National Recruiting Blotter: All Your Commitments Are Belong To Virginia Tech
By Kyle Kensing
Regardless of raining out before its completion, Frank Beamer has to be pleased with his spring game. The Virginia Tech head coach hauled in quite an impressive crop of verbal commitments for 2013 on Saturday.
Headlining the bunch is consensus top 100 quarterback recruit Bucky Hodges. The Salem (Va.) prospect may have a name that sounds like it’s from the Grantland Rice era, but don’t let that fool you. Hodges’ skill set looks downright futuristic from highlight film. He’s big: 6-foot-5, 225 pounds. At the prep level, that would make for a good sized defensive end, say nothing of quarterback.
His size allows him to see the field and deliver a rocket ball.
But playing in a shotgun based spread offense, he exhibits wheels one would not expect of a player his size. He looks quite similar to current Tech quarterback Logan Thomas. A Vince Young comparison doesn’t seem out of line. Take a view and judge for yourself.
Saturday’s haul is no one-man show, though. Other Hokie commitments include another in-commonwealth prospect in offensive lineman Braxton Pfaff. The four star recruit had offers from VPI rival Virginia, and his Lynchburg, Va. hometown Liberty Flames with head coach Turner Gill. Fellow offensive lineman Parker Osterloh — another Virginia product and another UVa. target who passed on the Cavaliers — joins the group.
Cornerback Charles Clark also committed to Tech on Saturday. He’s from…you guessed it, Virginia. And he signed with Va. Tech despite an offer from…you guessed it, UVa. Mike London has done an admirable job righting the ship in Charlottesville, but it’s apparent from these recruiting developments his Wahoos have a long way before that gap between commonwealth rivals is bridged.
All told, eight gave their verbal pledge to wear the maroon and orange. Credit Curt Newsome for doing his part to ensure the Hokies remain the standard bearer of the ACC.
Back on the topic of Hodges, Va. Tech has a nice run going for quarterbacks. Tyrod Taylor had an excellent final campaign in 2010, and Logan Thomas settled in last season to score 30 total touchdowns (19 via pass, 11 on the ground). Thomas has dark horse Heisman potential entering 2012, and theoretically will be the Hokies’ quarterback for two more campaigns. That would include 2013, when he could school the newcomer similarly skilled newcomer Hodges to take the reins in 2014.
Considering how well Hokie tailbacks have done in recent years, the possibility of such consistency at quarterbacks make a program long equated with defense suddenly intriguing on the offensive side.