It's almost time for the Hokies to start preparation for NC State, and VT held their last full scrimmage of fall practice Saturday. Here's an eyewitness account of the quarterbacks (they looked good), a resurgent Cary Wade at rover, and how the offensive line is coming along.

Here's the report:

Good and bad at the QB position, but mostly good. The ball was slick, and I think that contributed a few erratic passes. Marcus Vick looked very good, except for a couple of overthrown out patterns. It certainly doesn't seem like the coaches have settled on Sean Glennon at backup. He and Cory Holt got equal reps today, and Holt put him to shame from a production standpoint. Glennon sat in the pocket too long once and got sacked by Noland Burchette. Never even saw him. The ball should have been released two or three seconds before Burchette got there. There was also a delay of game when Glennon was on offense. He just didn't look very poised today.

Holt on the other hand had a solid day. At one point he completed four straight passes to lead the 2nd team offense down the field against the 1st team defense. His fifth pass hit John Kinzer right in the gut for an easy TD from about 25 yards out. Unfortunately, Kinzer dropped it. Holt overthrew Kinzer on the next play, but he was rolling out to his right and had to throw across his body. He narrowly overthrew Jordan Trott in the end zone on a fade. Very close to being a TD. So while not a perfect performance, it was pretty good I thought. It certainly should give the coaches something to think about.

Branden Ore was probably the best player on the field today, followed closely by Eddie Royal and Josh Morgan. Ore had three TDs, one from about 50 yards out. He cut back across the field and outran everybody. Great vision, great agility, great speed. He looks like a combo Suggs/Jones in the open field.

Royal looked great catching the ball, running after the catch, returning kicks, and running a reverse. Great scrimmage for him. I thought he had an above average camp, but not as good as he was capable of having. But this scrimmage shows what he is capable of doing. Josh Morgan looked very good. He made one great run after the catch on a pass from Vick early in the scrimmage.

I thought Cary Wade was the best rover on the field today. He had a great open field tackle on Cedric Humes. He looks like a lighter Cory Bird with his tackling ability. I think Aaron Rouse struggled a bit in coverage today. He gave up a pass over the middle to Kinzer. Kind of a fluky play, but he could have prevented it. And it seemed like he should have had coverage on the TD pass that Kinzer dropped as well. But I'm not sure about that since I'm not a coach.

I thought the offensive line was outstanding today. There were only 3 or 4, maybe 5 sacks. And the run blocking was the best it has been since camp opened. Duane Brown seems to be adapting very well. I'm pleased with the way Stiney has moved around his linemen. The best five are on the field, and he has created a little more depth, although losing Render hurts some.

Daryl Tapp had back to back sacks for the second scrimmage in a row. I didn't notice him playing any defensive tackle either. If he did, it wasn't for very long. That is a good sign. It means the coaches are starting to trust Barry Booker and Carlton Powell. I thought Tim Sandidge looked good today. He broke through the line on one play and pursued the running back down the line of scrimmage, making the tackle from behind. I haven't seen him move like that since he was around 275 in 2002.

So to recap, the most impressive performances of the day came from Holt, Ore, Tapp, Royal and Morgan. The most disappointing part was the blown coverage downfield on the dropped TD pass. That is the first blown coverage I have seen since the early stages of practice. But the simple fact that it was one of the very few times that it has happened since practice started makes me feel pretty good about the secondary.

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