Antwaun Powell-Ryland has grown into the star of the Virginia Tech defense
Antwaun Powell-Ryland has quickly grown into the star of the Virginia Tech defense
Virginia Tech edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland, an offseason transfer from Florida, entered Thursday night’s game with seven sacks coming off a four-sack performance against Wake Forest. On the first play from scrimmage, Powell-Ryland picked up right where he left off before the bye.
Putting the Syracuse left tackle in a spin cycle, Powell-Ryland worked his way to Garrett Shrader and recorded a sack on the first play of the game.
The sack set the tone for the defense, which ended the night with 8 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and allowing zero rushing yards in the Virginia Tech victory.
“We pride ourselves on starting fast,” Powell-Ryland said after the game.
Powell-Ryland ended the night with a team-high two sacks, bringing his total to nine on the season. Mario Kendricks and Keyshawn Burgos each added one sack while Josh Fuga, James Jennette, C.J. McCray, and Elijah Klock all added a half a sack in the victory.
After being gashed earlier in the season in the run game, giving up zero rushing yards to a two-headed monster in Shrader and Lequint Allen was the highlight of the night for the Virginia Tech defense that lived in the backfield.
“That feels great,” Powell-Ryland said. “Being able to stop the team from rushing when that is what they want to do at times, and then to not let them do anything was great and I think that’s what helped us.”
With 30 sacks on the season, Virginia Tech has easily cleared the 2022 season total and while Powell-Ryland is a big reason for the success, the entire defensive line has found a rhythm and is taking pride in wreaking havoc on opposing offenses.
“I feel like as a whole D-Line, we don’t stop rushing. I feel like it’s great for us being able to have a motor to not stay blocked.”
During his two seasons at Florida, Powell-Ryland recorded 4.5 sacks in total. In eight games at Virginia Tech, he has doubled that number.
“I really think that the defense has helped me as a whole. Everybody does their job which helps everybody make plays.”
Up next, Virginia Tech will travel to Louisville to take on the Cardinals on November 4. Kickoff is set for 3:30 PM EST on ACC Network.
