Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 1 | August 2019

inside.hokiesports.com 21 300 Technology Drive Christiansburg, Virginia 24073 www.inorganicventures.com Makers of the world’s most accurate Certified Reference Materials Two of our PhDs as well as eleven key members of our service, production, and business teams hold degrees from Virginia Tech. When you’ve got the right talent in place, there’s no limit to how far you can go. Proud to support the Hokies’ teams. Because the Hokies are such a big part of ours. RUNNING BACKS by Jimmy Robertson 2019 RUNNING BACKS DEPTH CHART (in numerical order) 13 Jalen Holston (5-11, 218, Jr.) 24 Terius Wheatley (6-0, 190, r-So.) 30 Caleb Steward (5-11, 210, r-Fr.) 33 Deshawn McClease (5-9, 190, r-Jr.) 35 Keshawn King (5-11, 182, Fr.) 38 Nashun Overton (5-6, 157, So.) 39 Tahj Gary (5-8, 221, Fr.) 43 Cole Beck (6-1, 202, r-Fr.) 46 Malik Bell (6-0, 230, r-Fr.) PLAYER TO WATCH Tech enters the 2019 season needing to find a replacement for 2018 leading rusher Steven Peoples, who ranked 16th in the ACC with 786 yards rushing and averaged 5.0 yards per carry. The staff figures to go with a “running back by committee” approach again, but the one to watch is Jalen Holston. Holston played in 12 games in 2018, and while he rushed for just 281 yards, he received at least one carry in every game except for the Duke game. He scored two touchdowns and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Holston really stood out in the Hokies’ final two games of last season. He rushed for 54 yards on four carries in Tech’s big win over Marshall in the regular-season finale, including a 40-yard run for a touchdown—a career long. He also rushed 10 times for 40 yards in Tech’s loss to Cincinnati in the Military Bowl. Tech’s staff appeared to gain confidence in Holston as the season went along. He carried the ball 33 times in the final five games compared to just 24 times in the first eight —and 10 of those 24 carries came in mop-up duty during Tech’s 62-17 win over William & Mary. OTHERS IN THE MIX Deshawn McClease finished second on the team in rushing a season ago, amassing 433 yards and two touchdowns. People tend to forget about McClease, but he rushed for 102 yards on 13 carries in the Military Bowl, and he averaged 4.5 yards per carry for the season—a strong performance considering his 190-pound frame. A healthy McClease could add some punch to this running game. Terius Wheatley returns after rushing for 126 yards and a score in 2018. Wheatley carved a role for himself as the “jet sweep” back, but injuries limited him in the second half of the season. He did not carry the ball in the final three games. Two tailbacks return after taking redshirt seasons last fall —Caleb Steward, who enrolled in January of 2018, and Cole Beck, who spent his first college year with Tech’s track team. Steward showed up in the Spring Game, while Beck certainly brings speed to the position after he finished fourth in the 100-meter dash at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Keshawn King, a freshman from Florida, and Tahj Gary, a freshman from Georgia, entered the mix as well. King rushed for 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior at Oakleaf High, and he finished his career with more than 5,000 yards rushing. He’ll get plenty of preseason reps. Gary suffered a serious leg injury in the Georgia state playoffs—one that required emergency surgery and ended his season after he rushed for 1,219 yards and 13 touchdowns. How quickly he returns to form remains to be seen. INTERESTING FACTS • Only one tailback—Peoples—carried the ball more than 100 times in 2018. • Tech’s tailbacks amassed just five carries of 20 yards or more in 2018. • Holston’s 40-yard run against Marshall was the Hokies’ fifth-longest rush of the season and the third-longest by a tailback. • McClease is the only returning tailback to rush for at least 100 yards in a game. He has done so twice in his career—in each of the Hokies’ past two bowl games (102 vs. Cincinnati, 124 vs. Oklahoma State). • McClease and Holston each have carried the ball more than 100 times in their careers, and both own a career yards-per-carry average of better than 4.0. • The Hokies’ returning tailbacks combined to catch just 12 passes in 2018. 2019 OUTLOOK For the third consecutive season under head coach Justin Fuente, no Tech tailback rushed for 1,000 yards. Yet collectively, the group rushed for 1,624 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those are respectable numbers, especially when considering only seven ACC tailbacks rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2018 and two of those played for the same team (Pittsburgh). Only one—Clemson’s Travis Etienne—rushed for more than 1,500 yards. Still, Tech’s staff wants to get more from this group, and they want to see someone emerge to ignite the rushing attack. Can McClease and Holston become a formidable duo, or could someone like Steward surprise people and emerge as the leader? Or, does King quickly grab the spot after a stellar prep career? The coaches entered August practices ready to find answers to these questions. Hopefully, they find them by the season opener. BOLD PREDICTION Tech’s tailbacks collectively rush for at least 2,000 yards in 2019.