2010 In Review

Frank Beamer's 24th season as a head coach at his alma mater, Virginia Tech, saw the Hokies rebound from an 0-2 start with 11 straight wins and the school's fourth ACC Football Championship in its seven years in the Conference...Tech finished 11-3 overall, 8-0 in the ACC--the first team to go unbeaten in ACC play since the 2000 Florida State national runners-up--and finished ranked 16th nationally (AP)...Tech became the first team in NCAA FBS history to win 11 straight games after losing its first two contests...For his efforts, Beamer was named the first winner of the Joe Paterno Award, which is given annually to the nation's top football coach, by the Maxwell Football Club...QB Tyrod Taylor was named ACC Player of the Year and MVP of the ACC Football Championship Game after leading the ACC in passing efficiency for the 2nd straight season...Taylor threw for 24 TD passes with only five interceptions and was a 3rd-team All-America...CB Jayron Hosley led the nation in pass interceptions (nine) and was named a first-team Walter Camp All-America...Taylor, Hosley and PK Chris Hazley, who led the nation in field goal percentage (21-22 FGs, .955) were all named first-team All-ACC...T Blake DeChristopher, G Jaymes Brooks, DE Steven Friday, DT John Graves, LB Bruce Taylor, S Davon Morgan, P Brian Saunders and SP David Wilson all earned 2nd-team All-ACC honors...TE Andre Smith and C Beau Warren were each named Honorable Mention All-ACC...DE J. R. Collins was named a 2nd-team Freshman All-America.

Who's Gone

The Hokies lose 12 starters with five of them on the offensive side led by QB Tyrod Taylor...Taylor completed his career as Tech's all-time leader in passing yardage (7,017) and total offense (9,213) and was third in ACC history in rushing yardage by a quarterback (2,196)... Also missing from the offense will be C Beau Warren, TE Andre Smith, FB Kenny Younger and TBs Darren Evans, Tech's leading rusher (854 yards), and RB Ryan Williams, both early entries into the NFL Draft ...Defensively, Tech loses DE Steven Friday, DT John Graves, LB Lyndell Gibson, CB Rashad Carmichael and ROV Davon Morgan...The Hokies also will be without PK Chris Hazley, who ended the year with a string of 21 consecutive made field goals, and P Brian Saunders, who finished second in the ACC in punting (43.98).

2011 Preview

Beamer welcomes the return of 43 lettermen and 12 starters, including six each on offense and defense... Talented 6-6, 245-pound sophomore QB Logan Thomas ended spring practice as the heir apparent to Taylor with junior QB Ju-Ju Clayton and redshirt freshman Mark Leal as the backups...Thomas has excellent size and a strong arm and completed 46 percent of his passes in limited playing time in 2010... Junior RB David Wilson will step into a starting role after rushing for 619 yards and a 5.5 average a year ago, earning 2nd-team All-ACC honors as a kickoff returner, with a 26.5 average and two TDs...RBs Josh Oglesby, Tony Gregory and converted ROV James Hopper provide depth... Tech's wide receiver corps is both deep and talented with starting WR's Jarrett Boykin (53 catches, 16.0 avg.) and Danny Coale (39 catches, 18.8 avg.) both returning and are joined by Dyrell Roberts, Marcus Davis, D.J. Coles and redshirt freshman E.L. Smiling...Another strength of the offense should be the line, where four starters return in Ts Blake DeChristopher and Andrew Lanier and Gs Jaymes Brooks and Greg Nosal...Coordinator Bud Foster's defense will also have some holes to plug, but not as many as a year ago....Up front Tech feels secure enough to move starting DE Chris Drager back to offense, where he will start at TE...Last year's reserve DEs are this year's starters in J.R. Collins (5 sacks) and James Gayle (4 sacks), they are joined by the brother DT combination of Antoine and Derrick Hopkins....At linebacker, Tech's leading tackler returns in junior Bruce Taylor (91 tackles, 15.0 TFLs, 6 sacks), who will be an all-star candidate this fall... Sophomore Tariq Edwards heads into fall as the starter at the ‘Backer' position, but will be pushed by Telvion Clark...Jeron Gouveia-Winslow maintained his hold during spring practice as the starter at the “Whip” linebacker position...All-America CB Jayron Hosley returns to the boundary corner position where he is a Jim Thorpe Award candidate... Sophomores FC Kyle Fuller and ROV Antone Exum are the likely starters, while FS Eddie Whitley returns to his starting berth... Replacing Hazley and Saunders will be no easy task, and the competition to do so will continue this fall.

Numbers & Notes

1 - Virginia Tech All-America cornerback Jayron Hosley, a candidate for the 2011 Jim Thorpe Award, led the nation in pass interceptions per game (0.69) and finished fifth in passes defended per game (1.31). He also finished 19th nationally in punt return average (12.58). He was named to the preseason watch lists for both the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards.

1.36 - Virginia Tech led the nation in 2010 in turnover margin, averaging a positive 1.36 turnovers per game.

2 - Virginia Tech features two of the top five career returnees in the ACC in yards-per-catch. Senior Jarrett Boykin (17.26) ranks third among all returning ACC receivers with 30 or more career catches while senior Danny Coale (16.7) ranks fifth.

3 - Although he was the third-string tailback for Virginia Tech in 2010, rising junior David Wilson still finished third in the ACC in all-purpose yardage. Wilson ran for 619 yards on only 113 carries, a 5.5 average and five TDs. He also caught 15 passes for 234 yards and four more TDs. Finally, he led the ACC in kickoff returns, averaging 26.5 yards a return, including TD jaunts of 92 yards against NC State and 90 versus Georgia Tech. Wilson averaged 110.5 all-purpose yards per game.

4 - Senior T Blake DeChristopher is one of four starters returning to Virginia Tech's offensive front in 2011. DeChristopher was named to the preseason watch list for the prestigious Outland Trophy.

5 - In each of the last five years, Virginia Tech has started a fifth-year senior placekicker. This quintet composed of Brandon Pace (2006), Jud Dunlevy (2007), Dustin Keys (2008), Matt Waldron (2009) and Chris Hazley (2010) has combined to make 103 of 119 field goals--an astounding .865 conversion percentage--while averaging 105 points per season.

7 - Virginia Tech is the only team in the country that has won at least 10 games in each of the past seven seasons. Since the beginning of the 2004 season, the Hokies have posted an overall record of 73-21 (.777) including a 46-10 mark against ACC foes (.821) in regular season play.

After leading the Hokies to their 18th consecutive bowl appearance, their fourth ACC Football Championship in seven seasons and a Top 15 national finish with an 11-3 record, Frank Beamer enters his 25th season at Virginia Tech and his 31st year as a collegiate head coach ranked second among active Division I-A coaches in victories with 240, trailing only Penn State's Joe Paterno (401). His Tech teams have posted a 174-55 (.759) record over the past 18 seasons, and the Hokies are the only team in the nation to have won 10 or more games in each of the past seven years. During that time, Tech is fourth nationally in total defense, allowing only an average of 282.2 total yards in a span of 94 games. Last year, Tech became the first team in NCAA FBS history to win 11 straight games after losing its first two contests, and finished the year ranked 16th in AP and 15th in USA Today.

Beamer guided the Hokies to a 44-33 triumph over 20th-ranked Florida State in the 2010 ACC Football Championship Game, Tech's third ACC title game triumph in four attempts. In Tech's seven ACC seasons, Beamer has led the Hokies to four ACC football titles including back-to-back wins in the ACC Championship Game in 2007 and 2008, and an overall record of 49-11 (.816) against ACC foes. In 2008, he led a very inexperienced Tech squad to a 10-4 mark, the ACC Championship and a win over 12th-ranked Cincinnati in the FedEx Orange Bowl. In 2007, the Hokies were 11-3, ranked 9th nationally and posted a 30-16 win over Boston College in the ACC title game.
Three years previously, in 2004, the Hokies' first year in the ACC, Beamer guided Virginia Tech to a conference title en route to being named ACC Coach of the Year. He repeated as Coach of the Year in 2005, when he led the Hokies to a 7-1 league record, the Coastal Division title and a spot in the inaugural ACC Championship Game. Beamer's Hokies have earned the highest national rankings in the program's history, spending 79 weeks in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll over the last nine seasons. During one stretch that ended in 2004, Tech was ranked in 84 straight AP polls. For his part in the Hokies' run to the national title game in 1999, Beamer earned eight National Coach of the Year awards and was named the Big East Conference Coach of the Year for the third time. When Big East Conference football celebrated its first 10 years of existence in 2000, Beamer was voted the Coach of the Decade by the league's media.

Beamer, the first alumnus to guide the Hokies since the 1940s, took over the Tech reins from Bill Dooley in January 1987. During his undergraduate days at Virginia Tech, Beamer started three years as a cornerback and played on the Hokies' 1966 and 1968 Liberty Bowl teams. Beamer began his coaching career as an assistant at Radford High School from 1969 through 1971. Then, after one season as a graduate assistant at the University of Maryland (1972), he went to The Citadel (1973-77) where he worked five seasons under Bobby Ross and one year under Art Baker (1978). His last two years at The Citadel, Beamer was the defensive coordinator. In 1979, Beamer went to Murray State as the defensive coordinator under Mike Gottfried. He was named head coach at Murray State in 1981.