Hokies buoyed by Worilds’ intensity

BLACKSBURG A sidewalk winds from Virginia Tech's football locker room at the Merryman Center to the tunnel the Hokies walk through when they enter Lane Stadium.

Before games, they shuffle down the sidewalk and wait for the sound that rises above the clicking and clacking of their cleats on the sidewalk, the hum of the crowd, sometimes even the opening strains of Metallica's "Enter Sandman," blaring over the speakers.

It comes from behind them, out of the locker room -- a holy terror, screaming, getting closer to the mouth of the tunnel. It is the same voice, except louder, that a few moments earlier had the Hokies break huddle in the locker room by saying, "War."

Junior defensive end Jason Worilds is so convincing when he says this, so furious as he runs down the sidewalk to join his teammates after taking his time getting ready that "sometimes, I think he really thinks we're going to war," said senior whip linebacker Cody Grimm. "He's definitely an animal."

Worilds contributes more than just his pregame intensity. Tech's coaches consider him their most productive defensive player. In today's regular-season finale at Virginia, the Hokies must play with his emotion and his effectiveness if they want to beat the Cavaliers for the sixth straight time and the 10th time in their past 11 meetings.

The annual rivalry game means less this season than it did in the past two. Last year, the Hokies needed to win to make the ACC championship game, while the Cavaliers had to win to make a bowl game. Two years ago, the game served as a de facto conference semifinal, with the winner representing the Coastal Division in the league title game.

The Hokies can't make that game this year. Georgia Tech won the Coastal, leaving the Hokies chasing 10 wins as a fall-back goal. The Cavaliers, losers of five straight, can't make a bowl.

While the Hokies draw upon Worilds' energy before the game, they also rely on his disruption during it. His numbers -- 8.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks -- are down from last season, when he had 18.5 and eight, respectively, while playing with an injured left shoulder. But he still is getting into the backfield. He has 32 quarterback hurries, compared to 21 last season.

When Tech's coaches watch film of their games, they award players points for positive plays (tackles and sacks) and subtract points for negative plays (missed tackles and mental errors). They track these production numbers throughout the season and rank their players. Worilds is first. In Saturday's win over North Carolina State, he received 37 points on 43 plays.

"That's a high rate of production per play," said defensive line coach Charley Wiles. "I don't think he's been any less productive this year than he was last year."

Worilds said teams are double-team blocking him more this season, which has "drastically" changed his approach, forcing him to make more choices about the angle at which he rushes. "It's an angle game," he said.

He usually lines up two feet outside of the tackle. But this season teams are putting a tight end in that spot in front of Worilds. So Worilds has to decide whether to rush wide around the tight end, which means a longer path to the backfield, or whether to plow between the tight end and tackle.

Worilds has helped himself by becoming more efficient. Last season, when he was responsible for tracking the tight end in a blitzing situation, he would watch the tight end block another Hokie blitzing from the outside, then wait to see if the tight end would slip away into a pass route. But if the tight end stayed on the block, Worilds was wasting time he could have spent chasing the quarterback.

This season, Worilds is recognizing quicker that the tight end is staying on the block, which means he can blitz sooner. "I'm less mechanical out there," he said. "Everything is one fluid motion."

One thing that hasn't changed about Worilds: his intensity, born of being the youngest cousin in his family. "I'm a defender at heart," he said. "All the older people in my family, if I couldn't hold my own, they were picking at me. They were taking my food. I'm getting punched in the stomach. I'm getting pushed around. Because of that, I defend anything that's mine."

So there was Worilds earlier this season, breaking huddle by saying "war" and getting curious looks from teammates, who later joined the mantra. There he is in the locker room on the players' day off, dripping with sweat because he just finished running or lifting weights. A freshman will ask what he's doing. Worilds will mention he just worked out and say, "I'm ready to go. I'm ready for war."

"You see the other guys look at him like, 'Man, what's wrong with this dude?'" said junior cornerback Rashad Carmichael, one of Worilds' closest friends. "That's just how he plays the game."