Virginia Tech Football: Can Hokies Defense Survive Injuries?

Virginia Tech’s defense began the season with solid depth. Now, that depth is being tested to its full extent.

Bud Foster’s squad can’t nip the injury bug. They simply can’t catch a break. The Hokies’ defense isn’t able to go through a game without losing a contributor. This continued during Saturday’s matchup with Boston College.

The Hokies lost Bruce Taylor, Alonzo Tweedy and James Gayle. These are huge losses considering the roles that they occupy for the defense.

Bruce Taylor is Virginia Tech’s starting middle linebacker and leading tackler. He left on Saturday with what is being reported as a sprained right foot. He finished the game on the sideline with a walking boot. According to Norm Wood, Taylor’s updated injury status, along with all other players’ statuses, will be released on Monday.

The possible loss of Taylor is an immense hurdle to overcome, but the same can be said for linebacker Alonzo Tweedy. Tweedy did not begin the season as a starter, he simply added depth to the linebacking corp, but that changed during Virginia Tech’s win over Miami.

During that game, the Hokies lost starter Jeron Gouveia-Winslow for the season with a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot. Tweedy suffered a high left ankle sprain against BC. He has also been fitted with a protective walking boot.

Foster also lost his best pass rusher in James Gayle. Gayle suffered a sprained ankle against Miami. He then sat out the Wake Forest game. He returned for all of one series against Boston College. It now appears that Virginia Tech’s defense simply can’t stay healthy.

All-American cornerback Jayron Hosley sat out against Boston College with a pulled hamstring. He injured the hamstring against Miami, but made it worse against Wake Forest. It is unclear if he will comeback for the Duke game.

Those are just the most recent injuries. The Hokies lost starting tackle Antoine Hopkins to a torn ACL against Clemson, as well as the previously mentioned Jeron Gouveia-Winslow.

So, from the season’s opening roster Bud Foster is left with two healthy safeties, one corner, one linebacker and two players on the defensive line. That isn’t a very good percentage. Starters are dropping like flies and there is one question on the minds of the Hokie faithful.

Can they survive this plague of injuries?

It is never good to lose starters, but luckily the Hokies are playing Duke this Saturday. Virginia Tech should be able to survive these injuries and come from Durham with another win on their record. The only good news after the Duke game is that the Hokies are heading into a bye week.

Hopefully the defense can get healthier during the week off, but if it doesn’t then Virginia Tech could be in trouble. The Hokies are playing in Atlanta against Georgia Tech after their bye week. If the defense doesn’t get healthy, it could be a long night.

Virginia Tech’s starters have been great against the run this season. However, their backups haven’t fared so well. A lot of opponents rushing yards have come in the second half, usually after a starter or two have left the game with an injury. Georgia Tech’s triple option does nothing but run the football. The Yellow Jackets have struggled lately, but they can’t be taken lightly, especially Virginia Tech still has a battered defense.

The Hokies can survive this plague for a short period of time but if it continues or gets worse, the rest of the season could be a long and arduous journey of backups playing cautiously to stay on the field.

Bud Foster shouldn’t be hitting the panic button just yet, but the defense needs to get healthy.