Ready ‘Ore’ not, here he comes…into the end zone again

By Eddie Griffin  |   Friday, September 15, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

Virginia Tech Hokies
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Don't blink, or you might miss Branden Ore going into the end zone yet again.

Through Virginia Tech's first two games, the sensational sophomore has sauntered to six times already for the 2-0 Hokies.

He's done it the short way, going in from the goal line. He's done it by the big play. He's done it on the ground. He's done it through the air.

He's just plain gotten it done. Ore's run for 165 yards (five yards a carry) and four touchdowns, and he's also caught four passes for 118 more yards and another score.

Ore came into Blacksburg in 2004 as one of Virginia's best prep prospects and one of the top high school running backs in the country out of Chesapeake (Indian River HS); but he watched and redshirted while the Hokies won a conference title and went to the Sugar Bowl in their inaugural ACC campaign.

Last season, he began the season third on the depth chart behind Cedric Humes and Mike Imoh, but when both were beset by injuries, that enabled Ore to step in and strut his stuff. And he did, rushing for 478 yards in VT's final six regular-season games and chalking up three 100-yard performances.

On the season, he totaled 647 yards and six touchdowns. Ore made his carries count, averaging 5.9 yards a rush, and in those six aforementioned games, an even more stellar 6.8 yards per rush (70 carries). More impressively, only two of his 109 carries went for negative yardage. Talk about forward thinking.

But, he was hit by the injury bug himself and spent the entire spring semester home rehabbing a bum shoulder and getting himself in the right frame of mind.

Guess both mind and body are fit now, huh?

VT's first two opponents were on the softer side, but Ore played a starring role against both. Against Northeastern in the opener, he started the scoring with a six-yard run, and then he was a part of the day's biggest play, scoring on a 55-yard catch and run from new QB Sean Glennon.

Last Saturday, he scored the Hokies' first three touchdowns and totaled 111 yards rushing on the day in their 35-10 victory over North Carolina. That, along with his two catches for 37 yards, earned Ore the ACC Offensive Back of the Week honor. That was his third conference award, adding to the two ACC Rookie of the Week accolades the runner picked up last season.

There have been some pretty talented backs in Blacksburg over the last several seasons, like Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones, and Ore's starting to make a pretty good name for himself.

Tech keeps the softy schedule rolling for the next couple of weeks, with games against Duke and Cincinnati. Ore should be able to beef up that TD total before the Hokies hit the meat of their schedule, starting with a Sept. 30 date, at home, against Georgia Tech.

If he continues to excel, that'll take a lot of pressure off Glennon, who's got it pretty good as is, with renowned offensive mind Mike O'Cain guiding him.

Don't look now, but with that dependable tough Tech defense, and that Hokie propensity for picking up big plays on all sides of the ball, especially special teams, Frank Beamer and Co. might be saying, 'Down year...what?' before too long.

Hey, I said don't look. I think Ore just scored again.

Now that he's healthy and the undisputed No. 1 in Tech's backfield, the only things in his way now are ACC defenders and some grass.

However, both ACC defenders and grass better heed my earlier warning, because Branden Ore may be running over them many, many times this season.

Get more on Branden Ore and the Virginia Tech Hokies at RealFootball365.com
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