The Vanderbilt football team cruised to a 45-3 rout of Charleston Southern on Saturday to open the season in Nashville. It was a cupcake opener for the Commodores, but it came at a price, which is what coaches always fear in blowouts early in the season.
Vanderbilt suffered injuries to starters on offense in the win over the weekend, and they were missing a starting defensive tackle who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Tuesday, Commodores head coach Clark Lea gave an update ahead of this weekend's battle.
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea provides injury updates ahead of Virginia Tech battle
During Vandy's win, they suffered a pair of injuries, one to wide receiver Junior Sherrill and tight end Cole Spence. Lea would not say what the injuries were, but they are both dealing with the same injury. Sherrill had three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown against Charleston Southern, while Spence exited the game before he was able to make a catch.
"Right now, both Cole and Junior are listed as questionable, and I think both have progressed from Saturday," Lea said. "So I'm encouraged with where they are. We trained them on the side today, just trying to get to a point of them feel good and stable. Hopefully, as the week goes on, we'll get them back out, get them in the mix. I'm encouraged. So I expect that, right now, as we get to Saturday, those guys are going to be out there with us. We'll have to see how they progress as the week goes."
The 5-foot-11 Sherrill had three catches in last year's season opener against Virginia Tech, for 34 yards. Defensive tackle Yilanan Ouattara missed the Commodores opener, but Lea said he's trending toward possibly playing on Saturday night.