As Jake Houseright's recovery from his knee injury continues through its second week, the debate rages:  redshirt him, or play him when he fully recovers from his arthroscopic knee surgery?  Houseright has vowed to be back in time for the Miami game on September 19th, and he is already running on the knee that he had surgery on, so he might make it.

For purposes of discussion, let's make the assumption that Brick Houseright will be back for September 26th's Pittsburgh game, at the latest.  If his rehab drags out any longer than that, then the decision to redshirt him is a no-brainer.  Dress him up in scarlet, and we'll see him next year.

But if he's back in the next 1-2 weeks, then what should he do?

I say, let him play, and I say that for two reasons:

1. I want to see the kid play, this year, right here, right now.  I don't wanna wait any more.  If I have to wait until next year to see him play, it'll kill me.  This reason is, of course, a selfish one, and has nothing to do with reason or logic.
2. If he's only going to miss 2-3 games, then don't blow a redshirt year that might come in valuable later.  What if we redshirt Houseright this year, and then he suffers a year-ending injury later on in his career?  Then he'll have to sit out an entire year of games, and he won't have the redshirt year in reserve, so an entire year will be wasted.  I'd rather have him miss just 2-3 games now and still have the redshirt insurance policy up his sleeve for later.

Perhaps it will clear your mind to stop thinking about Jake as a typical freshman.   For example, what if Pierson Prioleau was a little gimpy right now?  Would you say, "Hey, redshirt him!"  I wouldn't.  I would want him to play as soon as possible.

Most freshmen redshirt to get bigger and stronger, and Jake doesn't fit that category.   Physically, he's ready to go now.  I can't vouch for how well he knows the defensive system, but he's a bright kid who I'm sure can pick it up quickly (Nick Sorensen did - a former QB, he's a backup safety now and will see significant playing time this year).

Jake's inexperience might be a bit of a liability early on, against Miami (Sep. 19) and maybe BC (Oct. 8), but by the time the West Virginia game arrives on October 31, he ought to be getting comfortable with the defense, and he'll be a valuable asset later against Syracuse (Nov. 14) and Virginia (Nov. 28).

I say, if he heals before the Pittsburgh game, play him.  If he's ready to go earlier, in the Miami game, then definitely play him.

Did you see that Bryan Still caught 6 passes for 128 yards in San Diego's 16-14 victory over Buffalo last Sunday?  Still scored the Chargers' only touchdown (his first touchdown in his three-year career), and he accounted for over half of their 254 yards of net offense.

It has been slow going with Still, who was the Chargers' first draft choice in the 1996 draft (they picked Still in the second round as the 41st pick overall).  The Chargers have a new QB in former Washington State standout Ryan Leaf, and Leaf's arrival appears to be good news for Still, who hooked up well with Leaf in the preseason.

I've always thought that Still's MVP performance in the Sugar Bowl earned him a career in the NFL.  Up to that point, Still hadn't struck me as being an NFL caliber receiver.  Sure, he had good speed and big play capability, but he also had a habit of dropping wide-open touchdown passes (1994 Gator Bowl, 1995 Miami game).

One thing he was good at was catching the ball in a crowd - if the QB threw it up for grabs in coverage, Still had a knack for coming down with it (he did it twice early in the 1995 UVa game).

But he always seemed like a good college receiver to me, and nothing more.

When he shredded Texas for two touchdowns and 119 yards receiving in the 1995 Sugar Bowl, thus earning MVP honors, the Chargers took notice and spent their highest choice in the 1996 draft on Still.  He proceeded to show up in San Diego and do nothing to distinguish himself.  He had trouble getting open against the big, physical cornerbacks in the NFL, and like many young NFL receivers, he developed the dropsies.

I think that if Still had been a sixth round draft choice or a free agent, the Chargers would have cut him loose long ago.  But because they spent their top pick on him, they stuck with him, not wanting to look like fools.  That's politics in the NFL (look how long the Redskins have hung on to that nutcase psycho Michael Westbrook).

To Still's credit, he kept his mouth shut and worked hard, and that probably had as much to do with him sticking around as anything else.  But I still think that without his sterling Sugar Bowl performance, which helped him earn his high slot in the draft, Still wouldn't have hung around as long as he did.

In the end, it doesn't matter.  He appears to be turning the corner, and that's good news for Bryan Still, and Hokie fans like me who root for him.

Recently, I was discussing corporate sponsorship with a Tech insider, and he told me that Hardee's spent over $300,000 for advertising in UVa's stadium, on their jumbotron, and on their radio broadcasts, but .... they won't even return Tech's phone calls.

And remember, it was last year that many Hardee's restaurants in the state sported UVa napkins, including a Hardee's in Blacksburg.

Just thought you might want to remember that the next time you go out for fast food.   Burger King, anyone?

According to the CBS college football broadcast schedule, it's official:  the Tech/WVU game will be a regional CBS broadcast.  It looks as if game time will be 3:30, based on the TV schedule, which has 3:00-7:00 blocked out for the game.

CBS had previously held back on announcing their intentions for the game.  I figure they were waiting to see if WVU could pull the upset of Ohio State, and maybe if they did, CBS would show Tech/WVU nationally.

As we all know, WVU did not beat OSU (the final was 34-17), and therefore, the Tech/WVU game will only be regional CBS clash.  In practical terms, this probably means that CBS will show the game in Virginia, West Virginia, and nowhere else.

I'm not complaining.  I didn't expect CBS to pick the game up so early.  I figured they would let a few weeks go by, gauge the strength of the two teams, and then either pick it up or leave it to ESPN or ESPN2.  So the fact that CBS has announced this early that they'll run the game is a pleasant surprise to me.

• After all of my talk about how Emmett Johnson was the proud owner of #45, the Tech coaches pulled a fast one on me and switched his number to 21 the day before the ECU game.

• THE VIRGINIA TECH/CLEMSON GAME WILL NOT BE ON TV AT ALL.

• The most stunning upset last week was no doubt Miami of Ohio's victory over the 12th-ranked North Carolina Tarheels in Chapel Hill.  Whereas last year, Miami's 24-17 victory over Tech was somewhat fluky (they had two special teams TD's, and we fumbled on their ten yard line), a look at the box score reveals that the Redhawks just flat outplayed Carolina.

• THE VIRGINIA TECH/CLEMSON GAME WILL NOT BE ON TV AT ALL.

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