That's getting to be an overused headline for Tech's Spring football scrimmages and games, but it happened again Saturday.  I wasn't able to attend the scrimmage (and I'm glad too, because it was a nasty, rainy day in the New River Valley).  Here are a couple of links to stories on the scrimmage:

Spring Football Scrimmage Notes - www.hokiesports.com
Defense Dominates Tech Drills - The Roanoke Times

That the offense is struggling is no surprise.  Not only is it typical for defenses to rule Spring scrimmages and games, but on top of that, Tech is facing a Spring with a rebuilding offensive line, an unknown receiving corps (with the exception of Angelo Harrison), inexperience at fullback and tight end, and the starting quarterback out with injury.

So what do you expect?

Most interesting to me is the play of redshirt freshman linebacker Brian Welch, who totaled six tackles and was mentioned by a message board poster who witnessed the scrimmage as "starting at middle linebacker and seeming to be around every big play for the defense."

Welch was born in Tehran, Iran, and if I remember correctly, his father was a service man who died when Brian was very young, before Brian got to know him very well.  An article in The Washington Post last year told Welch's story, and added that he plays every game for his late father.

That's Welch's personal side.  On the football side, Welch came into Tech at 6-1, 215.  Of note is that he won the Virginia AAA 215-pound championship in wrestling as a senior at Oakton High School in Fairfax.  It's my own personal theory that wrestlers make great tacklers, because they understand the principles of leverage, and heck, they're "grapplers," strong guys who can get a hold of you and take you to the ground.  I played high school football with a wrestler who played linebacker, and once he got his arms around you, you were done, finished, going down.

So I remember thinking at the time that we signed Welch that he was one to watch, and might wind up being the next George Del Ricco.  Del Ricco was a main cog in the 1995 defense, and Tech has been searching for his replacement since he left ... and we are still searching for him.

Sure, I'm the eternal optimist when it comes to new recruits, but when someone says that Welch "seemed to be around every big play," I get a little excited, because those are the exact words I used to describe Del Ricco back in his playing days.  So I'll be looking for Mr. Welch later this spring, and next fall.

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