3 Key Injured Virginia Tech Players Going Into Old Dominion

Don’t look now, but the injuries are slowly piling up for the Virginia Tech football team. Heading into this Saturday night’s game at Old Dominion, there are some Hokies who are questionable, but likely to play, while others are out and will be missed.

With all the retainment Virginia Tech had, they are able to plug players into different positions, however, some of the players out are players that are counted on to play a lot of snaps and make an impact in the game. On the flip side, it appears that the Hokies have avoided major disaster with an injury to a key offensive player who still practiced some this week. Here is a look at some of the key players injured and their potential status this weekend against the Monarchs.

Bhayshul Tuten 

In the fourth quarter against Marshall, Bhayshul Tuten was blocking when he injured his lower leg which kept him down on the field. The good news is that he was able to get up and walk off, but with a three-score lead in the final quarter, the Hokies used Malachi Thomas and P.J. Priouleau to run out the clock against the Hurd. 

As a precaution this week in practice, Tuten wore a blue shirt, and head coach Brent Pry said it was out of precaution and that he would likely play at ODU. He is a big piece to the Virginia Tech offense and losing him would be a tough blow and put more pressure on Kyron Drones running the ball with Thomas and Prioleau. It would be surprising if Tuten didn’t play.

Jayden McDonald

The Hokies will be without linebacker Jayden McDonald after Pry said earlier this week that he sustained an injury and was being evaluated. This is a tough loss for the linebacker group as McDonald had a big 2023 season with 30 tackles (11 solo) and is a key part of the linebacking core.

Jalen Stroman

At the end of the Hokies stunning 34-27 overtime loss at the hands of Vanderbilt in Week 1, star safety Jalen Stroman was removed from the game with an injury and didn’t play in last weekend’s win over Marshall. He will miss a second consecutive game this weekend after Pry said that he would “miss a couple of weeks.’’

In his absence last weekend, Virginia Tech’s secondary stepped up and played well against the Hurd and will need to do so again this weekend without their starting safety.

Nick Gallo did not practice this week and after having a knee injury at the end of camp in 2023 that caused him to miss the entire season, he announced in January that he would return this season, but setbacks with his recovery are preventing that from happening. In his place at tight end, Benji Gosnell has stepped up with some receptions through the first two weeks.