ranked one spot higher than their arch rivals, the Miami Hurricanes. Miami is ranked #11, just 35 points behind Florida State. The two teams open the season against each other on Monday, September 4.

Virginia Tech is ranked #16 in the country, with 591 total points. They come in two spots ahead of Clemson, who is #18 with 493 total points. Those four teams are the only ACC teams ranked in the preseason top 25.

Other ACC teams did receive votes, including Boston College (87), Georgia Tech (28), Maryland (8) and Duke (1). Steve Spurrier always votes Duke at #25 in his preseason poll every year.

The 2006 Welcome Back Picnic has been scheduled for Sunday, August 13th in Cassell Coliseum. The event will last from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm and will include a meal provided by Outback Steakhouse. Bill Roth and Mike Burnop will host the event, and Frank Beamer and the entire Virginia Tech football team will be present.

Mike Gentry will also be on hand to present the summer strength and conditioning awards. At 7 pm, the football team will be available to fans for an autograph session.

Tickets, which are $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under, can be purchased by calling A Cleaner World at 540-951-9506.