Lewis eyes opportunity
In his first two years in the Virginia Tech football program, Kenny LewisJr. confessed he often marveled at some of the moves that fellow tailback Branden Ore exhibited on the field.
"Talk about a guy stopping on a dime and then being able to go the other way," Lewis Jr. said last season. "Branden has a cutback move like you can't believe. It's unreal, man."
Serving as Branden Ore's primary backup the past two seasons after a three-year stint in professional baseball, Lewis Jr. has rushed for 420 yards and six touchdowns in 21 games. The power and explosiveness of Ore, who would have entered his senior season with the fifth-highest career rushing total in school history (2,776 yards), will be missed by the Tech offense. Lewis Jr. said he's stronger and more ready than ever.
"It's a real big opportunity," Lewis Jr. said. "This is what I came here for ... to be at this level and to be able to play in front of 70,000 to 80,000 fans, and to prove to myself that I can play at the Division I football level.
"I've worked hard on improving my blocking. Now, the coaches want to see me make somebody miss, break tackles. Everybody knows that I can run -- they know that nobody is going to catch me in the open field -- and they know that I know the system. They just want to see me make that next guy miss and make that big play."
Lewis Jr. won't be handed the job. Redshirt junior Jahre Cheeseman, who got some reps in the tailback rotation late last season, is considered more of a power inside runner and will get plenty of time to impress this spring. A couple of bigger redshirt freshmen -- Josh Oglesby and Darren Evans -- will get an opportunity this spring, and heralded freshman recruit Ryan Williams also will get a look in August.
Tech tidbits
Redshirt freshman Blake DeChristopher headed into spring practice as the leading candidate for Tech's No. 1 spot at offensive right tackle. Redshirt junior Ed Wang has been moved to left tackle, the position vacated by three-year starter Duane Brown. ... Redshirt freshman Khalil Latif has been moved from offensive tackle to defensive tackle, where the Hokies hope he can provide some much-needed depth. Redshirt sophomore John Graves, who saw significant time as the fourth man in the D-tackle rotation, is the lead candidate to take over the nose spot vacated by the graduation of Carlton Powell. ... Beamer and his staff welcomed Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis and assistant coach Brian Polian Tuesday. Like many college coaches have done in the past, Weis and Polian are visiting in hopes of picking up some tips from Beamer & Co. on how to improve the Irish's fortunes on special teams.
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