Virginia Tech DTs Adirika, Laws questionable at SMU

The report went out Tuesday night, and the defensive tackle spot is the part worth reading twice.

Damien Sordelett

@DamienSordelett

The initial availability report for the #Hokies’ Friday night game at SMU dropped last night. Worth noting DTs Randy Adirika and Emmett Laws are both questionable. Adirika got nicked up at Clemson, while Laws is not listed as out for the first time.

There are 2 stories in that one line. Adirika got banged up at Clemson, so he went from healthy to a question mark. Laws is going the other way. Every report this year has had him out, and this is the first one that doesn't. Questionable isn't playing, but for a guy who hasn't been an option all season it's real progress.

The Clemson game is where Adirika picked up the injury, and it's also why the Hokies are feeling good right now. Virginia Tech won 20-16 in Clemson on October 24, and Ethan Grunkemeyer's 4th-and-1 throw to tight end Luke Reynolds with 1:44 left sealed it and clinched bowl eligibility. That's a nice bowl-eligible cushion, but a win in Dallas would turn it into a real ACC run.

Some good news came out of Tuesday's practice too, with a couple of guys working their way back.

Damien Sordelett

@DamienSordelett

Snook Peterkin and Luke Stuewe were running routes against air on Tuesday. Can’t recall if we’d seen Peterkin in action in a prior practice since the season started. #Hokies

Running routes against air is about as low-key as practice gets. Still, seeing Snook Peterkin do anything this deep into the season is news, since nobody can say for sure he'd been spotted in a practice before this. Don't pencil him in for Friday off one Tuesday. It's a step, though, and the same goes for Luke Stuewe.

Here's why the DT news matters: this one's a coin flip on the road. Both teams are 6-2, Virginia Tech opened as a 6.5-point underdog, and SMU is mad after losing to Syracuse 30-27 last Saturday. It's also the first time these 2 have played since 1974. If the Hokies are thin in the middle, the Mustangs can lean on them up front and protect their QB.

Kickoff is Friday, November 6 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. This is only the first report, so watch the updates over the next couple of days. If Laws stays questionable and Adirika moves toward probable, the Hokies get 2 bodies back for the rotation. If both slide to out, the backups will play a lot of snaps against a hungry SMU team in its own building.