Tech tailback Kenny Lewis is enjoying college football more than pro baseball.
BLACKSBURG -- So how much does Kenny Lewis Jr. keep up with his old game these days?
Baseball? Are you talking about baseball?
The former Cincinnati Reds farmhand turned Virginia Tech tailback can't resist laughing.
"Actually, I'm not going to lie to you," a grinning Lewis said. "The only thing that I know now is that Barry Bonds broke the [home run] record, that's it.
"And, yeah, I know the Reds are losing."
So forget baseball. His new gig is an easy winner.
"Oh yeah, I'm having a lot more fun here," Lewis said. "In baseball, there would be times in the outfield when me and the guys were out there joking. Man, it's boring out there. I mean there's nothing to do. Here you've got fans going crazy as soon as you walk out that tunnel. I love that!"
After spending last season as a freshman reintroducing himself to football, Lewis is pumped up in more ways than one about the upcoming fall. First, he's bulked up from 185 to 205 pounds. Second, he figures to get a lot more work as the No. 1 backup to starter Branden Ore, the Hokies' All-ACC back.
"I feel so much better going into this fall than I did last year," Tech running backs coach Billy Hite said. "Last year, I had one proven back and that was Branden Ore.
"Now I have so much more confidence in Kenny Lewis and playing him than I did last year at this time, it's unbelievable. So you're going to see him on the field a lot. It's not fair to Branden Ore to beat him up."
Tech coach Frank Beamer agrees with the plan.
"Kenny is bigger, he's stronger, and I think he's more likely to make a good cut than try to hit a baseball right now," Beamer said, laughing.
"He's much more capable right now. The more we can play two tailbacks and keep both of them fresh, I think the better off we are. Certainly, Branden Ore is going to get his carries now. That makes good sense for us to do that."
All sounds good to Lewis. He knows he's no Branden Ore, but he knows he can help more than he did last year, when he played in seven games, carrying 54 times for 215 yards, with two touchdowns.
"Branden Ore is unreal, to be honest with you," Lewis said. "Those cutbacks? Oh, my gosh! He stops on a dime, doesn't he? You can't teach that. You can't buy that anywhere, either. He was just blessed with that.
"Every play in practice he comes back and says, 'Did you see what I see?' And I ask him the same thing when I'm running the ball to make sure we're on the same page. He's younger than I am, but he's more wise in football knowledge than I am. Now I just want to help him out."
Although he'll be 23 on Oct. 13, Lewis acts more like an anxious kid in a candy store these days. So what he's got to crack some books now. College life sure beats riding the bus in the low minors, heading from one podunk western town to another.
"I'd rather come out here and run 16 110s [110-yard sprints] any day that do that," said Lewis, who turned down a Tech scholarship offer in 2003 to accept a six-figure bonus from the Reds.
"I knew from Day One that I was going to come back and play football."
The toughest order of business was learning how to block somebody, which he never had to do as a star back at Danville's George Washington High School.
"I was a lot smaller last year and we've got 250-pound linebackers and 220-pound safeties coming full speed at me, and there was nothing I could do at 185 pounds," Lewis said. "It was a big learning process for me. But this year everything has slowed down. I can see things a lot easier, I'm picking up my blocks and the blocking scheme is coming along a whole lot easier."
While Lewis' biggest problem now is any math class -- "Oh, my gosh! I hate math," he said -- he knows enough about numbers to figure that having two capable tailbacks is better than one.
"Think about Kevin Jones and Lee Suggs were here together," Lewis said, referring to Tech's 1-2 tandem of future NFL backs in 2002.
"Those guys were just as good because they had somebody to help them out. Think about it. Branden Ore had two 200-yard rushing games by himself last year, so think if he had somebody else to go to? When Jones and Suggs were here, Jones was so good because he had Suggs to help him out ... and Suggs was so good because he had Jones there. And if we can keep Branden Ore fresh at all times, then who knows what he can do?"
As Lewis made his spiel, his neck was surrounded by the arms of offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, who had sneaked up from behind.
"See, the man's got a plan, doesn't he?" Stinespring said, grinning. "I like a man who's got a plan."
Lewis, whose father Kenny Sr. led Tech with 1,020 rushing yards in 1978, just loves talking football now.
And baseball?
"I don't miss anything about baseball," Lewis said. "It was a good opportunity, I got a nice bonus. It can't touch this, though. Hopefully, things are only going to keep getting better for me here."
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