It wasn't your normal spring football game for Virginia Tech. The Hokies were missing their top two quarterbacks, Kyron Drones and Pop Watson, on Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium. We knew Drones was going to be out after he was ruled out because of a medical procedure he had done on Wednesday, and Watson had a soft tissue issue that was enough for head coach Brent Pry to keep him out of action.
That left Davi Belfort, A.J. Brand, and Kelden Ryan as the three quarterbacks for the game, which featured the offense vs. the defense because of injuries. Brand and Ryan should be in high school, wrapping up their senior year, but instead, they were taking snaps on Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg. In the end, the defense won the game, 50-21, in a scoring system that favored them, but here are four players who stood out in the scrimmage.
Ayden Greene
Last season Ayden Greene saw some action and was worked into the offense at wide receiver with four upper classmen ahead of him. This season he is expected to be one of the veterans in the room and he had good afternoon.
He hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Belfort, but he opened th scoring for the offense with a trick play when Brand threw a lateral to Greene, who fired a strike downfield to Cameron Seldon, who took it to the house for a 57-yard touchdown reception.
Cameron Seldon
Yes, Seldon hauled in the touchdown pass from Greene, but the TD rception is fitting for the impressive spring that he had. A running back at Tennessee, he has become one of the bigger offensive players for the Hokies at receiver.
Whoever is under center in the fall will like the play-making abilities that Seldon showed in the spring, and if he can carry that over to the fall, that'll be huge for Virginia Tech.
Braydon Bennett
Replacing Bhayshul Tuten running the ball is not going to be easy, and it's not going to be done by one guy. The Hiokies picked up some good backs through the winter porta,l and one of them, Braydon Bennett, impressed on Saturday.
The Coastal Carolina transfer led the backs with 74 yards rushing on 11 carries with his longest run being 17 yards. Central Missouri's Marcellous Hawkins and freshman Tyler Mason ran the ball effectively, but again, Bennett stuck out on Saturday and it's going to be a multiplayer effort from the backs in the fall to replace Tuten.
Dante Lovett
With a scoring system that favors the defense, it's easy to pick a number of players who shined, but one returning Hokies player who has the potential to be a huge breakout candidate is Dante Lovett, and he made his presence felt.
He picked off Ryan and brought it back 38 yards to the house for a pick-six. In a group that had a lot of turnover, Lovett is someone who brings some experience and who will be counted on big time in the fall.