Virginia will have to navigate Friday night’s ACC matchup against Duke with a battered secondary and a long injury list that kept 20 Cavaliers out for the game.
Free safety Ethan Minter is among the players unavailable after suffering an undisclosed injury in last Saturday’s 23-13 loss at SMU. His absence is a major hit to a unit that already lost starting cornerback Omillio Agard for the season after an ACL tear against Florida State three weeks ago. Backup safety Corey Costner is also out again, missing a second straight week because of a hamstring injury.
There is still uncertainty around another key piece of the back end. Starting strong safety Brandyn Hillman, who had been one of Virginia’s best defensive players during the first half of the season, is listed as questionable with the ankle injury he picked up against Delaware two weeks ago. He did not play at SMU.
If Minter cannot go, Virginia is likely to turn to Virginia Tech transfer Christian Ellis or junior Keke Adams to fill the spot. Sophomore Montino Williams is also in line for another workload; if Hillman remains sidelined, Williams would make his third consecutive start and fourth of the season.
"He's an extremely hard worker," coach Tony Elliott said of Williams on Tuesday. "Man, he's about all the right things, both on and off the field.
He's probably got one of the highest GPAs on the back end of all those guys. So, he's a guy that's fully committed, and he's been like that since the day he showed up."
Virginia’s injury report also includes receiver Rico Flores Jr., who was ruled out for Duke. Flores has made just one start since transferring from UCLA, that coming against Syracuse, and hamstring and knee injuries have left his status for the rest of the season in doubt. Receiver Kam Courtney is listed as questionable; he leads the Cavaliers with 18 catches this year.
The defensive challenge gets even trickier because Duke’s offense is built around the run. Sophomore Nate Sheppard leads the ACC with 820 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
Duke will have some availability concerns of its own. Three starters on its depth chart are listed out: center Matt Craycraft, nose tackle David Anderson and safety Andrew Pelliccotta. Craycraft is a key blocker for Sheppard, while Anderson and Pelliccotta are important parts of a defense that ranks second in the ACC and is allowing just 292.7 total yards per game.
The Blue Devils enter Friday night’s nationally televised game at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, having dropped two straight. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
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