Virginia Tech Football: Breaking down the Orange & Maroon Spring Game rosters

The Virginia Tech football team will play their annual Spring Game at Lane Stadium at 3 o’clock on Saturday. The game will be played in four quarters, a 15-minute traditional first quarter and a 12-minute second quarter. The third and fourth quarters will be running time, 12-minute quarters. 

The rosters for the game have been released and they appear to be very balanced on both sides. As expected, quarterback Dylan Wittke and Pop Watson are on opposite teams, Wittke with Kyron Drones on the Maroon team. Head coach Brent Pry has already said that Drones will play some, but just how much remains to be seen. Don’t expect him to go too long as this is slated to be a big day for both Wittke and Watson in terms of figuring out who will be the backup next fall.

Here is a quick breakdown of the Maroon and Orange rosters for Saturday.

Maroon

Offensively, the Maroon squad will have Chanz Wiggins and Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw with Da’Quan Felton as receivers. Turner-Gradshaw showed his speed last season against North Carolina State when he took a reverse and bolted 47 yards to the end zone with his breakaway speed. Wiggins has shown a lot of promise in the spring and will be looking to earn playing time next season in a loaded wide receiver room. Tyler Mason and Malachi Thomas are both looking to earn snaps next season and will be in the backfield. Along the line, Georgia State transfer Montavious Cunningham is someone to keep an eye on as he looks to work his way in either at guard or tackle.

Defensively, Moes Phillips at safety will be joined by Quentin Reddish. At linebacker, Jaden Keller, who Pry has been high on this spring is someone to watch, while Iowa Western Community College transfer Kemari Copeland will look to make an impression along the defensive line. 

Orange

Watson will have Bhayshul Tuten as a back in the backfield, but just how much he plays remains to be seen as a look for Watson to throw the ball a fair amount. He’ll have some experienced receivers in Jaylin Lane and Stephen Gosnell, but the defensive side of the ball is where some eyes are going to be glued. Transfers Kelvin Gilliam and Aeneas Peebles are along the line with Middle Tennessee State transfer Sam Brumfield at linebacker. 

As always, this is a great day in the spring and there should be a lot of questions answered as the afternoon goes along.