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Defense Not So Experienced in 2008
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

Last week we looked at the top offensive players of the Beamer Bowl Era. This week we'll switch sides of the ball and pick our All-VT defensive team since 1993. The Hokies have such a reputation for good defense that it was very hard to make decisions for a lot of positions.

Ultimately, here's my starting lineup if I got to choose 11 defenders from the Beamer Bowl Era.

It was not particularly difficult to pick the defensive ends. The Hokies have had two completely dominant players at end during the Beamer Bowl Era. In 1999, Corey Moore was a Unanimous All-American, and he led the Big East in sacks in 1998 and 1999. Cornell Brown was a Consensus All-American in 1996, leading the Big East with 14 sacks.

Brown and Moore built Virginia Tech's reputation for great defensive ends. For quite a while, every new defensive end recruit that the Hokies signed was "the next Corey Moore" or "the next Cornell Brown". Honorable mention: Chris Ellis, Darryl Tapp, John Engelberger.

Defensive tackle was a lot harder to pick. The Hokies have had a lot of very good ones, but no truly great one. The best was probably J.C. Price, who was a 3rd Team All-American in 1995. He had four sacks against Miami that year. David Pugh was also a 3rd Team All-American in 2001, so he is the other choice. Honorable Mention: Jonathan Lewis, Chad Beasley, Carlton Powell.

Just pop in a tape of the 2005 defense to see all three linebacker selections. Vince Hall, Xavier Adibi and James Anderson were all starters on that team. Vince Hall was one of the best pure football players to ever play for Tech, Xavier Adibi was the best coverage linebacker Bud Foster has ever had, and James Anderson was the most naturally gifted whip in school history.

It's hard to imagine all three players coming from the same defense, but that's how it worked out on my list. Honorable mention: George DelRicco (mike), Ben Taylor (backer), Jamel Smith (backer), Brandon Semones (whip).

I think we can all safely refer to Virginia Tech as DBU - Defensive Back University - from now on. Think about the number of defensive backs from Tech who have played in the NFL since the Beamer Bowl Era began: Tyronne Drakeford, Torrian Gray, Antonio Banks, Pierson Prioleau, Keion Carpenter, Ike Charlton, Anthony Midget, Cory Bird, Kevin McCadam, Willie Pile, Eric Green, Vincent Fuller, Jimmy Williams, Garnell Wilds, Justin Hamilton, Brandon Flowers, Nick Sorensen, Ronyell Whitaker, and DeAngelo Hall. Apologies if I left anyone out.

With so much talent, it was tough to choose defensive backs, so a new category was created, which we'll go over later. But first, let's talk about the starters.

Brandon Flowers is the best overall cornerback to ever play at Tech. He is one of the most natural football players, regardless of position, to ever play at Tech. He was an easy one for the list. As the other cornerback I chose Tyronne Drakeford. At safety we have Keion Carptenter, who was undrafted but turned into a five-year starter in the NFL. Pierson Prioleau is the rover, and he still plays in the NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Honorable mention corners include Jimmy Williams, DeAngelo Hall and Eric Green. At free safety, honorable mention players are William Yarbrough and Willie Pile, while Aaron Rouse makes the list at rover.

There are a lot of good players left off that list, many of whom played more than one position in the secondary. So I created a special list of the top versatile players in Tech's secondary.

Torrian Gray started at rover for Tech in 1995, where he was a hero in the Sugar Bowl. In 1996 he started at free safety. Antonio Banks, Vincent Fuller and Anthony Midget all spent time at free safety and cornerback for the Hokies.

Those guys deserve special recognition because they played more than one position in the secondary, and they were very good at whatever position they played.