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Inside Hokie Sports
Mihota
to
take on
LEADERSHIP
ROLE
for
inexperienced
defensive line
by
Jimmy Robertson
In mid-May, Vinny Mihota traveled with a
contingent of Virginia Tech student-athletes
to Rwanda as part of a study abroad course.
The trip encompassed more than 20 hours of
flight time.
He expects his trips to the quarterback to be
much shorter this upcoming season—and he
hopes to make many of them.
Mihota, a redshirt junior, stands as the
lone returning starter among a defensive line
that lost three starters, and he anchors a unit
looking to replace the production of stalwarts
Woody Baron, Nigel Williams and Ken
Ekanem. That trio combined for 109 tackles,
including 33.5 for a loss, and 13.5 sacks in
2016.
Losing such numbers causes consternation
among coaches, and certainly defensive line
coach Charley Wiles enters this season with a
bit of trepidation about his group. But Mihota
takes the opposite approach—he cannot wait
to get things underway.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Mihota
said. “I think that a lot of guys on defense
are coming into their peak year. In [Justin]
Fuente’s second year, everyone’s kind of
gotten accustomed to what to expect. Nothing
is brand new to anyone. Everyone knows
the deal. We’re ready, and we have high
expectations.”
Mihota certainly represents a good building
block for Wiles. He started 13 games at one
of the defensive end spots in 2016, and he
finished with 43 tackles, including seven for a
loss, and two sacks. He put up those numbers
staff cleared him to lift weights in early July,
and he claimed himself ready for the season.
“It was tough,” he said of the end of last
season. “I missed the bowl game, and the bowl
game is the treat for the year. It’s the game you
look forward to all year to cap off your season.
All that hard work I did to try and get our team
there … it was nice to see our team go out there
and win it. That made it really special for me.
“But I’m all good now. I’m 100 percent.”
Replacing three starters seems like a
daunting task—and it is. But Mihota’s return
and the play of guys like defensive tackles Tim
Settle and Ricky Walker certainly alleviated
some of Wiles’ concern. The 335-pound Settle
played in 14 games a season ago and recorded
17 tackles, including seven for a loss, while
Walker started four games after Williams went
down with an ankle injury. The 300-pound
Walker recorded 28 tackles, including 6.5 for
a loss, and 1.5 sacks.
Those two played outstanding this spring,
and Wiles expects the duo to make things
extremely difficult for an opponent’s offensive
line. He just needs to find another end and
some reserves.
Trevon Hill figures to be that other end, and
he certainly ranks as an electrifying type of
player. Hill played in all 14 games last season,
starting two of them, and he made the most
of his limited action, recording 37 tackles and
2.5 sacks. He missed spring practice with an
injury, but Wiles expects him to be a nice
bookend to Mihota.
DEFENSIVE ENDS
11
Houshun Gaine
s (6-3, 245, r-So.)
18
Raymon Minor
(6-2, 245, Jr.)
35
Zion Debose
(6-1, 244, Fr.)
40
Emmanuel Belmar
(6-2, 240, r-Fr.)
43
Xavier Burke
(6-3, 282, r-So.)
45
TyJuan Garbutt
(6-1, 221, Fr.)
58
Nathan Proctor
(6-2, 224, Fr.)
94
Trevon Hill
(6-3, 245, r-So.)
98
Robert Porcher IV
(6-1, 262, Fr.)
99
Vinny Mihota
(6-5, 270, r-Jr.)
DEFENSIVE TACKLES
4
Tim Settle
(6-3, 335, r-So.)
8
Ricky Walker
(6-2, 300, r-Jr.)
47
Darius Fullwood
(6-3, 282, r-So.)
55
Jarrod Hewitt
(6-1, 285, r-Fr.)
59
J’Bril Glaze
(6-1, 270, Fr.)
61
Joe Koshuta
(6-1, 253, r-So.)
96
Jimmie Taylor
(6-2, 256, r-Fr.)
AUGUST
•
2017
(In numerical order)
VIRGINIA TECH
DEFENSIVE LINE
20
17
PREVIEW
DEFENSIVE LINE
despite a shoulder injury that only got worse
as the season rolled along.
In fact, in mid-December, after the Hokies’
loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship
Game, Mihota decided to shut it down and
ultimately underwent surgery. He missed
spring practice, but Tech’s sports medicine
VINNY
MIHOTA
