Football is back!

I found myself fully engulfed in the Friday night preseason opener between the Falcons and the Patriots. And my greatest hope for the evening was fulfilled when Bryan Randall walked onto the field, proving himself all over again in my mind as my favorite Hokie/Falcon player ever.








Here's an excerpt from the AJC article on the game and his performance. Stand back Shockley:

By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/13/06

3. Bryan Randall is not conceding a thing. With D.J. Shockley having a strong training camp and being the hometown favorite, it's easy to think Randall is doing nothing than taking snaps so the other quarterbacks can take a break. But the second-year player from Virginia Tech served notice that he's not going to relinquish the No. 3 quarterback job without a fight.

Randall, who played in the third quarter, completed five of nine passes — two were screens to Norwood, who did the heavy lifting after the catch — and broke off a nifty 29-yard run, the longest carry for either team. He finished with a 123.4 quarterback rating.

"It was good to be on the field because I hadn't really been involved in full contact for a couple of years," Randall said. "I was real anxious, but I felt real poised out there and comfortable with the offense."