![]() Tech is scheduled to open the 1999 football season against James Madison University at Lane Stadium/Worsham Field on Sept. He enters his senior season with 264 points, just nine points shy of becoming the top scorer in BIG EAST history. The three-time, first team All-Big East kicker set a school record for points in a season last year with 103 and was ranked third nationally in field goals and 10th in scoring. The Hokies also return their all-time scoring leader, place-kicker Shayne Graham. After a 2-8 finish in 1992, Beamer feared the school might. Moore was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year after posting 67 tackles and leading the league in quarterback sacks with 13.5. Beamers tenure at Virginia Tech started slowly, as the Hokies won three games or fewer in each of his first two seasons in 1987 and 88. Tech's returning players are led by senior defensive end Corey Moore, who earned first-team All-America honors in his first season as a starter. And that translates into a little less pressure on the secondary. That means one of the Hokies' strong suits again in '99 should be pressuring the passer. Perhaps the best news for the newcomers in the defensive backfield will be the fact that every starter (and all but one backup) at Tech's front seven defensive positions return. ![]() Some of the top candidates for the three openings are rising senior Anthony Midget, redshirt freshman Ronyell Whitaker, and redshirt sophomore Larry Austin at cornerback redshirt junior Nick Sorensen and redshirt sophomore Reggie Samuel at free safety and redshirt juniors Cory Bird and Phillip Summers at rover. When asked at ACC Media Days, the 67-year-old responded, 'I'd say as long as I've got a good quarterback, a good kicker and my health is good, I'm enjoying what I'm doing and feel like I wanna do it a few more years. There may still be some battles for starting jobs in the secondary where rising junior cornerback Ike Charlton is the lone returning starter. There are two big questions currently surrounding Virginia Tech football, the first being how long Frank Beamer will remain as head coach. 1 quarterback," says Rickey Bustle, the Hokies' offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. "We didn't go into spring practice saying we had a No. The Hokies also got solid spring performances at quarterback from rising redshirt junior Dave Meyer and redshirt freshman Grant Noel. "Those are positions that affect you quickly."īeamer and his staff were extremely impressed with redshirt freshman Michael Vick, who emerged from spring practice as the top choice for the starting quarter back duties vacated by Al Clark. ![]() "When you are replacing players at quarterback and players in the secondary, especially replacing people with a lot of playing experience, it is a concern," admits Beamer. Two of Tech's main points of emphasis during spring practice were the quarterback position and the defensive secondary. "I like our possibilities, but we must stay focused and continue to work hard." "We are excited about the upcoming season," says head coach Frank Beamer, whose Hokies closed out the '98 season with a 38-7 romp of tradition-rich Alabama in the inaugural Music City Bowl. After surprising practically everyone last year by finishing 9-3 with a football team that returned just three offensive starters and was picked fourth in the BIG EAST Conference, Virginia Tech will open its 1999 season with 14 starters and 53 lettermen returning.
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