Quarterback EJ Manuel does not expect a warm reception for his first game back in his home state since defecting to Florida State.
Manuel, who played at Bayside High in his hometown of Virginia Beach, will lead the Seminoles into Virginia Tech on Thursday to face a desperate 4-5 Hokies team fighting for its bowl life after coming off a humiliating loss at Miami. The Seminoles enter as an astounding two touchdown road favorite.
“Everybody in Blacksburg loves Virginia Tech because that’s all they have,” Manuel said Monday. “They’re going to hate us, I know that. They’re going to hate me …
“But that’s fine.”
Manuel gave Virginia Tech and Virginia cursory looks before signing in 2008 but never bothered to take a visit to his home state schools. In fact, Manuel’s only visit was to Florida State and the two Virginia schools weren’t even listed among the 10 in which he showed interest according to Rivals.com.
The decision turned out OK for Manuel. The fifth-year senior is 21-5 as a starter for Florida State and is ranked second nationally in passing efficiency behind Kansas State’s Collin Klein, the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy.
Manuel remains the ACC’s all-time career completion percentage leader at 67.3 percent.
“He’s a big guy who can really throw the football, very athletic,” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said Monday. “He’s a great leader and has some good people around him.”
Even if Manuel was interested in staying in state, he was not particularly keen on sitting behind Tyrod Taylor, who had established himself as the Hokies starter as a sophomore in 2008 on the way to becoming the ACC’s player of the year in 2010. Manuel called it the “main factor” as to why he was not interested in Virginia Tech.
“We recruited him but that’s always a factor, who you got there and how many years they got left,” Beamer said about Taylor’s presence. “Sometimes that enters into it.”
Taylor was a sixth-round pick by the Ravens in 2011 and remains Joe Flacco’s backup in Baltimore.
Manuel became even more familiar with Taylor in 2010 when he was forced to start the ACC title game against Virginia Tech and opposite Taylor. Regular starter Christian Ponder injured his elbow during the season and it flared up following the previous week’s victory over Florida.
Manuel threw for what was then his career high of 288 yards in a 44-33 loss.
“I don’t think I knew I was going to start the game until the game started,” Manuel said. “The whole week of practice I was preparing like I was going to start, so I was prepared.”
Florida State was a surprise participant in that title game, coming off a 7-6 season in Bobby Bowden’s last year and not knowing how long it would take the Seminoles to transition into the Jimbo Fisher era.
The Seminoles were inconsistent offensively, finishing the season 60th nationally with 381.3 yards per game.
Now, Virginia Tech’s defense will face a much different and more explosive FSU offense. Florida State leads the ACC in total offense (No. 7 in the nation) and scoring offense (third nationally).
The Seminoles are averaging 524.6 yards per game, their most since 2000, and 44.8 points per game, the most since 1995.
“Really, really impressive,” is how Beamer describes the Seminoles. “Just complete. They are running the ball extremely well. The offensive line is extremely good, one of the best we’ve seen in quite some time.
“It takes all those pieces to be a dynamic offense and that’s exactly what they are.”
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