TSLMail is powered by our sponsor:

To Change Your Email Address:
Log onto the TechSideline.com web site (see the instructions directly to the left) and access your "account info" area. Then uncheck the "Check to Receive Free TSLMail" box.

TSL Links
  Home Page
  Football Home
  VT Hokie News
  Football Recruiting
  Message Board

TSL Products
  TSL Pass
  MaroonHelmet.com

TSLMail Archives
  Complete Archives

• Log into TechSideline.com by going here:  TechSideline.com login and entering your email address (the one where you received this email) and your TechSideline.com password.
  
  
• If you can't remember your TechSideline.com password, then use our Password Reset function to set up a new password that you can use to access your account.
  
  
• Once you're logged into the site, find one of the many "account info" links around the site to access your user profile and change the preferences there, including turning TSLMail on and off. Look for the "Check to Receive Free TSLMail" box.

Thanks, and we hope we haven't inconvenienced you.

Will Stewart
General Manager and Managing Editor
TechSideline.com

Advertise Your Business On TechSideline.com!

TechSideline.com has come a long way since its conception in 1996. We are the #1 media source and community covering Virginia Tech athletics; producing an average of 130,000 unique viewers and over 8.5 million page views each month.

We reach a coveted demographic (you know who you are) 24/7, 12 months out of the year. Furthermore, TechSideline.com provides a powerful advertising opportunity, leveraging our unique two-way medium to clearly and precisely communicate our sponsor's marketing goals to our loyal community. This permission marketing approach has resulted in unprecedented marketing success for all our sponsors, "brick and mortar" and dot-com alike.

Each custom sponsorship varies in investment according to the desired target reach, frequency, geographic territory, category, and/or time your campaign requires. In a nutshell, our custom targeted sponsorships allow you to focus your message and product to the right customers in the right market at the right time.

To learn more, please contact Trey Copeland at (434) 293-2527 (ext. 102) or [email protected] . To view a list of our sponsors, please visit our Sponsors Page.

Comparing Sean Glennon to Other First-Year Starters
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

Obviously one of the biggest topics on the TSL message boards since the conclusion of the Chick-fil-A Bowl has been the play of first-year starting quarterback Sean Glennon. After gradually winning over much of the fan base down the stretch in the regular season, Glennon now finds himself back in the doghouse amongst many Tech fans following his four turnovers in the fourth quarter against Georgia.

When the season began, everyone knew the offense would struggle. The offensive line was not going to be very good, and Glennon would be a downgrade from Marcus Vick. Glennon looked good at times (Wake Forest) and very bad at times (Georgia).

Glennon is the ninth first-year, full-time starter under Frank Beamer. How does he stack up to the previous eight?

Interesting stats, and in some cases, surprising. For example, Sean Glennon threw 302 passes, the most of any other first-year starter. Granted only Randall and Marcus Vick also played in 13 games in their first year as a starter (bowl games were not counted in final stats until the 2002 season), but Maurice DeShazo, Al Clark and Michael Mick wouldn’t have reached that number with a couple of extra games, and Grant Noel probably wouldn’t have either.

Glennon’s completion percentage is also slightly higher than the average for first-year starters. But that average is held down by Will Furrer, Maurice DeShazo and Jim Druckenmiller, who had very low completion percentages in their first seasons starting. Glennon’s 56.3% completion percentage is the lowest since Jim Druckenmiller’s 51.4% in 1995.

It appears that amongst VT’s first-year starters, 11 is the magic number. Five of the nine players on the list above have thrown 11 interceptions in their first year as a starter. From that standpoint, Glennon actually did a pretty good job. 11 picks is not an extremely high number, and he threw more passes than any other player on the list above. So from an interception standpoint, Glennon did a pretty good job this season, except for the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

One thing Glennon did not do is generate a lot of touchdowns. His 11 touchdown passes were the fewest since Al Clark in 1997, and Clark spent a good portion of that season hurt. Clark also countered his low number of touchdowns by throwing just three interceptions.

It’s a matter of opinion as to how to rank these quarterbacks as first-year starters. In case you’re having trouble deciding, here’s a mathematical formula that could help you decide. Each quarterback is ranked in completion percentage, yards per attempt, attempts per touchdown, attempts per interception, winning percentage and touchdown to interception ration. Players are not ranked based on total passing yards, total touchdowns and total interceptions because not all players played in the same amount of games.

As expected, Michael Vick finds himself at the top of the list. Vick had the top yards per attempt, as well as attempts per touchdown and winning percentage. He ranked in at least the top three in every category. His brother Marcus, who finished second, also ranked in the top three in each category, but didn’t finish first in anything.

Perhaps the two biggest surprises of the group are Al Clark and Jim Druckenmiller. Clark wasn’t the most talented guy in the world, but he didn’t turn the ball over and had a pretty solid yards per attempt average. Druckenmiller helped Tech to a Sugar Bowl win in his first season as a starter, but he barely completed 50% of his passes, which gave him a low yards per attempt average. His attempts per touchdown average was also low. The main thing that he had going for him, from a statistical standpoint, is winning percentage.

Grant Noel’s ranking could also be somewhat of a surprise for those who only remember the five-turnover 2001 Miami game, but Noel held the Tech record for most touchdown passes by a first-year starter until Marcus Vick broke it by one touchdown in 2005. And Marcus Vick had 13 games counting towards his stats, while Noel had just 11. Noel threw for a touchdown and 269 yards against Florida State in the 2001 Gator Bowl, which do not count towards his final statistics.

TechSideline Pass - Only $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year!

• Feature Articles
• Interviews with recruits
• Editorials
• Recruiting updates from Chris Horne, our in-house specialist
• Recruiting prospect and class evaluations
• A subscribers-only Recruiting message board (only accessible to subscribers)
• A subscribers-only message board for general discussion

For more info on TechSideline Pass, and to subscribe, click here.