Virginia Tech had some injury lopped on to insult: defensive tackle Luther Maddy and linebacker Dahman McKinnon will each undergo surgery for meniscus injuries and miss two to four weeks, the school announced Monday morning.
Maddy is the biggest loss for now, as the senior started all four games for the Hokies and tallied nine tackles. He actually tore his meniscus in Virginia Tech’s 28-21 loss to East Carolina Sept. 13, per the Roanoke Times’ Andy Bitter, but attempted to play through the injury as the Hokies fell to Georgia Tech, 27-24, on Saturday. As a general rule of thumb, it’s never a good idea to try to play through a knee injury against a cut-blocking triple option team.
McKinnon, a redshirt sophomore, appeared in three games this year and made one tackle.
Virginia Tech should have a good chance to right the ship this weekend against Western Michigan before beginning a critical three-game stretch against ACC coastal opponents North Carolina, Pitt and Miami. The two-to-four week timetable for Maddy and McKinnon could mean Frank Beamer could have them back for the Pitt game, which comes after a bye week and will be played Thursday, Oct. 16 at Heinz Field.
Additionally, freshman offensive lineman Colt Pettit will undergo season-ending surgery. The Deshler, Ohio native came to Virginia Tech as a three-star recruit.