Virginia Tech football transfer making a significant impact on defense

Over the offseason, the Virginia Tech football team added a handful of key pieces through the transfer portal. The focus was on the defensive line where they added tackles Aeneas Peebles from Duke, Kelvin Gilliam from Oklahoma, and Kemari Copeland from Iowa Western Community College. Last week, Copeland announced that his season was over after surgery and he’ll use a redshirt.

Also coming over through the portal was linebacker Sam Brumfield from Middle Tennessee State, but late last spring, the Hokies had another addition from the portal. Miami transfer and Virginia native Kaleb Spencer committed to the Hokies. At first, it was thought that he would be a key special teamer, but as it turns out, he’s becoming a valuable linebacker for coordinator Chris Marve and head coach Brent Pry.

Kaleb Spencer becoming an under-the-radar addition at LB

As the season has gone along, the Gloucester native has got more reps at linebacker and he has become a key piece to the unit. Against the Hurricanes and a lot of his former teammates, he registered a season-high five tackles for the second time this season. He also had a third-quarter interception at the Virginia Tech 3-yard line and he returned it 77 yards deep into Miami territory. He ended up running out of steam on the return, which prevented a touchdown but led to a terrible fake field goal attempt.

Saturday against Stanford, he had his best game yet. He registered five tackles, all solo, he's was active around the ball in the Hokies 31-7 win. For the season, he has 15 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble. He is making more and more plays on a weekly basis and deserves the playing time he’s getting.

Only a sophomore, he’s getting a chance to play at Virginia Tech and he is making the most of it. The 6-foot-2, 219-pound Spencer has been a nice addition and can make a bigger impact over the final six weeks would the Hokies get to at least a bowl game in 2024.