Virginia Tech Football: Mixed results on injury news for Hokies defense

There was some good injury news in regards to the Virginia Tech football on Tuesday when head coach Brent Pry met with the media and there was some not-so-good news heading into this week’s matchup at Marshall.

Pry said wide receiver Jaylin Lane might be able to return to the lineup after missing last week’s 35-16 loss at Rutgers with an injury he suffered the week before against Purdue. The news on the defensive side of the ball was not as good.

Virginia Tech will be without a key defensive back against the Thundering Hurd

Hokies’ safety Nasir Peoples will again be out of the lineup when Virginia Tech travels to Marshall on Saturday afternoon. That is a huge hole in the back end to replace. Last week against Rutgers, his absence was not noticed as much with the way the Scarlet Knights ran the ball on Tech, but this week, expect Marshall to throw the ball more and test the secondary.

A bit of good news for the Virginia Tech defense is that linebacker Alan Tisdale is expected back against the Thunder Hurd and what an addition it would be at a time when help on defense is desperately needed. He is a key part of the defense and stopping the run, something Virginia Tech has yet to prove it can stop as Old Dominion, Purdue, and Rutgers have run it and run it very effectively.

Through three games, the Hokies defense has allowed 75 points and they have done it against teams that maybe they should have given up that many points combined to. ODU and Purdue were able to mix in the run and throw against Virginia Tech, while Greg Schiano and Rutgers just pounded the ball down their throat with an effective running game between quarterback and running back.

Getting Tisdale back should help a little, but not having Peoples is going to hurt the secondary. Outside linebacker Keonta Jenkins is listed as probable and safety Jalen Stroman is questionable.