Virginia Tech, in early stages of rebuild, leans on inspired defense
Most recently, Virginia Tech (1-1) permitted just 155 yards of total offense in a 27-10 victory over Boston College in last weekend’s ACC opener. It owns the sixth-rated scoring defense (15 points allowed per game) in the 14-team conference heading into Saturday’s 11 a.m. kickoff against Wofford of the Football Championship Subdivision at Lane Stadium.
“We obviously have a high standard, high expectation,” said Pry, who served as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech from 1995 through 1997, working closely with Foster. “Me personally I do know what that unit needs to look like, and we’re not certainly there yet, but I’m proud of the progress. I’m proud of the performance and the things we’re emphasizing.”
Apart from the elevated effort Pry and his staff have generated from their players, another component to Virginia Tech’s early uprising has been keeping defenders fresh at every position thanks to liberal substitution patterns.
Against the Eagles, 18 defensive players were on the field for at least 20 snaps, providing valuable in-game experience and taking another step in Pry’s long-term plan to expand depth within the defense.
It’s partly how Pry rose to be one of the top defensive coordinators in the country at Penn State, where the defense ranked third nationally in red zone scoring percentage (66.7 percent) and sixth in scoring defense (16.8 ppg) in his final season in 2021.
“The more guys that you can have in your rotation, the healthier, the better, guys that are more invested every week because they know they’re going to see the field,” Pry said. “But those guys have to earn the right to play, and we have to trust to put them out there.”
The result last week was nine players who recorded at least half a tackle for loss and six with at least a half a sack. Nine players also had at least three total tackles, with linebacker Dax Hollifield leading the way with eight. Linebacker Jaden Keller and cornerback Chamarri Conner were tied for second, each with five.
Hollifield and Conner are both fifth-year seniors and among the most respected leaders throughout the locker room, having counseled younger players on and off the field through multiple coaching administrations.
Pry has leaned as well on other seasoned defensive players to help expedite the development of reserves, some of whom received more playing time than anticipated against Boston College given the relatively lopsided result.
“We’ve got some veterans on that side of the ball,” Pry said. “We’ve got some guys that have been in a bunch of battles, and that certainly helps a lot, and we were able to do a little more with our package than maybe you normally would in year one because there are some old heads. There’s just a bunch of guys that have played a lot of football.”
One such player is defensive end TyJuan Garbutt. The redshirt senior was named ACC defensive lineman of the week for the first time following his performance against the Eagles in which he tallied three tackles for loss, matching a career high; one sack; one forced fumble; one pass breakup; and four quarterback hurries.
Garbutt (6 feet 1, 255 pounds) started 11 of 13 games last year, nine at defensive end and two at defensive tackle, and finished tied for second on the team with 3.5 sacks. Two of those came in one game.
“Just having the mentality that if I trust in the system, if I trust what the coaches are telling me to do, I know it’ll bring the results,” Garbutt said. “Just being able to be one of the veterans and step up and kind of be a leader in a more intense way, if that makes sense.”
The Hokies were 10th in the ACC last season in sacks with 25, and a point of emphasis coming into this year, with defensive line coach J.C. Price leading the charge, has been applying pressure on the quarterback with far greater vigor and consistency.
Price was a standout defensive lineman for Virginia Tech under legendary coach Frank Beamer and Foster and last year served as interim coach for three games, including a rousing victory over Virginia in the regular season finale, after the school parted ways with former coach Justin Fuente.
“Technical- and fundamentals-wise having a full year of Coach Price being able to coach the whole line, like that helps,” Garbutt said. “He really knows what he’s talking about. He knows what he’s doing. His résumé speaks for itself, and I’ve been one of the guys that’s been trying to help other guys come along.”
