Virginia Tech’s defense had the sharper edge on Thursday as the Hokies wrapped up their third media-viewed practice of fall camp on Aug. 13 in Blacksburg.
Most of the action the media got to see came in the closing one-on-one period between receivers and defensive backs, and that’s where the defense made its presence felt. Jaquez White was especially active, knocking away three passes in three reps.
Two of those breakups came against Ayden Greene, while the third came against Que'Sean Brown. Brown said on the field that the throw was bad on that rep.
Thomas Williams added another breakup for the secondary, getting in on Greene, and freshman Zaevion Cleveland also got his hand on a pass meant for redshirt freshman Jeff Exinor Jr.
Amauri Polydor turned in one of the cleaner defensive reps of the day when he jammed Davion "FatRat" Brown at the line and never let him free. Polydor did get beaten deep by Marlion Jackson, but the throw sailed over the target.
There were still a few offensive wins mixed in. Ethan Grunkemeyer overthrew Que'Sean Brown after Brown got behind Joshua Clarke, then came right back with a strong back-shoulder throw to Luke Reynolds, who won the 50-50 ball over Tyson Flowers.
The end zone work got physical enough to draw flags. Josh Jones was penalized for defensive pass interference against Jeff Exinor, and Tyson Flowers was flagged for the same against Harrison Saint Germain. By the count from practice, there were three touchdowns in the one-on-ones.
Jackson scored against Isaiah Brown-Murray, while Brody Jones and Greene each found the end zone against Jordan Bass and Cleveland.
Grunkemeyer kept showing up in the next segment too, hitting both Luke Reynolds and Benji Gosnell on throws to the back of the end zone. Reynolds and Gosnell each finished the play with toe-tapping touchdowns. Bryce Baker, meanwhile, sailed a throw to Matt Henderson out the back of the end zone on the same drill, and Que'Sean Brown added a nice one-handed catch on a solo route.
At running back, Marcellous Hawkins continued to work with the first team, with Jeff Overton Jr. next in line.
There were also a couple of absences worth noting: Emmett Laws was still not dressed for practice, and linebacker Gabe Williams was not seen.
The overall feel from the session was that the defense had the better of it. Early in camp, Franklin said the defense didn’t get off to the start he had hoped for, but Thursday looked like a step forward. More on the day’s media availability is expected later Thursday and early Friday, before coaches and players have a chance to address what they saw in practice.
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