Virginia Tech Football News: Award Finalist Snub, Key Injury Updates & Kyron Drones

After a bye week, the Virginia Tech football team is back on the field preparing for this weekend's game at Duke as they look to continue the quest to try and become bowl-eligible. Injuries are starting to pile up and who will be available remains to be seen. We will begin this edition of Virginia Tech Football News with a huge snub for a prestigious award for one defensive lineman.

Antwaun Powell-Ryland is not a finalist for the Lombardi Award

File this under, "Are you kidding me?" Wednesday, the finalists for the prestigious Lombardi Award were released and Hokies defensive edge Antwaun Powell-Ryland was not one of the finalists. That's a major omission.

Powell-Ryland will be playing on Sundays at the next level and he has 13 sacks this season but was not a finalist for an award that is given to the most outstanding college football lineman. He has two four-sack games in 2024 against Old Dominion and Boston College.

Injury updates

According to Kolby Crawford of 247Sports, running back Bhayshul Tuten was back at practice for the Hokies after being injured against Georgia Tech on Oct. 26. He missed the Syracuse game the following week, but played against Clemson on Nov. 9, but struggled to move around.

Fellow running back Malachi Thomas was not practicing as he is still in a boot and won't play this week, while wearing the blue limited/non-contact jersey were Stephen Gosnell, Tucker Holloway, Jaden Keller, and Jaylen Jones. Keller and Jones being in those jerseys is concerning with kick-off just three days in Durham.

Kyron Drones still questionable for Duke

After saying Kyron Drones was still questionable on Tuesday for Duke, Brent Pry said Wednesday that his quarterback has been bouncing back between practice and the trainer's room. UCLA transfer Collin Schlee and Pop Watson were QB1 and QB 2 respectively at practice Wednesday.