Virginia Tech-Maryland: Hokie Lines Dominant in 23-13 Victory

Hats off to Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring. He called a good game. Sean Glennon was less than sharp but played well for a one-legged quarterback. The offensive line played like we all thought they could at the beginning of the season. The question is, how much of it was due to how bad Maryland was on D?

Quick Hits

•The Wild Turkey or Wild Boone or whatever you want to call it worked two ways. Boone is tough to take down and took his toll on whomever tackled him. It also pumped the crowd up every time he took a snap.

•It will be interesting to see if Boone still gets plays under center when Tyrod Taylor gets healthy.

•Our offensive and defensive lines were dominant, as predicted. The Terps couldn't do anything on the ground, and when Turner was forced to throw, he never had enough time.

•Taco Thompson and Cody Grimm share defensive players of the game in my book. Grimm was all over the field on both defense and special teams. Thompson always seemed to be around the ball and seemed like he knew what the snap count was going to be every play.

•Maryland was able to use Tech's aggressiveness against it on the Heyward-Bey screen pass touchdown. However, you won't fool Bud Foster on the same play twice, as Heyward-Bey later learned in the red zone.

•Finally a decent game from Kam Chancellor.

•This was an experienced, good offense that the Hokies shut down. Yes, Da'Rel Scott was banged up going into the game, but everyone else was taken out of the equation as well. Other than the Hey-Bey screen pass, it was a damn near perfect performance by the D.

•Maryland's defense, particularly its defensive line, isn't very good. As they like to do, they lined up in a 3-4 a lot with their "leo" player on the line in a two-point stance. That's the main reason Tech was able to destroy them up front. The Terps were undersized and compensated for it by not stacking the box and running a 3-4. It was comical.

•However, give credit to Darren Evans. He ran with purpose on Thursday. It was great to see.

•Glennon is still missing high. That's going to lead to interceptions if he isn't careful.

•The receivers continue to get better. They made some tough catches and ran much better routes this time around. Boykin and Coale have stepped up as the No. 1 and No. 2 receivers. Roberts is getting better and hopefully is close to emerging as a legitimate deep threat.

•Speaking of Roberts, he was a machine on kick returns. Macho also had a nice punt return.

•On the flip side of that coin, we let another punt get blocked. The punt coverage team is still terrible, but the kickoff coverage team had a better game.

•Miami is a much better team than the Terps, and the game this Thursday will be on the road. While I feel better about this game than I did on Wednesday, I still think it's going to be tougher to move the ball and get pressure on the quarterback this week.

•Apologies to anyone who sat near me in the Tech student section Thursday. I was invisible. Sure, I've been much drunker for Hokie games, but that was probably the most belligerent I've been in a while.

•The staggering hangover I had Friday was cured by the Cracker Barrel in Bristol, Va. Damn skippy I stopped on the Virginia side. The only place in Tennessee I'll give my money to is Corky's.