Special teams woes continue for Hokies

BLACKSBURG — Jaylin Lane isn't shy from taking risks on punt returns. Heck, it was his judgment of fielding a punt in between four Marshall players that led to him scoring on a 58-yard return two weeks ago for Virginia Tech.

It came as a surprise to many when he lost a fumble on a punt return midway through the first quarter. For the Hokies, it continued a trend of miscues on special teams.

Tech has had at least one snafu on special teams in every game this season. For a program that prided itself on special teams and even referred to it as Beamer Ball during Frank Beamer's legendary tenure, it is concerning that so many things are going wrong for that unit.

"I think we're hit and miss right now," Hokies coach Brent Pry said. "We're making some plays on teams, but we've hurt our team."

It started in the first week when Ali Jennings and Keli Lawson, both wearing No. 0, were on the field at the same time for a punt return. The miscue allowed Vanderbilt to accept the penalty and then convert on a long field goal.

Lane had the special teams highlight against Marshall, but the Thundering Herd blocked a punt later in the game.

The Hokies had a field goal blocked against Old Dominion that snapped John Love's streak of 18 consecutive field goals made.

And Lane lost the fumble Saturday against the Scarlet Knights.

"They came out kind of different. They had a right-footed punter and they roll to the right, but they ended up rolling left and he kicked it with his right foot, so it was a weird punt and bounce," Lane said. "I grabbed it (and) I'm still trying to get control of the ball. I've just got to do one thing at a time, catch it clean and come up with the ball every time."

Lane had a 34-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter that set up the first of the Hokies' two fourth-quarter scoring drives.

"I thought I was going to house it. The guys blocked great. Blocked clean, too — no penalties on that play," Lane said. "They ended up making a good tackle, but we ended up scoring on the drive so I wasn't too mad."

Chaplin's left ankle

Xavier Chaplin suffered a left-ankle injury during pregame warmups at Old Dominion. He played two snaps against the Monarchs before leaving the game because of the injury.

The left tackle started and played all but one offensive snap Saturday against Rutgers. The snap he missed came after he aggravated the injury on Bhayshul Tuten's first touchdown run of the fourth quarter.

Chaplin was carted off the field and taken to get X-rays, according to Pry.

The redshirt sophomore was back on the field for the next drive. The only play he missed was a two-point conversion in which Kyron Drones connected with Benji Gosnell.

"It just shows who he is. X is a big guy and a tough person," Tuten said. He had a tough injury, but he did what he could to put us in the best position to win."

Offensive line rotation

Bob Schick started and played every snap at left guard with Layth Ghannam out for "medical reasons," according to Pry.

"We'll kind of learn more as we get into the first part of the week and where he's at," Pry said of Ghannam. "But obviously would like to have had him tonight."

Tech opted to put in Johnny Garrett at right tackle in place of Parker Clements for a drive in the second half. Garrett played at left tackle for the one play Chaplin was not on the field.

"I thought the offensive line battled and hung in there," Pry said. "I think Parker got driven into Kyron on the safety. That was certainly a disappointing play. But I watched him kind of go toe-to-toe with that group for a fair amount of the game. That's a good front. They got their D-end (Wesley Bailey) back, they got their linebacker (Tyreem Powell) back. They're strong and physical. I thought we gave ourselves enough of a chance. Certainly not every play, but it's a good group."

Health status heading into ACC play

The Hokies are on a short week heading into Friday's ACC opener at Miami. That means one less day for players to recover after the physical contest against the Scarlet Knights.

Defensive end Cole Nelson and cornerback Mansoor Delane needed assistance getting off the field at different points during the game. Linebacker Keli Lawson played limited snaps, and wide receiver Ali Jennings was a scratch.

"I think Cole will be OK. Sore," Pry said. "Mansoor went back in the game. Keli played here and there. He kind of tried to battle through it. Obviously Ali wasn't available tonight."

Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124