BLACKSBURG Dyrell Roberts tried the best he could to keep up, to absorb every syllable streaming into his ears. He knew this meeting, just before Virginia Tech's first preseason practice yesterday, was the initial step in his audition for playing time at wide receiver, a rare chance to contribute as a true freshman.

He listened closely to his position coach, Kevin Sherman, and wrote everything that sounded important in a notebook Sherman gave each of his players. Formations, routes, where Roberts is supposed to run on specific plays -- he filled the pages with it, because, he said, "I need all the information I can get."

Roberts is one of four true freshmen competing for time at receiver, along with Marcus Davis, Jarrett Boykin and Xavier Boyce. Roberts is listed on the depth chart behind sophomore Zach Luckett at one spot. Davis is second behind redshirt freshman Danny Coale at the other. Boykin and Boyce are third at each position.

Sherman needs someone, anyone, to replace some of the 2,026 yards and 15 touchdowns the Hokies lost after last season with the departures of seniors Eddie Royal, Justin Harper, Josh Morgan and Josh Hyman. Receiver is Tech's most uncertain position, and coach Frank Beamer said his staff must narrow the group down to its best six players.

Getting there could be rocky. You're going to have butterflies, Roberts said Sherman told his players before practice. Sure enough, the afternoon felt tenser than the first days Roberts used to cruise through at Smithfield High. On one deep pass, a defensive back knocked the ball from his hands because he didn't reach up to grab it at its highest point -- as Sherman immediately pointed out to him.

Forget it, Roberts told himself of the mistake, bound to happen because he played running back in high school and only occasionally caught passes. Yet he found errors on this larger stage harder to shake. "You do still have it in the back of your head, but you've just got to erase that," he said.

Watching the freshmen, especially as they scribbled away in the meeting, brought back still-fresh memories for Coale and made him feel strangely old. "I was definitely that guy last year," he said. Now, he is atop the depth chart because junior Brandon Dillard blew out his right Achilles tendon over the summer.

Coale always asked last year's foursome for tips, and during the offseason, he received an important one from Harper. NFL cornerbacks can tell a receiver's route based on his first few steps, Harper told him, so make everything look like a deep route, and you can dictate the play from there.

But for the freshmen yesterday, basics were a more immediate concern, getting through the first day and all its anxieties.

"A lot of those guys are kind of deer in headlights," senior quarterback Sean Glennon said. "They're not really sure when we call a route what that even means. I think it'll take a week before I can make a fair evaluation, but the athleticism is there."

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THIS AND THAT: As expected, true freshman Vinston Painter practiced yesterday at defensive tackle. He is listed fourth on the depth chart. One of Tech's top recruits, Painter was recruited as an offensive tackle. . . . Junior running backs Kenny Lewis Jr. and Jahre Cheeseman were medically cleared to practice and are tied atop the depth chart. Lewis (torn labrum in left shoulder) and Cheeseman (broken left leg) were injured during spring practice. . . . One position battle to watch this preseason is at rover. Junior Dorian Porch is just ahead of sophomore Davon Morgan (Varina High). Both players also will practice at free safety, where converted rover Kam Chancellor is listed ahead of walk-on sophomore Ron Cooper (Meadowbrook). . . . Senior Cory Holt is back as the third-string quarterback after working at receiver in the spring.