VT: Mihota Out For Belk Bowl

[MuskogeeHogFan]

This discusses some of the injuries that will likely limit or exempt some players from participating in the Belk Bowl for Va Tech.

Per Andy Bitter, Virginia Tech will be without two players for the Belk Bowl: defensive end Vinny Mihota and running back Shai McKenzie.  Both players were seen in Charlotte with their arm in a sling on Monday.

Here's a rundown of the game-ready defensive ends that the Hokies will have available for the Belk Bowl...

Ken Ekanem (r-Sr.)
Trevon Hill (r-Fr.)
Seth Dooley (r-Jr.)
Houshun Gaines (r-Fr.)

http://virginiatech.sportswar.com/article/2016/12/26/mihota-belk-bowl/

                                      Starts    Games    Tackles    TFL     Sacks     Hurries     PBU's     INT's
Ken Ekanem (r-Sr.)                12         12        27.0        9        6.5          11          2          0
Trevon Hill (r-Fr.)                    1         13        23.5        5        1.5           4           0          0
Seth Dooley (r-Jr.)                  0         11         2.5        1.5      0.5           0           0          0           
Houshun Gaines (r-Fr.)            0          11        2.5         0.5      0.5           0           0          0

Vinny Mihota (R-So)               13         13        31.5       7.0      2.0          3.0         3          0

[Locutus_of_Boar]

http://www.richmond.com/sports/college/schools/virginia-tech/article_54658598-d05c-5b5c-9fd4-afccc3364f2c.html

First-year Hokies coach Justin Fuente said redshirt freshman Trevon Hill most likely will start in Mihota's place against Arkansas.
"I'm awfully proud of Vinny and the way he's played the entire year," Fuente said. "Obviously, we're going to go up against a very explosive and powerful offense, and we'll need everybody that can play to play and play well, and I know Trevon will."
Virginia Tech assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Bud Foster and defensive line coach Charley Wiles, aren't available to the media this week.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

http://www.richmond.com/sports/college/schools/virginia-tech/article_54658598-d05c-5b5c-9fd4-afccc3364f2c.html

First-year Hokies coach Justin Fuente said redshirt freshman Trevon Hill most likely will start in Mihota's place against Arkansas.
"I'm awfully proud of Vinny and the way he's played the entire year," Fuente said. "Obviously, we're going to go up against a very explosive and powerful offense, and we'll need everybody that can play to play and play well, and I know Trevon will."
Virginia Tech assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Bud Foster and defensive line coach Charley Wiles, aren't available to the media this week.

Trevon Hill is very active (6-3, 240) and may present a greater threat in terms of a pass rush.

The guy who could be very disruptive and will be one of the best that our O-Line has faced this year (including anyone they faced in the SEC) is DT Woody Baron, 6-2, 280, who leads the D-Line in Tackles and Tackles for Loss per game and is second in terms of Hurries and Sacks. That's saying something for a DT.

[BenVT]

Trevon Hill is very active (6-3, 240) and may present a greater threat in terms of a pass rush.

The guy who could be very disruptive and will be one of the best that our O-Line has faced this year (including anyone they faced in the SEC) is DT Woody Baron, 6-2, 280, who leads the D-Line in Tackles and Tackles for Loss per game and is second in terms of Hurries and Sacks. That's saying something for a DT.

Woody Baron finished the regular season with 5 more TFL than the next closest interior linemen among P5 programs, but his smaller size means he either gets penetration or gets pushed off the ball, Arkansas's bigger OL could give him trouble as it did against Clemson.

Mihota is a big loss, his stats don't look great but he's just a solid football player. He's not a big threat in the pass rush but he's very solid in the run and rarely makes mistakes. Hill has a much higher ceiling but is a R-FR, just had surgery after the ACCCG and missed his freshmen season because of a high school injury. He's much more of a threat in the pass rush, but is still a freshman and makes mistakes.

When healthy VT employed a 3 man rotation with Hill often subbing in on obvious passing downs. Ekanhem our best DE, also finished the season hurt and likely needs offseason surgery, all 3 DE being hurt really lowered the quality of our DL in the backhalf of the season

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Woody Baron finished the regular season with 5 more TFL than the next closest interior linemen among P5 programs, but his smaller size means he either gets penetration or gets pushed off the ball, Arkansas's bigger OL could give him trouble as it did against Clemson.

Mihota is a big loss, his stats don't look great but he's just a solid football player. He's not a big threat in the pass rush but he's very solid in the run and rarely makes mistakes. Hill has a much higher ceiling but is a R-FR, just had surgery after the ACCCG and missed his freshmen season because of a high school injury. He's much more of a threat in the pass rush, but is still a freshman and makes mistakes.

When healthy VT employed a 3 man rotation with Hill often subbing in on obvious passing downs. Ekanhem our best DE, also finished the season hurt and likely needs offseason surgery, all 3 DE being hurt really lowered the quality of our DL in the backhalf of the season

That's why I mentioned Baron's size, he is probably quick given your reference to making "penetration". It's a challenging match-up for our O-Line which is huge but not as quick as someone who is a 280 lb. guy who likes to slant and stunt (see Bud Foster) to help be disruptive and open lanes for the LB's and Rover, who are pretty effective players in their own right. Tremaine Edmunds (6-5, 236) at LB is athletic enough to be tied with Baron for the most TFL per game, to be tied for 2nd on the team in Sacks per game and 2nd in Hurries per game. Mook Reynolds as the Rover (cheated up Safety) is obviously pretty effective putting pressure on the QB as well.

[Pigsknuckles]

Beware of that briar patch. Seems I remember that Mizzou's 1,000 yard rusher Damarea Crockett didn't play against us either.

[BenVT]

That's why I mentioned Baron's size, he is probably quick given your reference to making "penetration". It's a challenging match-up for our O-Line which is huge but not as quick as someone who is a 280 lb. guy who likes to slant and stunt (see Bud Foster) to help be disruptive and open lanes for the LB's and Rover, who are pretty effective players in their own right. Tremaine Edmunds (6-5, 236) at LB is athletic enough to be tied with Baron for the most TFL per game, to be tied for 2nd on the team in Sacks per game and 2nd in Hurries per game. Mook Reynolds as the Rover (cheated up Safety) is obviously pretty effective putting pressure on the QB as well.

Mook is hard to account for, he's used a lot on exotic corner blitzes that Bud is famous for