Hokie Hotline Notes, sponsored by Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech

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Jim Cavanaugh

• It was a great win on Saturday night. Tech got off to a good start, which was very important.
• Cav has never coached in a game with an interception return for a touchdown, a punt return for a touchdown and a kickoff return for a touchdown.
• When you jump out to a big lead, you make the other team one dimensional. The defensive linemen can start to turn up the heat on the quarterback.
• Vince Hall is a big loss. He led the ACC in tackles last year. They feel bad for Vince because it's his senior year. But with every injury, someone else gets the opportunity to shine. Brett Warren will get his chance.
• Jonas Houseright went in for Vince Hall against Clemson because Warren had tweaked a hamstring. Houseright played well.
• Cam Martin and Kam Chancellor are doing a good job. Lorenzo Ferguson and Pierson Prioleau are the only sophomores to play those positions before Martin and Chancellor. Tech generally has experienced guys at whip and rover.
• Bud Foster and Torrian Gray came up with some great coverages. Sometimes they were able to free up the cornerbacks for big hits.
• Branden Ore is banged up, but if you're going to play running back in this league you're going to be banged up.
• Recruiting is going very well. Recruiting has changed. They are in on many younger players now. The parent of a sophomore called Cav recently wanting to know why his kid hadn't been offered yet.
• Cav is currently in favor of an early signing period. That's a big change from the past.
• Saturday night's win was tremendous. Clemson has a different personality at home. They were ready to play.

• Oliver Weiss has done a great job with the men's soccer program. They are ranked #9 in the country.
• They have a goal for all 21 teams to finish in the top four in the ACC. Tech is steadily improving in all sports. They aren't there yet, but they've taken huge steps since joining the ACC.
• The band isn't going to Duke because they couldn't find any buses. They were working on it as late as Monday morning, but couldn't find any. They are still going to Virginia later this year.
• Tech needs a special traveling band like most other teams in the conference. They'll travel more times if they can get less people. Tech is still learning about the ACC, and this is one thing they've learned.
• Tech gets 4300 tickets for road games, including player comps. The band takes up over 400 seats. That weighs in on that decision making process. A travel band would have between 90 and 115 people, and it would be much easier to travel.
• Hokies All Access is the only legal way to listen to Tech programming online. Stations are not allowed to broadcast the Hokie Hotline or Tech games on their websites.
• There were a lot of Clemson people sitting around Weaver who were questioning some of the calls made by their coaches.
• Weaver said he has tried on several occasions to schedule Penn State, but he hasn't been successful.
• Other schools play music over their sound system to create energy. There is already plenty of energy in Lane Stadium.

• It was a great win on Saturday. He's proud of Tech's players and coaches. Clemson is a talented team, and the Hokies handled it great.
• Tech has a chance to be very good. The kicking game obviously played very well. Jud Dunlevy is kicking field goals very well. He has made two pressure field goals in the last two weeks.
• With similar personnel in the past, Tech's offense has been very successful. They are playing well in practice, but they need to play well in games.
• Getting Ed Wang back at tackle allows them to move Nick Marshman back to guard, and that should help things out.
• Wang scrimmaged some on Monday, and with a full week of practice, hopefully he'll be much closer to where he was before he got hurt.
• Vince Hall will be back as soon as he possibly can. Clemson didn't have an X-ray machine down there and they didn't realize how serious the injury was. For him to go back in the game shows his toughness and desire.
• Jonas Houseright came into the game and played very well. He had to go in and play not only defense, but also special teams, and he did a great job.
• Brett Warren will start on Saturday, and Houseright will back him up. Warren's hamstring was bothering him against Clemson, but he felt very good on Monday.
• Tech didn't turn the ball over against Clemson. They didn't do anything to help Clemson get back in the game. They need to get more first downs, but they did what they could on Saturday.
• Tyrod Taylor played much better against Clemson. He's talented and smart, and he'll get better each week. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday.
• Xavier Adibi played a great game on Saturday. He had over 100 plays, with defense and special teams. He also gave up his body to recover that onside kick.
• When Wang was in there back in the spring, the offensive line was clicking very well. When Marshman had to move to tackle, and they had to get a new guard, things started going downhill.
• Clemson changed their punt protection team a bit to make sure they could prevent the block. As a result, they didn't get down the field on coverage very well.
• Brett Warren has always been a very good run stopper, and he's improved his coverage skills.
• Ore's ankle is still bothering him a bit. He had to miss practice on Monday because he was sick. The staff tells Beamer that he's okay, so he assumes that's the situation. He's not far away. He's another piece of the puzzle that's ready to break out.
• When Ore came back, he wasn't in the shape he needed to be. He's worked his way back into shape. He says he's fine, the trainer says he's fine, so Beamer is going to say he's fine. They just have to block a little better and get him some room.
• When Beamer recruited Macho Harris, he told him he'd like to get to the point where he could play on both sides of the ball. Next year will be that opportunity, as a wide receiver on offense. He's explosive with the ball in his hands.
• Tyrod Taylor is an exceptional quarterback. He's having trouble reading coverages, but he improves all the time. He's going to be a great player.
• Duke has been in every game they've played. They were very close against Miami and Wake Forest the last two weeks. Navy beat them on a last second field goal. Duke beat Northwestern, who beat Michigan State over the weekend.
• Duke is a capable team. Just look at Stanford and USC. USC was favored by 41 points, and Stanford hadn't been close to beating anyone. Duke has been very competitive.
• Ike Whitaker is back with the team. He's got a chance to help the team in the future. He'll probably be at Duke on Saturday.

Monday was Day 1,038 of Virginia Tech's continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.