Virginia Tech injury issues, Brent Pry’s familiarity with Rutgers & more

Rutgers will be facing an injury riddled Virginia Tech team on Saturday at SHI Stadium. Hokies head coach Brent Pry held his game week presser on Tuesday and gave several personnel updates.

In week one, senior tight end and captain Nick Gallo suffered a season ending injury. Pry confirmed Tuesday that top receiver Ali Jennings is out and will not play Saturday.

In addition, Pry said that five other Virginia Tech starters are questionable to play against Rutgers. They include quarterback Grant Wells, wide receiver Jaylin Lane, safety Nasir Peoples, defensive tackle Keyshawn Burgos and Cole Beck.

Whether Wells is healthy enough to play under center remains to be seen. He missed the final drive in the loss to Purdue last week. Baylor transfer Kyron Drones replaced well and presents a different threat for the Rutgers defense. He’s a mobile quarterback who offers a different skill set from the pocket passer Wells is. Defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak has plenty of prep work to get ready for this critical matchup.

Adding to the intrigue around this game is that Pry was the longtime defensive coordinator for James Franklin at Penn State. In fact, he was the DC in 2020 when Kirk Ciarrocca was the offensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions. He also coached against Ciarrocca when he was OC at Minnesota. Pry was also 8-0 as DC for Penn State against Rutgers. It will make for an interesting dynamic due to the familiarity that both coaching staffs will have with one another.

There is a lot at stake for Rutgers in this matchup. A 3-0 start, continued progress for the offense, the defense potentially emerging as a top half unit in the Big Ten and positive perception heading into the Michigan game are all important.

Tuesday’s podcast episode focuses on these topics and more. Listen and watch to this episode below.

Audio

Video

Thanks for reading the The Scarlet Faithful. For more Rutgers Athletics content from The Scarlet Faithful, follow us on Twitter and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can subscribe to The Scarlet Faithful podcast on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. For advertising inquiries or to reach out directly, email at breitmanaaron@gmail.com