The Hokies held a scrimmage Saturday in Lane Stadium, and as detailed in a hokiesports.com report, Cory Holt provided the only score of the scrimmage when he bolted 70 yards for a touchdown. We canvassed our insiders and practice observers and once again received mostly positive reports of the goings-on at VT spring football practice. Check out their thoughts on how Xavier Adibi looks, who lined up at fullback, which defensive back played well (it's a surprise), and how the center spot is shaping up.

Despite giving up the 70-yard run to Holt, the general consensus was that the defense played better during this scrimmage than they did Wednesday, when they gave up several big plays and tailback Branden Ore found good running room all scrimmage long. This time around, the run by Holt and a 20-yard run by George Bell were the offensive plays that drew the most comment.

Hokiesports.com reported that Holt scored down the sideline untouched, and one of our observers snorted, "Anyone who thinks Holt can't run is dead wrong. He's got a long stride, and when he gets going, he's hard to catch." Holt had the 70-yard run plus a 1-yard run on the day and completed 2-4 passes for 45 yards.

Holt stepped up his QB play the most Saturday, though Marcus Vick was again solid, going 8-10 for 97 yards. Sean Glennon didn't have as much success as Vick or Holt, connecting on 7-15 for just 36 yards.

George Bell led the tailbacks with 5 carries for 52 yards, including one impressive 20-yard run (see right) where he used his speed to get around the corner and turn it upfield. Speed is something Bell didn't have last year, when he redshirted as part of a continuing process to recover from a nasty knee injury suffered in his junior year in high school. "Last spring he would not have been able to get to the outside," our insider reported, "and would have been stopped for a four or five yard gain on this play. He nearly broke this one for a TD."

"Billy Hite's got a problem," another insider reported. "He's got to find a way to keep four guys [Bell, Cedric Humes, Mike Imoh and Branden Ore] happy."

One question we had for our insiders was the center spot, where Danny McGrath and Ryan Shuman are not just fighting it out with each other, but trying to play the position well enough that the Hokies can leave Will Montgomery at guard, his natural position. The general consensus is that one key to improved offensive line play for VT is having Montgomery at guard, and so far, Shuman and McGrath appear to be up to the task.

We're not going to pretend that either one is the next Jim Pyne, Billy Conaty, or Jake Grove at this point, but Shuman and McGrath are doing well. "They're going to be fine," one source says, and another added, "I'm pleased with the center spot. McGrath and Shuman seem to be doing a good job in there."

A bigger question is the right side of the OL, where the defensive line has had success getting penetration and disrupting things. Jason Murphy is the right guard, and Reggie Butler is the right tackle, backed up by Nick Marshman.

"I'm still worried about the right side of the offensive line in pass blocking," one insider noted. "Chris Ellis had a sack where it seemed like he was in Sean Glennon's grill as soon as he took the snap. I'm not sure whose fault it was -- Murphy had a reaction where he threw his hands up in the air, but I couldn't tell if it was directed towards Reggie Butler or himself. So the right side is concerning, but at least it isn't Vick's blindside."

"The coaches would like Nick Marshman to lose about 20 pounds this summer," another noted.

At this point, that appears to be the only area of concern for the Hokie offense. VT is stacked at QB, tailback, wide receiver, and tight end (where observers are amazed that Duane Brown can weigh 280 pounds and move like he does).

You'll note we left fullback off that list. Once a staple of the VT offense, the fullback position, which was only on the field for about half the snaps the offense took last season, seems to be becoming less and less important. Three-tight-end sets and spread formations are rearing their heads regularly in VT's practices and scrimmages. "I swear, they're running what at times looks like a west-coast offense," one observer said, and another said, "I haven't seen a five-wide-receiver set yet, but I think we will."

A bigger question, one insider pointed out, is whether fullbacks -- not just guys like VT first-stringer Jesse Allen, but any fullback -- can hope to block guys like Xavier Adibi in space. "There's guys like that all over this league [the ACC]." Perhaps the fullback position, no longer heavily used in the NFL either, is on the way out, and it's not just a question of personnel, but of schemes.

Having said that, astute scrimmage watchers saw Cedric Humes line up at fullback for a few plays while George Bell was at tailback. The Hokies didn't really do anything unusual with that lineup, they just stuck it out there for a minute or two. This isn't a surprise, when you've got four guys that can run. VT toyed with Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones on the field at the same time a few years back, but just briefly, and if there was ever a chance to put two tailbacks on the field again, this fall is it, with Humes having played the fullback position and Bell having the size for it.

Defensively, Aaron Rouse drew raves for his play at Rover, where he resides first on the depth chart. "He arrives at the ball ASAP," one source said, and another noted, "Aaron Rouse looks like he is going to stick at rover. He is great against the run from the secondary, and he isn't sticking out in pass coverage [which is a good thing!]" Rouse's move to rover isn't something that many people anticipated prior to spring practice, but he has been a pleasant surprise, and as long as he can master downfield pass coverage -- where he hasn't embarrassed himself so far -- his emergence could be a key to the VT defense picking up where it left off last year.

Conventional thinking is that if Rouse goes down at rover, or if he disappoints, then the Hokies are in trouble at that position, right? Maybe not. Forgotten man Cary Wade, who was listed first at the position before Rouse was moved there, drew positive comments from two of our insiders, completely unprompted.

"Cary Wade had probably his best practice since he has been at VT," one of our observers said in an email. "Two plays stood out to me, one a run and one a pass. On the running play, Imoh slipped a tackle on an inside run, and bounced it to the outside, where it looked like he would make a big play. But Wade had held his position and didn't get caught up to the inside, and he made a great play on Imoh in the open field. Coach Cav and Foster were very pleased on that play.

"On the pass play, Brandon Flowers blitzed from his corner position, leaving Wade to cover Hyman one on one. Wade stuck right with him on the go route, Hyman pushed off at the end to try and make a play (this one actually was offensive PI, but the refs didn't call it), but Wade stayed on him like glue and the pass was incomplete. Wade looked good out there today, and I hope he keeps it up."

Another source said simply, "You know who's getting better, and the coaches will tell you this? Cary Wade."

Xavier Adibi is up to 224 pounds, which observers say is legit, and continues to show amazing lateral quickness. Michael Malone caught a two-yard hitch route, and before he could even turn to run up field, Adibi was already over to the sideline to tackle him.

In the realm of special teams, we're told that punting-wise, Nic Schmitt is it. Schmitt is the only player listed at the position on the Beamerball.com depth chart, and kickoff artist Jared Develli took a few cuts at it during the scrimmage, with not much success.

Lastly, for one more look at the Hokie stone on the interior walls of Lane Stadium -- corners only -- click here.