FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christopher Brooks, James Madison
January 20, 2011

Virginia Tech's Taylor Named Football Player of the Year

HARRISONBURG, Va., Jan. 20, 2011 – Virginia Tech senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor (Hampton, Va.) was named the 2010 Virginia University Division Football Player of the Year in a voting by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID). Joining Taylor with top honors in the state was Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer, who was voted Coach of the Year and Virginia freshman tackle Morgan Moses (Richmond, Va.), who earned Rookie of the Year accolades.

Taylor earned the Player of the Year award after passing for 2,742 yards and 24 touchdowns, with only five interceptions. He rushed for 659 yards and five scores as well. Following the season, Taylor was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and was the recipient of the Dudley Award, awarded to the top player in the state of Virginia. He started all 14 games for the Hokies and guided them to the Orange Bowl after finishing with a perfect record in the ACC regular season and a 44-33 victory in the ACC title game against then 20th-ranked Florida State.

Beamer, in his 24th season at Virginia Tech, led the Hokies to their 18th-straight bowl game after finishing with an 11-3 record, including a perfect 8-0 mark in league play, and the program’s fourth ACC title. This season also marked the seventh-straight year his Virginia Tech team won at least 10 games.

Moses was selected as the Rookie of the Year after a stellar season on the offensive line for the Virginia Cavaliers. He was one of seven true freshmen in the country to start at an offensive tackle position in 2010 and surrendered just two sacks in his first start against North Carolina and two in the 22 quarters played since halftime against the Tar Heels. UVA had allowed 17 sacks prior to Moses coming into the starting role. He helped block for the ACC’s No. 4 passing attack and an offense that produced two of the league’s top 13 running backs. Moses was also named to Phil Steele’s Freshman All-America Fourth Team and was a CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-American.

Eight players from the 2009 All-State team were once again honored on this year’s team. Richmond had the repeat selections with senior defensive lineman Martin Parker (New Haven, Conn.) and senior linebacker Eric McBride (Richmond, Va.) receiving First Team honors, while senior cornerback Justin Rogers (Baton Rouge, La.) was named to the Second Team.

Other repeat honorees were William and Mary junior running back Jonathan Grimes (Palmyra, N.J.) and sophomore corner back B.W. Webb (Newport News, Va.), who each earned Second Team status. Liberty junior kicker Matt Bevins (Newport News, Va.) was named First Team, while redshirt junior quarterback Mike Brown (Charlottesville, Va.) earned Second Team accolades, a year after being named First Time at the wide receiver position. Virginia Tech junior wide receiver Jarrett Boykin (Charlotte, N.C.) was named to the Second Team once again this year.