2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football
Chick-fil-A Bowl, L 24–31 vs. Georgia
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 19
Record	10–3 (6–2 ACC)
Head coach	Frank Beamer (20th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bryan Stinespring (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Bud Foster (12th season)
Base defense	4–4
Home stadium	Lane Stadium

2006 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 18 Wake Forest x$		6	–	2					11	–	3
No. 20 Boston College		5	–	3					10	–	3
Maryland		5	–	3					9	–	4
Clemson		5	–	3					8	–	5
Florida State		3	–	5					7	–	6
NC State		2	–	6					3	–	9
Coastal Division
Georgia Tech x		7	–	1					9	–	5
No. 19 Virginia Tech		6	–	2					10	–	3
Virginia		4	–	4					5	–	7
Miami (FL)		3	–	5					7	–	6
North Carolina		2	–	6					3	–	9
Duke		0	–	8					0	–	12
Championship: Wake Forest 9, Georgia Tech 6
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Frank Beamer. The team tallied a 10–3 record, going 10–2 during the regular season before losing 31–24 in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs.

Preseason

Virginia Tech began the season ranked #16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and #17 in the Associated Press Poll after going 11–2 (7–1 ACC) in 2005 and winning the Coastal division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

See also 2006 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	1:30 p.m.	Northeastern*	No. 17	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN360	W 38–0	66,233
September 9	12:00 p.m.	at North Carolina	No. 16	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN	W 35–10	57,000
September 16	12:00 p.m.	Duke	No. 14	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	Raycom/LFS	W 36–0	66,233
September 23	12:00 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 11	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPNU	W 29–13	66,233
September 30	3:30 p.m.	No. 24 Georgia Tech	No. 11	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (Battle of the Techs)	ABC	L 27–38	66,233
October 12	7:30 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 22	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 3–22	44,500
October 21	7:00 p.m.	Southern Miss*		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPNU	W 36–6	66,233
October 26	7:30 p.m.	No. 10 Clemson		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN	W 24–7	66,233
November 4	8:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)	No. 23	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, Florida (rivalry)	ABC	W 17–10	41,504
November 11	3:30 p.m.	Kent State*	No. 20	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPNU	W 23–0	66,233
November 18	7:00 p.m.	at No. 14 Wake Forest	No. 19	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	ESPN2	W 27–6	36,723
November 25	12:00 p.m.	Virginia	No. 17	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (Commonwealth Cup)	Raycom/LFS	W 17–0	66,233
December 30	8:00 p.m.	vs. Georgia*	No. 14	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Chick-fil-A Bowl)	ESPN	L 24–31	75,406
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Northeastern

1 2 3 4 Total Northeastern 0 0 0 0 0 • Virginia Tech 21 7 7 3 38 Date: September 2 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 1:35 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), Partly Cloudy, Winds NNW 10 mph (16 km/h) Referee: Jerry Magallanes TV announcers (ESPN360): Ryan Rose & Stan Lewter

North Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • Virginia Tech 7 7 7 14 35 North Carolina 3 0 0 7 10 Date: September 9 Location: Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC Game start: 12:02 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:09 Game attendance: 57,000 Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C), Sunny, Winds WNW 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Referee: Jack Childress TV announcers (ESPN): Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Rob Stone

Duke

1 2 3 4 Total Duke 0 0 0 0 0 • Virginia Tech 13 10 7 6 36 Date: September 16 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 12:11 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:59 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), Partly Cloudy, Winds calm Referee: Brad Allen TV announcers (LFS): Steve Martin, Rick Walker & Scott Pryzwansky

Cincinnati

1 2 3 4 Total Cincinnati 0 10 3 0 13 • Virginia Tech 5 0 7 17 29 Date: September 23 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 12:04 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), Light Rain, Winds WNW 4 mph (6.4 km/h) Referee: Ron Cherry TV announcers (ESPNU): Clay Matvick & Brian Kinchen

Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total • Georgia Tech 21 3 14 0 38 Virginia Tech 7 6 0 14 27 Date: September 30 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 3:38 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:28 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C), Partly Cloudy, Winds SSE 4 mph (6.4 km/h) Referee: Tom McCreesh TV announcers (ABC): Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire & Bonnie Bernstein

Boston College

1 2 3 4 Total Virginia Tech 0 3 0 0 3 • Boston College 0 7 6 9 22 Date: October 12 Location: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MA Game start: 7:45 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 44,500 Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Cloudy, Winds NW 15 mph (24 km/h) Referee: Jeff Flanagan TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Erin Andrews

Southern Miss

1 2 3 4 Total Southern Miss 6 0 0 0 6 • Virginia Tech 7 12 3 14 36 Date: October 21 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 7:05 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:56 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), Clear, Winds SSE 3 mph (4.8 km/h) Referee: Dennis Lipski TV announcers (ESPNU): Dave Armstrong & Mike Tomczak

Clemson

1 2 3 4 Total Clemson 7 0 0 0 7 • Virginia Tech 7 3 14 0 24 Date: October 26 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 7:47 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:18 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), Rain, Winds calm Referee: Tom DeJoseph TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Erin Andrews

Miami

1 2 3 4 Total • Virginia Tech 0 10 0 7 17 Miami 0 0 3 7 10 Date: November 4 Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL Game start: 8:13 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:01 Game attendance: 41,504 Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C), Cloudy, Winds NE 14 mph (23 km/h) Referee: Ron Cherry TV announcers (ABC): Mark Jones, David Norrie & Stacey Dales

Kent State

1 2 3 4 Total Kent State 0 0 0 0 0 • Virginia Tech 3 3 7 10 23 Date: November 11 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 3:35 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:50 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), Clear, Winds SSW 9 mph (14 km/h) Referee: Scott McElwee TV announcers (ESPNU): Dave Armstrong & Mike Tomczak

Wake Forest

1 2 3 4 Total • Virginia Tech 7 0 17 3 27 Wake Forest 0 3 3 0 6 Date: November 18 Location: Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC Game start: 7:05 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:52 Game attendance: 36,723 Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Mostly Cloudy, Winds NE 1 mph (1.6 km/h) Referee: Tom McCreesh TV announcers (ESPN2): Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham & Jack Arute

Virginia

1 2 3 4 Total Virginia 0 0 0 0 0 • Virginia Tech 0 7 10 0 17 Date: November 25 Location: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA Game start: 12:11 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:43 Game attendance: 66,233 Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), Clear, Winds NNW 53 mph (85 km/h) Referee: Jeff Flanagan TV announcers (LFS): Steve Martin, Rick Walker & Mike Hogewood

Georgia

1 2 3 4 Total • Georgia 3 0 10 18 31 Virginia Tech 0 21 0 3 24 Date: December 30 Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA Game start: 8:12 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 75,406 Game weather: Indoors Referee: John Bible TV announcers (ESPN): Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham & Dr. Jerry Punch

Rankings

See also: 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	17	16	14	11	11	21	22	RV	RV	23	20	19	17	14	14	19
Coaches	16	14	14	10	10	18	17	RV	RV	24	21	19	17	14	14	18
Harris	Not released				11	19	18	—	—	24	21	19	17	14	15	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	25	21	21	17	14	15	Not released

Personnel

Coaching staff

Position	Name	First year at VT	First year in current position
Head coach	Frank Beamer	1987	1987
Associate head coach and running backs coach	Billy Hite	1978	2001
Offensive coordinator and tight ends	Bryan Stinespring	1990	2006 (offensive coordinator since 2002)
Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers	Bud Foster	1987	1995
Offensive Line	Curt Newsome	2006	2006
Wide Receivers	Kevin Sherman	2006	2006
Strong Safety, Outside Linebackers, and Recruiting Coordinator	Jim Cavanaugh	1996	2002
Quarterbacks	Mike O'Cain	2006	2006
Defensive backs	Torrian Gray	2006	2006
Defensive Line	Charley Wiles	1996	1996

Roster

Quarterback 3  Ike Whitaker – RS Freshman 7  Sean Glennon – RS Sophomore 12 Cory Holt – RS Sophomore Tailback 20 Kenny Lewis, Jr. – Freshman 27 Jahre Cheeseman – RS Freshman 28 Branden Ore – RS Sophomore 34 George Bell – RS Sophomore 35 Dustin Pickle – Sophomore 38 Elan Lewis – RS Freshman Fullback 37 Jesse Allen – RS Senior 39 Carlton Weatherford – RS Junior 42 Kenny Jefferson – RS Freshman 43 Billy Gorham – Junior 44 Devin Perez – RS Sophomore Flanker  4 Eddie Royal – Junior 82 Brandon Dillard – RS Freshman 87 David Clowney – Senior Split End  2 Josh Morgan – Junior 16 Zach Luckett – Freshman 19 Josh Hyman – RS Junior 80 Justin Born – Junior 81 Justin Harper – Junior Tight End 8 Greg Boone – RS Freshman 83 Sam Wheeler – RS Freshman 85 Ed Wang – RS Freshman 88 Andre Smith – Freshman Center 69 Danny McGrath – RS Senior		Offensive Guard 51 Matt Welsh – RS Sophomore 58 Ryan Shuman – RS Sophomore 62 Zac Lowe – Senior 65 Antonio North – RS Freshman 66 Brandon Holland – Freshman 67 Nick Marshman – RS Sophomore 70 Sergio Render – Freshman 79 Eric Davis – RS Freshman Offensive Tackle    Hivera Green – RS Freshman 57 Clark Crum – Freshman 64 Richard Graham – RS Freshman 68 Mason Baggett – RS Senior 71 Aaron Brown – Freshman 74 Brandon Frye – RS Senior 76 Duane Brown – RS Junior 77 Brandon Gore – RS Senior Defensive tackle 50 Joey Hall – Freshman 55 Daryl Robertson – Freshman 59 Barry Booker – RS Junior 60 Chris Burnett – RS Senior 63 Watson Stelly – Junior 75 Kory Robertson – RS Junior 95 Cordarrow Thompson – RS Freshman 99 Carlton Powell – RS Junior Defensive End    Jason Adjepong – Freshman    Steven Friday – Freshman 40 William Wall – RS Freshman 47 Nekos Brown – Freshman 49 Chris Ellis – RS Junior 72 Matt Tilley – Sophomore 90 Orion Martin – RS Sophomore 91 John Graves – Freshman 96 Noland Burchette – RS Senior Cornerback  1 Victor Harris – Sophomore 5 Robert Alomar – Junior 15 Roland Minor – RS Junior 18 Brandon Flowers – RS Sophomore 21 Ryan Hash – RS Senior 22 Stephan Virgil – Freshman		Linebacker    Devven Sutton – Freshman  6 Andrew Bowman – RS Sophomore  9 Vince Hall – RS Junior 11 Xavier Adibi – RS Junior 13 Corey Gordon – RS Junior 26 Cody Grimm – RS Freshman 29 Chad Grimm – Senior 31 Brendan Hill – RS Senior 33 Brett Warren – Junior 45 Purnell Sturdivant – RS Sophomore 56 Demetrius Taylor – RS Freshman 89 Jonas Houseright – RS Sophomore 94 Matt Wright – Freshman Free Safety 25 D.J. Parker – Junior 26 Kent Hicks – RS Sophomore 41 Cam Martin – RS Freshman 48 Cory Price – Senior Rover 24 Dorian Porch – RS Freshman 30 Cary Wade – RS Senior 32 Jake Patten – Senior 36 Aaron Rouse – RS Senior Place Kicker 46 Brandon Pace – RS Senior 92 Jud Dunlevy – RS Junior 98 Jared Develli – Junior Punter 23 Nic Schmitt – RS Senior 97 Brent Bowden – RS Freshman Deep Snapper 53 Nick Leeson – RS Senior 54 Bart McMillin – RS Junior 61 Scott King – Junior
Starters are in bold and players who left the team are struck out Players who sat out during 2006 ("redshirted") are indicated with a "red shirt" icon

Discipline issues

Virginia Tech penalties by game
Opponent	Tech Penalties	Opponent penalties
Northeastern	7 (56 yards)	10 (78 yards)
@ North Carolina	7 (55 yards)	1 (10 yards)
Duke	9 (85 yards)	7 (43 yards)
Cincinnati	7 (52 yards)	9 (75 yards)
Georgia Tech	5 (28 yards)	8 (83 yards)
Boston College	9 (88 yards)	9 (60 yards)
Southern Miss	5 (41 yards)	7 (45 yards)
Clemson	3 (22 yards)	1 (5 yards)
Miami	3 (15 yards)	8 (62 yards)
Kent State	5 (50 yards)	9 (71 yards)
Wake Forest	6 (65 yards)	3 (27 yards)
Virginia	3 (29 yards)	6 (45 yards)

The first half of Virginia Tech's season was characterized by a lack of discipline for the Hokies, both on and off the field.

• Safety Aaron Rouse was penalized twice against Duke for roughing the passer. His second hit on Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis was a helmet-to-sternum hit that whiplashed his head with such force that it gave him a concussion. Duke's backup quarterback said of Tech, "They are a fast team. I'm lucky to come out in one piece. ... The roughing of the passer, the late hits, they were coming for us."
• DE Chris Ellis and WR Josh Morgan were arrested late Saturday night after the Hokies' victory over Cincinnati and charged with resisting arrest and obstructing justice. Morgan was also charged with disorderly conduct. Both players were suspended for the following game, a home loss to Georgia Tech and were later sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.
• WR Josh Hyman was suspended for the Boston College game after an arrest for driving under the influence.
• During the ESPN broadcast of the Boston College game, announcer Kirk Herbstreit became angry when cameras showed Tech players Vince Hall and Aaron Rouse arguing on the sidelines and showed linebacker Brendan Hill dancing on the sidelines with Tech trailing late in the game. The video of Herbstreit's rant was shown to the Tech team in Sunday meetings following the game.

Tech's discipline troubles came to a head when the Hokies were blown out in consecutive weeks by Georgia Tech and Boston College. Beamer responded by cracking down on trash-talking, personal fouls, and other negative behaviors. The team responded and committed no personal fouls and only two defensive penalties total in the three games following the BC loss.

Defense

Virginia Tech finished the regular season leading the nation in total defense, scoring defense, and pass defense. This was the second year in a row that defensive coordinator Bud Foster's unit had led the nation in total defense.