It hasn’t taken long for Virginia Tech fans to realize the rebuilding process for the Hokies’ defense can’t happen over night.
Following losses to Boise State and James Madison, the Hokies are 0-2 for the first time since 1995, and defensive miscues have been some of the most costly errors.
The story of what the Hokies’ defense has had to overcome this season is old by now — seven starting roles to fill including the spot formerly held by star linebacker Cody Grimm.
However, the majority of Tech fans shrugged off this glaring problem because defensive coordinator Bud Foster has spoiled them with top defenses year after year.
Now, after seeing the Hokies drop out of the Top 25, fans are starting to see that filling holes on defense may not be as easy as Foster has made it look in the past decade.
“This is a rebuilding year,” Foster said. “We have a bunch of young guys that haven’t played a college football snap. They still have a lot of growing to do and to experience.”
As if Tech didn’t have enough starting spots to fill, the Hokies have lost starting defensive tackle Kwamaine Battle for the season because of a left ACL tear that he suffered during Saturday’s loss to JMU.
Redshirt sophomore Antoine Hopkins will take his place on the D-line alongside redshirt senior John Graves and will look make sure the defense doesn’t lose a step with Battle on the sideline.
“Its tough, you know,” Graves said. “Kwamaine is a good friend of ours and he is like a brother to me. It’s tough to see him go down and be out for the season. We are young, but Antoine Hopkins has been working really hard and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
While the defense wasn’t spectacular against Boise State, more light was shed on the problems when the Hokies lost to JMU.
The Hokies surrendered 21 points to the Dukes — the most JMU has ever scored on Tech.
The Hokies faithful watched their defense fail to stop the JMU offense in the fourth quarter when trying to get the ball back.
The Dukes ran out the final 5:30 of the game with their running attack en route to shocking the then-No. 13 Hokies.
“To me it’s inexcusable, it really is, and we are going to get that corrected,” Foster said. “We’ve got too good a tradition here and history here.”
One of the biggest problems for the Hokies has been defending the big play.
Tech has given up a run of more than 70 yards in both games this season.
A version of this article appeared in the Sep 17 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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