Hokie Nation

News from Blacksburg, Virginia, the home base for Hokie Nation.  Head Coach Frank Beamer officially announced Tuesday that Sophomore QB, Tyrod Taylor will be red shirting this season. This means that Senior Sean Glennon will get all the snaps (pending not getting injured). The Hokies had played with dual quarterbacks last season as the offensive line was suffering from injuries and were young. Frank Beamer wanted one starting QB for all of last year, and went into this year’s preseason with that notion in mind.

Virginia Polytechnic and State Institute won the ACC title last season, for the second time since entering the Atlantic Coast Conference only four years ago. The Hokies had the two-headed monster at quarterback of Glennon and Tyrod last season and confused teams with the two different styled QB’s. Glennon was a better passer while Tyrod scrambled and reminded Hokie fans of the good old Vick days. With Sean Glennon in his senior season and Tyrod only a sophomore, Beamer has decided to let Taylor learn the offense and his young receivers this season. Tyrod will travel with the team and practice with the team, although he is not likely to see action (barring any unforeseen injuries). Right now, Cory Holt is the #2 behind Glennon.

This is a great move for Frank and the Hokies this year, as it gives Sean the confidence that he needs going into his senior season. It also will allow Tyrod to learn the new crop of young receivers, and will help ensure future success in the ACC in upcoming seasons. Tyrod is a very skilled quarterback with great pocket awareness. He can tuck the ball and run with the best of them. He needs to improve his throwing mechanics and decision-making, but that will come with time and age. This move will give Tyrod the chance to get better in both skills and allow Sean to show off his talented arm the entire year. He was the ACC MVP last year and a solid contributor. Glennon has progressed over his four seasons at Tech and has shown great signs of improvement this preseason.

The Hokies open the season this coming Saturday against East Carolina. ESPN fans voted this game to be the first big upset of the year. The VT-ECU game earned 31% of the overall votes on an ESPN poll. Other games included LSU against last year’s amazing opening day upset team, Appalachian State.   With Glennon confidently going in as the starter, a Hokie upset seems unlikely.