Hokies Freshman Throws for 287 Yards : Virginia Tech 28, Ohio 7
By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 16, 2007
BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 15 -- The moment Tyrod Taylor reached the Virginia Tech sideline, he found Sean Glennon waiting for him. Both quarterbacks -- one newly anointed, the other freshly deposed -- leapt in the air and bumped chests. They celebrated the touchdown Taylor had just scored, his first in Lane Stadium and his first after replacing Glennon as the Hokies starter.
Glennon, his helmet somewhere along Virginia Tech's sideline, went back to calling signals for the offense. Taylor would return to leading No. 18 Virginia Tech to a 28-7 victory over Ohio in his maiden start, a performance that fulfilled the expectations heaped on his shoulders from the time the Hampton, Va., native chose to become a Hokie.
Taylor finished 18-of-31 passing for 287 yards, completing passes to nine receivers. He also ran for 40 yards on seven carries, not counting sacks, including a six-yard touchdown run, adding the dimension Virginia Tech's coaching staff felt that the team needed and that Glennon could not provide. Taylor zoomed around the field and flung passes from sideline to sideline, helping the Hokies pile up 473 yards while rebounding from its embarrassing loss to Louisiana State.
Hokies fans came primarily to watch Taylor, to see if he was worthy of his hype. Teammates couldn't help doing the same. The Hokies' defense took breaks from studying Ohio's offense and peered on to the field, trying to glimpse what their new quarterback would do.
"It was hard not to watch him today," defensive end Chris Ellis said. "Even if you're tired and trying to get your water, if he's out there doing something, he has that personality where I'm peaking over a guy's shoulder, trying to see the next play he's going to make. He has that 'it.' "
Taylor showed immediately why Coach Frank Beamer, who won his 200th game, turned his team over to a true freshman before the season was a month old.
On his team's fourth play of the game, Taylor darted straight ahead in the pocket to avoid the collapsing defensive line. Still running, he flicked a pass 40 yards down the middle of the field and into the hands of Josh Morgan, who carried the ball to the 10 for a 59-yard gain.
Taylor became the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Hokies in 25 years, a fact that did not faze him. Taylor went to bed at 10:15 p.m. Friday night and fell asleep immediately. He awoke abruptly in the team hotel when his phone rang with his wakeup call at 9 a.m. "I slept the whole night," Taylor said.
After arriving at the stadium, he stayed mostly to himself. He prayed and listened to R&B and rap music. When he first saw quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain, he didn't say anything until O'Cain spoke to him first.
"You don't see nervousness," O'Cain said. "You don't see excitement. You see focus: 'This is what my job is.' "
Ohio received the ball first, and while Virginia Tech's defense took the field, Taylor tossed warm-up throws to Morgan.
"Just go out there, have fun and make plays," Taylor recalled thinking.
Before taking the field for the first drive, Taylor gathered with Branden Ore and two wide receivers. Ore didn't say anything to him as they jogged to meet the rest of the huddle.
"He's one of those guys, you don't have to," Ore said. "He's so calm and collected, you wouldn't think he was a true freshman."
Still, Tech's coaching staff handled Taylor with care. They scaled back the offense and made certain patterns less complex. An improved running game bulwarked Taylor: Ore rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown despite missing time after taking a helmet to the ribs; Kenny Lewis added 62 yards and two touchdowns on six carries.
"They didn't ask me to be Superman," Taylor said.
But fans treated him like a hero. Late in the fourth quarter, he jogged past the south end zone to a room to get an X-ray on his left hand (it showed a harmless bruise). The crowd rose and cheered while Taylor ran by, as if he were taking a victory lap.
As the crowd cheered Taylor, Glennon ran the backup offense on the field. ("I do what they tell me to," he said.) A week earlier, he had taken the field as a starter.
More difficult opponents than Ohio await, and Taylor still has played only seven quarters. But his starting debut not only delivered on his promise but also provided more.
"You hear all the hype, so you want to see what the guy is about," Ellis said. "He came right in. He lived up to the hype."
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