On Tuesday afternoon, the ACC announced its all-conference selections for the 2022 football season. Virginia Tech was the only school not represented on the first, second or third teams. However, the Hokies did have six All-ACC Honorable Mention performers.
Wide receiver Kaleb Smith (22 points), offensive tackle Silas Dzansi (21), defensive end TyJuan Garbutt (38), linebacker Dax Hollifield (22), cornerback Mansoor Delane (19) and punt returner Tucker Holloway (26) each earned honorable mention accolades.
Smith has a COVID year of eligibility and could return to Blacksburg if he so chooses. However, the collegiate careers of Dzansi, Garbutt and Hollifield are over. That quartet combined for 202 appearances in their careers.
Garbutt had 12 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in nine games this year, both team highs Hollifield finished with a team-best 82 tackles, 15 more than safety Chamarri Conner in second. He and Garbutt combined for three forced fumbles, too. Meanwhile, Smith led the Hokies in receiving by a wide margin: 37 catches for 674 yards (18.2 avg) and three touchdowns. Tight end Nick Gallo was next at 256 yards.
Two true freshmen, Delane and Holloway, both burst on the scene late in the year. When veteran cornerback Dorian Strong was lost for the season with a hand injury, Delane stepped in and was excellent, tallying 38 tackles, nine passes defended and two forced fumbles in eight games (four starts).
Though he didn’t have much of an impact at wide receiver, Holloway was huge on special teams. He came up big for Virginia Tech against Georgia Tech on Nov. 5 when he returned a punt 90 yards to the house. Against the Yellow Jackets, he fielded seven kicks for 188 yards, a new single-game record in Blacksburg, breaking the previous mark set by Antonio Freeman.
Overall, it’s the first time Virginia Tech has not had a first, second or third team all-conference player since 1950. Note that the Hokies were an Independent from 1965-1991. Therefore, it’s the first time in 46 years in a conference that Tech doesn’t have an all-league performer.
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No comment other than let’s get on to 2023. Will be a telling year for this staff. Will be interesting to watch it unfold in portal departures and additions, HS recruiting, and spring ball; before next season.
Six players as honorable mention – shows how far we have fallen. There are first, second and third teams named in the link and a ton of honorable mentions. Have we ever had a year when we didn’t have a player make one of the top three teams named?
Recruiting and player development are easily the top two issues for this program. I am not worried at all about the coaching part.
Oops – didn’t make it to the last paragraph of the article. That further solidifies my opinion on this.
Wish I had something positive to say, but I got nothing. Next year, more of the same.
,Holloway’s impact was really just one game right? He was deemed indispensable because of 1 return. I know he had yards and more than just the big return. But it was essentially 1 game that made him seem like he was NEEDED?
It’s also a ball-froster that not only did Hendon Hooker excel after leaving, but former Hokie Bryan Hudson made the second team all-ACC, and former Hokie Doug Nester made the third team all-Big 12 (according to PFF).
Delane.
Would love to see how he compares to those on 1st, 2nd, & 3rd teams.
Well it shows in the record
Mercifully the long painful season is over. Hopefully CBP can get things figured out in the offseason, add some talent from the portal, and figure out how to recruit VA and the mid-Atlantic.
Alas, I fear that moss will grow on your north side before we see appreciable improvement in either W-L record or # of all-conference performers 😢