Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 4 | March 2018

Virginia Tech’s offense broke in a lot of new players last season, including at quarterback and wide receiver, and this spring, offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen wants to see all his players—and his offense—take yet another step forward timing and anticipation of the passing game. I’m going to have to coach him the other way and make sure he is protecting the football and being careful at times. He’s got a good grasp of the offense already. He’s in the mix. He’s going to have a chance to be a good player.” Q: Will this be an open competition? This isn’t Josh’s job automatically, is it? BC: “No, not even close. The thing you earn by starting a year like that is you get the benefit of the doubt because you’ve done it with us against these teams in games. That certainly helps, but those guys are going to get pretty equal reps all spring. Josh won’t go live as much as the other two guys. We’ll want to make sure we get some really good work in scrimmages where those guys are live. We won’t feel the same about Josh. We know what he’s about live. We know what kinds of decisions he can make live.” Q: Cam Phillips was in the top five of the ACC in nearly every receiving category, but he has departed. Is there someone who can be that “go-to” guy in this receiving corps? BC: “We had three or four freshmen that played last year. We had a couple of sophomores. It’s going to take all those guys again. It’s going to take some new guys still. We’re still pretty inexperienced in the grand scheme of things at that position and a little bit unproven as to who is going to take certain roles. “I think we know what type of guy we have in [Eric] Kumah and that he can be one of those big, physical guys that can catch balls in traffic and catch 50-50 balls. To me, after that, there are still a lot of guys trying to prove what kind of receiver they can be for us. We’re starting to get a glimpse of that, but it’s still kind of wide open in my mind. “Damon Hazelton is a guy that’s had experience at this level and has played well in college, and he’s shown us some good things in practice over the year. I think he can be a guy that can step in and add something to that group.” Q: Speaking of Hazelton, how much can he help this group after transferring from Ball State last year? Are the expectations high for him? BC: “He has still yet to do it in the ACC and at Virginia Tech, but he did have a good year at Ball State (51 receptions, 505 yards). The guys that we talk to have a lot of good things to say about him, so that makes you feel better. Still unproven for us here, but just the way he’s competed and the things he’s shown us in practice is certainly encouraging that he can be a guy that can really bring something to us and add to that group.” Q: Phil Patterson dealt with injuries most of the season, though he returned to catch seven passes in the bowl game. Would he have helped the receiving corps earlier in the season had he been healthy? BC: “Absolutely. Going into the year, he and Kumah were two guys who had been here longer than these true freshmen. They were guys that have ability. They have to bridge the gap between the old guys that we lost and the newcomers coming in. The last few games for Phil were really encouraging for us, just starting to see what we were kind of LAST SEASON’S by Jimmy Robertson ON SUCCESSES IHS extra inside.hokiesports.com 19 Continued on page 2 0