Going into fall camp, excitement builds for a new football season. At Virginia Tech, the excitement builds for first-year head coach James Franklin. A month after getting fired at Penn State in late October, he was hired as Brent Pry's replacement in Blacksburg.
With fall camp opening, that means we are getting closer to Franklin's first game as head coach of the Hokies, which will be on Sept. 5 at Lane Stadium at 7:30 p.m. against VMI. On Wednesday, Virginia Tech kicked off camp, and on Thursday, the media got the first looks at practices. As is the case sometimes early in camp, injuries occur. However, depth is going to be an issue this season, and unfortunately for Franklin,
Virginia Tech suffers an early big injury with OL Johnny Garrett
One key offensive lineman was missing from practice, Johnny Garrett, and Franklin said that the veteran is going to miss some time. According to Franklin, the injury was suffered sometime over the last few days. The injury was described as a long-term injury, per Andy Bitter of Tech Sideline. That's not great.
It is no secret that the offensive line struggles of the Hokies have been a big storyline for the last couple of seasons. Matt Moore was retained from Pry's staff by Franklin and will be put to the test right away in figuring out how to replace a veteran like Garrett. If there is anything positive that can come from this is that camp is just beginning and it gives Moore and Franklin time to figure things out by the season-opener against VMI.
Depth is always a concern going into any season, but especially football. Suffering an injury this early can be a setback, and this would qualify for that. There are some players that teams can try to survive losing, but losing Garrett is a setback that can be costly. This is a less-than-ideal way for camp to begin, but such is the life of a football coach. If there is someone who can figure out how to get by and move on, it's Franklin.
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