Starting left tackle Nick Becton suffered a sprained toe in Sunday’s practice
and will miss 1-2 weeks of action. He’ll be replaced in the starting lineup by
Andrew Lanier, who has starting experience from last season.
Becton, a 6-6, 311-lbs r-sophomore, will wear a walking boot until the injury
heals. The Tech training staff doesn’t want to rush him back before he’s ready
because of the risk of re-injury. Becton saw limited action last season as Ed
Wang’s backup, and then beat out Lanier for the starting job in the spring.
Lanier moves into the starting lineup, which won’t be a first for him. He
started the Duke game last season at right tackle for the injured Blake
DeChristopher and played in a total of nine games.
Unfortunately, Becton has the least amount of experience of any Tech starting
offensive linemen, which means he really needed more quality reps with the
starting unit this August.
Tip-Off Time for Purdue is Set
Virginia Tech’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup against Purdue will tip-off at
7:30pm on Wednesday, December 1 and will be televised nationally by ESPN.
The matchup between the Hokies and the Boilermakers is one of the premier
games of this year’s event. Virginia Tech is expected to be ranked in the
preseason Top 25, while Purdue has been ranked as high as #2 in some early
polls.
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