Defensive Line Shows Strong in Second Scrimmage, Continues to Search for Depth at D-End

Luther Maddy was vocal and in good spirits as he cheered on the Hokies' defensive unit from the sideline.

Bound to return for a fifth year, the recent recipient of a medical redshirt made jokes with guest attendee and former Tech edge rusher James Gayle.

Despite being without one of its premier contributors, the Virginia Tech football team's most dominant position group in Saturday's scrimmage was without question the defensive line.

The unit led an onslaught pass rush that resulted in 11 sacks over the course of the day — even if a portion of them were by way of the first defense against the second offense.

One player that's stepped up, and seemed to be involved with most plays that resulted in a loss of yards for the opposing offense, is Woody Baron.

"Woody's done a nice job this spring," said defensive coordinator Bud Foster. "He missed most of this week in practice with an ankle but he did a little bit on Thursday."

Without Maddy and defensive tackle Corey Marshall, Woody Baron and Nigel Williams have answered the call.

Baron's made the most of his opportunity as the top dog this spring.

"Last year, I was all over the place," Baron said. "I went from almost missing the season, out with ankle surgery, and then I came in and had to back up Corey, who's an exceptional player. When you're backing up someone like that, you're just trying to let there be a whole lot of drop off when you get your time on the field, so that's basically what I was doing last year, trying to keep pace with Corey."

While Baron acknowledges the void left behind by Maddy and Marshall, he recognizes the opening for personal expansion.

"This is a tremendous opportunity," Baron said. "It's unfortunate that they're both out with injuries. You never want anyone to get injured, but having them sidelined gives not only Nigel and myself, who are in the orange position now, but the people behind us an opportunity to get better. So when Corey and Luther do come back, hopefully we'll have two or three sets of starters that we can put out there."

Those who wouldn't have seen as much action if everyone was healthy are even drawing an eye from the defensive coordinator.

"I like how Vinny Mihota is coming along," Foster said. "He's been disruptive in practice. We have to get Steve Sobczak back."

Sobczak, a 300-plus pound interior plug who was hand-selected by Foster coming in, missed Saturday's scrimmage with an ankle injury sustained in the Hokies' first scrimmage. His status is day-to-day.

"I feel really good about where we are at defensive tackle," Foster said. "We have depth there."

Everyone can appreciate the dilemma of having too many people that can play. That's a problem that's tolerated, if not welcomed.

"It's never a bad thing to have too many guys," Baron said. "You see Luther and Corey go down, we're able to put more people in their positions, so I think it's better to have more than we need just in case something bad happens."

While the situation in the interior seems to be working itself out, the lack of depth on the ends is troublesome for Foster.

"We have to develop some defensive end depth and we need to keep growing," he said. "We have a lot of young guys and they're making young guy mistakes."

Originally concerned about the depth behind Dadi Nicolas (9.0 sacks last season) and Ken Ekanem (9.5 sacks), Foster has all but solved the problem, at least on one side.

"Seth Dooley is a guy that's really improved at end," Foster said. "When we get Ken back, we have him and Dadi and Seth and we can win with them."

Completing the two-deep rotation, however, will require the addition of one more end, making four. Foster still has reservations about that spot.

Foster noted that Dooley is working in on Ekanem's side. Getting action behind Nicolas on the other side is the ever-variable Melvin Khein. Senior Laird Gardner is listed behind him.

"We have no depth at defensive end," Foster said. "We have to find another guy at that position.

"I really like what Woody and Nigel are doing. He was doing some good things and he got hurt and he's been out all this week and didn't work today but I've been really pleased with the interior guys."