Rooting for their team clearly represents one of the big passions in the life of our TechSideline.com community members. This site greatly enhances this never-ending passion through information, analysis and most importantly through communal dialog and networking.

Our advertising approach is different in that we make it abundantly clear in a direct and honest way that your company�s commitment of sponsorship dollars is what enables the site to continue existing and improving into the future.

To learn more about advertising on TechSideline.com, please contact [email protected].

TechSideline.com is a vital part of a unique collegiate sports network that reaches nearly 2 million individuals per month. Like TechSideline.com, each site in the SportsWar network is an organically grown community and the emotional home for its fans.

To learn more about SportsWar network sponsorship opportunities, please contact [email protected] or visit our online media guide- http://www.sportswar.com. 

Lowe's Home Improvement

Look to Lowes, your exclusive Home Center sponsor, for all your home improvement needs. With Lowes you get Everyday Low Prices on Brands You Know and Trust. Lowes proudly supports your fan community.

Comparing Tyrod to Other First-Time VT Starters

Tyrod Taylor made his first career start last Saturday against Ohio, and he did quite well. His numbers are very comparable to some excellent quarterbacks who have come through Blacksburg. Of course, they are also comparable to some quarterbacks who aren't exactly held in high esteem by Tech fans.

Several things stand out about Taylor's performance when compared to past first-time starters, and we'll address all of them below.

The first one is the number of times Taylor put the ball in the air. Despite being a true freshman who did not participate in spring practice, the coaching staff trusted Taylor enough to let him attempt 31 passes, the most since Jim Druckenmiller attempted 42 in 1995. Druckenmiller was a fourth year junior at the time, while Taylor is a true freshman.

Secondly, Taylor's 287 yards are the most since Druckenmiller's 296 yard performance in 1995. Druck only beat Tyrod's mark by nine yards, and it took him three more completions and 11 more attempts to do it. Granted Taylor was playing Ohio and Druck was playing BC, but the Eagles only finished 4-7 in 1995, and Druck had three years of experience on Taylor.

Perhaps the only disappointing part of Taylor's day was the fact that he didn't throw a touchdown pass. He slightly overthrew a deep post to Josh Morgan that would have gone for a touchdown. Other than that, he was pretty good.

One of the recent topics on the boards has been how it is important to get Taylor reps, so he's ready to go for more important games later in the season. It's especially true for Taylor, who is a true freshman, but it has been important for past Tech quarterbacks as well. However, not all of them threw the ball a lot in their first collegiate start.

Perhaps the most mystifying example is Maurice DeShazo's first start back in 1992. DeShazo had only attempted four passes in 1991 as a r-freshman. He was still inexperienced and needed reps badly against James Madison in the opener to prepare for the rest of the season. Instead, the staff let him throw just eight passes. The next week against East Carolina, he completed less than 50% of his passes, threw for less than 100 yards, and had two interceptions in a 30-27 loss.

Hokie Nation The Movie $19.99

While the Tech coaching staff decided that DeShazo didn't need to throw the ball more than eight times in his first collegiate start, they did decide to let tailback Tony Kennedy air it out in the fourth quarter. Leading 42-20 with less than three minutes left in the game, Kennedy threw a 49 yard touchdown pass to Steve Sanders.

That's a couple of things that just boggle the mind. First and foremost, the Hokies didn't get their new quarterback enough passing reps. Second, they gave away their tailback pass play to defensive coordinators by running it with three minutes left while beating a Division 1-AA team by three touchdowns. Wow. If message boards had existed in 1992, they would have howled.

Al Clark was a first-time starter at Rutgers in 1997. He was a r-junior with some backup experience behind Druckenmiller, but he didn't have much experience throwing the ball in a college game. Despite that, he only aired it out 10 times in the opener against the Scarlet Knights that year. As Tech's passing attack bogged down late in the year (along with the defense, running game, and pretty much everything else), it would have been nice to have gotten Clark some extra reps early in the season.

The Clemson Tigers made the same mistake last year. They blew out overmatched competition early in the season behind the running of James Davis and C.J. Spiller, but when conference play began, they needed a passing game. They didn't work on it much early in the season, and it came back to bite them. They were a one-dimensional team late in the season, and they finished the year poorly as a result.

This year, Tommy Bowden has responded differently. New starter Cullen Harper has attempted 69 passes through three games, and has thrown 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions. The passing game should be fine tuned by the time ACC play rolls around.

Look for the education of Tyrod Taylor to continue on Saturday. He won't attempt 31 passes, but he won't have Maurice DeShazo or Al Clark numbers, either.