The Virginia Tech football team had another strong scrimmage Saturday (good enough that Frank Beamer is giving the team Sunday and Monday off), and we got a report from our man on the spot. Here are his thoughts on Duane Brown (you can guess from the headline), the defense, the backup QB battle, and more.

"First of all," we were told, "that was a hard hitting, fun scrimmage to watch. The team looked pretty focused. Well played by both the offense and defense."

Standouts

"There were a few standouts that were definitely worth mentioning. Brandon Pace was 4-4 on field goal attempts. He hit from 31, 45, 47 and 49. If those distances aren't exactly right, it was something close [Editor's Note: the 49-yarder was 47 yards, per hokiesports.com]. Very good day for Pace.

"Brett Warren has definitely made progress at linebacker, and he looked good out there today. First time this year I have had a chance to see him scrimmage, and I came away impressed. Brett will be a good player for the Hokies.

"Marcus Vick was good today. He hit Josh Hyman with a couple of very nice passes along the sideline, and Hyman did a great job of keeping his feet inbounds.

"Darryl Tapp was a beast. He had sacks on back-to-back plays. On the first one, he basically just ran over Brandon Frye. On the second one, he ran by Reggie Butler like he was standing still. (More on the tackles later). Cory Holt was the quarterback then, and he didn't have a chance. I think Tapp had one or two more sacks as well. [Tapp finished with three sacks.]

"Cary Wade was back from his injury, and he played very well. He made a great open field tackle on Imoh. Wade is a very good tackler in the open field. I was pleased with the way he played today."

Backup QB

"I still don't know what to say about backup quarterback. Sean Glennon had some time to throw early in the scrimmage, and did well. But then his protection broke down late. Holt never had any time to throw, and when he did his receivers didn't do him any favors. A TD pass slipped through Ed Wang's hands, and Josh Morgan dropped a slightly high, but very catchable pass. But if the yellow jerseys had not been on today, Holt could have easily found himself in Montgomery Regional. It's tough to get a gauge on the backup quarterbacks when they don't have time to throw. On the whole, pass protection was much better today. Mostly backups giving up sacks."

Offensive Guard

"I have no idea why Nic Marshman is playing second team right guard ahead of Sergio Render. He got abused for a sack by Jonathan Lewis. Marshman hasn't made as much progress as I had hoped since spring practice. I really like his potential when I saw him then. I'm not so sure now. I think he needs to drop some weight. That would help."

The Defense

"Honestly, I believe our defense will be just as good as last year, if not better. They are flying to the ball, gang tackling, and this is the best sideline to sideline Tech defense that I have ever seen. The secondary is playing great as well. They aren't giving up any deep balls. I'm not really worried about our new safeties anymore. If they were going to get beat deep, they'd be getting beat deep now by our wide receivers and Vick. But they aren't."

Duane Brown