BLACKSBURG — There were times earlier in Tyrod Taylor’s career where he found it easier to tuck the ball and run. Then, as he evolved as a starting quarterback, he made more of an effort to stay in the pocket and pass.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Will Sherrill always makes a lot of noise — it’s in his nature, he says — but as a walk-on he’s usually doing it from the bench.

Chelsea Shine received a perfect birthday present from her teammates: the basketball.

There was reason to believe Wake Forest would take charge in the second half last night against High Point of the Big South Conference, so the most pressing questions for the crowd of 9,344 at Joel Coliseum were when and how.

North Carolina will face a double dose of stress today in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic semifinals at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Growing up in Lynchburg, Heritage High graduate Brielle Spencer and her family made an annual trek to Chapel Hill, N.C., nearly every November to watch the University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer team play in the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Like the two men who interviewed before him, Brandon Streeter arrived at Liberty’s football operations last winter dressed to the nines in a suit and tie, eager to speak to Flames coach Danny Rocco for the position of offensive coordinator.

The Randolph College men’s basketball team is no longer a rookie learning the ropes of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

BLACKSBURG — A decision Ryan Williams made in the first quarter of No. 16 Virginia Tech’s first game turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for Jayron Hosley. It turned out to be a pretty good thing for the Hokies football team, too.

Tuesday, Big South Conference commissioner Kyle Kallander submitted a report to the NCAA FCS playoff committee on Liberty, the conference’s only potential playoff team.

22nd-ranked Clemson obliterated the Flames with a 79-39 win Tuesday, leaving Liberty to deal with the second worst home loss in LU’s Division I era.

The Tigers’ suffocating defensive pressure turned a normally team-oriented Liberty club into a bunch of one-on-one basketball players.

TAMPA - Tony Bennett pursed his lips, leaned back in his court-side seat and let out a big sigh.

It appears Virginia Tech’s football team won’t have to make a trip to Cincinnati in 2012 as earlier planned. The two teams, who met in last season’s Orange Bowl, will face off instead at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., according to a written release.

Lynchburg College finished 4-22 last season and won just two of its 16 games in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference under first-year head coach Hilliary Scott.

Representatives from the Champs Sports Bowl sat in motionless fashion to listen on as Virginia coach Al Groh met with reporters following the Cavaliers’ 14-10 loss to Boston College.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Disappointment doesn’t linger long with Virginia Tech’s football team.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A team that started the season with too many quarterbacks suddenly found itself with none on Wednesday.

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Friday night at the team hotel, Liberty coach Danny Rocco pulled Mike Brown aside and told him to get a good night’s sleep, because as Rocco put it to his sophomore captain, “I’m going to work you like a dog.”

A few weeks ago, after Liberty’s football team returned from a 20-13 win at Charleston Southern, Flames tailback Aldreakis Allen expressed surprise at just how dead the atmosphere at CSU Stadium was.

The atmosphere today at Gardner-Webb figures to be a bit better, but not by much. The Bulldogs average 5,124 fans per game at Spangler Stadium, the place where Liberty clinched its first Big South championship two seasons ago with a 31-0 victory.

Whether it is Virginia’s two losing streaks, the Cavaliers’ lone winning streak or Boston College’s dismal road record, the number stands out entering today’s showdown at Scott Stadium.

For Virginia (3-6, 2-3 ACC) another three-game winning streak is a must. Without that turnaround, the Cavaliers and coach Al Groh will spend the holidays at home for the third time in four seasons.

It can’t be a good omen when a new jersey combination is the No. 1 reason to get pumped for a game, can it?

As sure as rain is wet, Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams said Tuesday that he’ll be excited to play ACC Atlantic Division cellar-dweller Maryland today at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md., because of the all-white jerseys and white helmets the 20th-ranked Hokies will be wearing.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — If Friday night was any indication, there won’t be many games this year where fans can leave early to beat the traffic.

Virginia defeated Longwood 85-72 to open the Tony Bennett era after a second-half surge brought the Lancers within eight points late in the game.

Liberty’s defense set the tone for its season-opening victory over Winston-Salem State on Friday evening, keeping the Lady Rams off the scoreboard for the first 8:44 of play. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Devon Brown took care of things on the offensive end, exploding for 26 points in the Lady Flames’ 71-26 win at the Vines Center.

FAIRFAX — If you’re looking for theatrics or emotional outbursts from a college basketball coach, Dale Layer is probably not your guy.

He was on his best behavior Friday night in his first game as Liberty’s coach. He stayed calm, even though his team trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half. He was composed.

His team followed suit.

The young Flames, with a new coach and a lineup devoid of a superstar guard who now calls Durham home, didn’t throw in the towel. They followed their coach’s lead and rallied to within three points before succumbing to host George Mason 76-72 at the Patriot Center.

BLACKSBURG — This is the story of a strong friendship forged by fate and family intervention. It’s a story of two fiercely competitive, loyal, committed teammates who bonded the second they shook hands.

The ship was sinking, and everything that Jesse Sanders had watched develop during his freshman season was quickly slipping away. Seth Curry, the high-scoring freshman who helped put Liberty on the national radar, was gone. Ritchie McKay, the coach that recruited Sanders, left soon thereafter.

Heading into Saturday’s game against Boston College, the Cavaliers (3-6, 2-3 ACC) rank among the worst in the ACC in numerous categories.

Wake Forest’s 2008-09 season was like the meal with the mouth-watering appetizer followed by a main course so unpalatable that it was difficult, if not impossible, to keep down.

CHAPEL HILL - Ryan Taylor is still having difficulty recovering from a knee injury and will likely take medical redshirt status this season at North Carolina, Coach Butch Davis said yesterday.