updated 9:34 p.m. ET Aug. 26, 2004

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Bryan Randall won’t look to the sideline and see Marcus Vick warming up to replace him this season. He won’t have to share the starting job with anybody else, either. He’s Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback. Period.

But the senior, who has played in each of his three seasons with the Hokies, also won’t have Kevin Jones taking his handoffs or Ernest Wilford catching his passes. In many ways, his job will be more difficult than ever, especially with the Hokies opening their season against top-ranked Southern California on Saturday night in Landover, Md.

Virginia Tech is 0-6 against No. 1 teams.

Ask anyone around the Hokies, though, and Randall is the perfect choice to lead a young, inexperienced team.

“He’s a solid guy that’s very, very mature,” coach Frank Beamer said. “How he handles himself in public, with the media, his statements — they’re all for Virginia Tech. He cares about Virginia Tech football and wants to be the leader and lead us to great things.”

Offensive coordinator Brian Stinespring said Randall’s ability to adapt and teach will help immensely as the Hokies turn to a new set of offensive players.

“He just has this ingrained personality and this character,” the third-year coordinator said. “He deals with things. He handles the things he can control and deals with every aspect of life.”

This season, with Vick serving a suspension for getting in trouble with the law in the offseason, Randall is the quarterback, mentor and coach for freshmen Cory Holt and Sean Glennon, the two wide-eyed guys waiting in the wings if Randall should go down.

It’s a responsibility Randall relishes almost as much as playing.

“It’s important that the quarterback be a leader,” he said. “You’re going to be a leader of your team by default and it’s just a matter of taking control out there and the guys are going to look to you. This is my third year starting, so I feel I have a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, but that’s responsibility that I want.”

His understudies see it, too.

“He’s been like a father all summer to me and Sean,” said Holt, who enrolled in the winter and worked with the Hokies skill position players all summer.

After thinking they would redshirt while Randall and Vick shared the job, Holt and Glennon find Randall to be an extension of quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers.

“When we’re having trouble with something and coach Rogers is off doing something, we know we can just ask Bryan,” said Glennon, who won the backup job this fall.

Randall has a healthy respect for how hard it is to come out of high school and play right away, and knows an experienced mentor can be an asset.

“They’re in a tough position as far as having to learn real quick, but sometimes you get those situations where you’re thrown into the fire,” he said.

Randall played in every game as a freshman backing up Michael Vick, then started as a sophomore after expected starter Grant Noel was hurt in the second game.

That year, Randall threw for a Big East-record 504 yards and five touchdowns at Syracuse, but the Hokies lost in triple overtime. He ran for 132 yards against top-ranked Miami, but a 56-45 loss was Virginia Tech’s fourth in its last five games.

The latter highlighted Randall’s sometimes underrated ability to pull the ball down and run. He and Beamer agree that’s a dimension he’ll keep showing, even though he’s the player these Hokies can least afford to lose.

“I’m still going to run the ball and try to get the first down if I need that yard. But I’m not going to be stupid about it,” Randall said.

Last year, Randall scored on runs of 47, 75 and 23 yards.

Beamer trusts his quarterback to make the right decisions.

“Bryan’s going to be Bryan. You have to be smart. If you’re on the sidelines, it’s like we told Michael (Vick), if it’s over, it’s over — get down. If you’re in the middle of the field and it’s over, get down. No use taking any unnecessary chances.”

Especially not when it’s your last go-round.

“You want to make it a season to remember,” Randall said.

MORE FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL

College football Section Front

SEC not all it’s cracked up to be Bowl Projections: Big Ten blows BCS spot Opinion: 10 bowl matchups that would be a treat CFT: ‘By the numbers’ — McCoy goes for record CFT: Iowa’s Stanzi could return for bowl game CFT: Meyer says Florida ‘lacking the big hits’ Tribe stops school from dropping nickname   Vote: Which is the best conference? CFT: Mystery over for No. 5 Cincinnati — Pike will sit Iowa-Ohio St. in-depth video preview, analysis College football Section Front   Add College football headlines to your news reader: