Today's update features links to a ton of articles, so you better block out some time to check them all out.

Michael Vick.  Jake Houseright.  Ronyell Whitaker.  Lee Suggs.   Lamar Cobb.  T.J. Jackson.  Anthony Nelson.  Travis Turner.   Grant Noel.

Seven months to the day after Virginia Tech signed those players to letters of intent as part of the Hokies' best recruiting haul ever, not one of the storied names listed above will be on Tech's two-deep roster on opening day.

Houseright would have made it, but he reinjured his knee, had it 'scoped, and will miss 2-4 weeks in rehab.  Nelson, the man-child from Tennessee, might have played as well, but he didn't qualify and is spending a year at Hargrave.  All of the others listed above will probably redshirt this year.

Instead, when the Hokies kick it off against ECU tomorrow, the unlikely names Emmett Johnson and Ben Taylor will be the only true freshmen listed on Tech's two-deep depth chart.  Taylor, a linebacker, and Johnson, a wide receiver, will probably see playing time in the Hokies' opener.

Ben Taylor, who was actually part of Tech's 1997 recruiting class (he entered school late, in January of 1998), is a classic case of a great player who, because he is from out of state, came to Tech with no fanfare.

Taylor, at 6-3, 207, was one of six finalists for "Mr. Football" honors in Ohio as a senior in high school.  Take a minute to absorb that.  We're not talking "Mr. Football" in Wyoming.  We're talking Ohio, where they play some serious football.  He was also named honorable mention All-America by The USA Today.

Although he didn't receive any notice during fall scrimmages from the press or the fans, I noticed that Taylor's #40 was very active around the ball, and I even went to one scrimmage where an observer said, "Number 40 is Houseright, right?"  So I'm not surprised to see Ben land on the two-deep, because he has played well in the spring and fall of this year.

Sure, as a Backer, if Houseright was healthy, Taylor wouldn't be on the two-deep.   It would be Jamel Smith and Jake Houseright in front of him.  But don't let that stop you from taking notice of him.  He's developing nicely.

As for Emmett Johnson, he has been a total surprise, even to the Tech coaches.  I keep thinking back to the Outback Picnic a couple of weeks ago, when Emmett was walking around in a #45 jersey with the name "T.J. Jackson" on the back.  There were a number of true freshmen wearing jerseys with names on them - Lee Suggs, Michael Vick, etc. - but Emmett didn't have his own jersey.  He was wearing the jersey of another player.

It's weeks later, and the number 45 belongs to Emmett Johnson now.  It's what he'll wear on Saturday when he comes in the game.  In a class full of potential superstars, Emmett Johnson is ready to play now.

Good luck to those two freshmen - and all the Hokies - on Saturday.

The Roanoke Times college football preview section came out on Thursday, and in the interest of fairness, let me say that they, namely Randy King, did a great job.  The Hokie/Big East articles outnumbered the UVa/ACC articles in size and number, and Randy wrote an article about Al Clark that will make you an Al fan for life.

The section was eight pages long:

• The majority of the front page was taken up by a HUGE picture of Al Clark and the lead-in on a story about Al titled, "Sometimes, I Wonder How I Made It"  At the bottom of the front page, a small UVa preview article only took up about 1/4 of the page.
• Page 2 was all about Al.  The entire page was taken up by the Al Clark story.
• Page 3 featured Big East scouting reports, and two articles about Ferrum and the ODAC conference.
• Page 4 was a Tech article called "Put Up Your Dukes, plus the Tech schedule and roster.
• Page 5 was a UVa article called ... eh, who cares, plus the UVa schedule and roster.
• Page 6 contained a VMI article, ACC scouting reports, and an article on the WVU Mountaineers.
• Page 7 was an article about the state's 1-AA teams, plus 1998 college football schedules.
• Page 8 - the finale - was entirely taken up by an article written by retired Tech Director of Media Relations Jack Williams in which he ranked his Top 20 favorite Tech players of his tenure.

By my count, that's 4-1/2 pages for Tech and Big East material, and only 1-1/2 pages worth of articles on UVa and the ACC.  This is one situation in which the Roanoke Times coverage was strongly in Tech's favor, hands down.

"Sometimes, I Wonder How I Made It" - Randy King, The Roanoke Times, 9/3/98

Put Up Your Dukes - Randy King, The Roanoke Times, 9/3/98

Line May be a Big Stumbling Block - Randy King, The Roanoke Times, 9/3/98

• I never did find time to do a preseason predictions article, but here's my prediction for the ECU game:  Hokies 21, Pirates 17.

• Thanks to a donation from the Roanoke Valley Hokie Club, Tech now has speakers under the stands, near the concessions, and in the bathrooms at Lane Stadium.  The speaker systems will be used to play the broadcast of the Tech game as called by Bill Roth and Mike Burnop, so now, when you go to the restroom or to get a soda, you won't miss a moment of the action!  There will also be speakers mounted outside the stadium, so you can catch the broadcast on the way in and the way out.

• The right-hand turn lane from Route 11 in Christiansburg on to Route 460 will be open Saturday.  There was some concern that the reworked lane wouldn't be ready in time, but thankfully, it will be.

• The kickoff time of the November 28th Tech/UVa game has officially been set at 12:00 by ESPN.

• The weather forecast for this Saturday is sunny and 85 degrees.  Terrible, isn't it?

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