Hokies' Offensive Linemen Happy to Have a Break from Seeing Vinny Mihota After Big Spring at DT/DE

No matter where the Hokies move DT/DE Vinny Mihota, he seems to keep finding left guard Wyatt Teller.

"Always on my side! Isn't that something?" Teller huffed with fake outrage after the team's spring game Saturday.

After spending the first year of his career on the inside, the Hokies' depth issues at DE have encouraged Bud Foster and Charley Wiles to start experimenting with Mihota on the outside, and he seems to be a quick study at his new spot.

"I'm absolutely comfortable with it," Mihota said. "They felt like I was quick enough to play end, and I was producing at d-tackle and they were a little slim at end, so when Luther (Maddy) and Corey (Marshall) come back it will kind of be a full position, so I moved to end so I can get on the field."

Not only did Mihota earn the team's Dr. Richard Bullock Award for showing the most improvement during spring practice, but he also put on a big show at the spring game with a half sack and two tackles.

"He can cut an edge very well," Teller said. "Today we were in pass pro and I guess Jon didn't set him correctly and he got pressure, he didn't get a sack, he got a pressure on Brewer, I think, but I was like 'dang, there's nothing I can help you with Jon (McLaughlin), I'm sorry, I guess you overset him and I guess I can try to help.' There were a few times where we were kind of stuck with him because he's so fast. You've got to overset him almost because you have help on the inside, you know? You don't have it outside. Jon's held his own against him, but he's a young player and in a few years he's going to be brutally good, really good."

While Mihota's quickness can clearly be an asset at end as he zips around offensive tackles, the staff notes that he's still better suited on the inside, even if he's shown a willingness to adapt on the fly so far.

"I enjoy watching him out there," said Frank Beamer. "He's athletic enough to use at defensive end, but we like him inside because he's quicker than most of the guys that are trying to block him."

Mihota agrees that predictions that he's ready to contribute at DE immediately are a bit premature. He calls his time at defensive end "a day-by-day thing, as needed," and asserts that he still needs more seasoning on the outside to really be effective.

"Right now, I'm more comfortable at d-tackle just because I've been there a year now," Mihota said. "I've only had two or three practices at end, I'm just still learning the plays and working on my technique, but I feel like I've progressed at end a lot so far, so once I get more time out there at end, I feel like I'll be more comfortable."
Teller says the offensive line hasn't noticed any tentativeness from Mihota during practice.

"He's a tough guy. He gets off the ball," Teller said. "Jon and I are always like 'he's offsides, he's got to be offsides, there's no way he's in our face before we can even get up.'"

It's that quickness that's even attracted the head Hokie's attention.

"At times his quickness really shows off," Beamer said.

But Teller says the 6'5", 270-pounder packs plenty of punch as well.

"Sometimes he'll just come off the ball and we'll hit each other and we'll be like 'woah. Ok. Wow.' That's a big collision right there," Teller said. "But he's a good kid."

Mihota credits fellow DTs Marshall and Maddy, who both know a thing or two about blending size and speed, for teaching him all he knows.

"It's really made me a better player," Mihota said. "Watching them every day is a really good learning tool, to just watch them, even when they're not going to be in there, because of what great players they are."

With that dominant pair out, Mihota says he and the rest of the young defensive lineman have benefitted tremendously from the extra playing time.

"I think it's good for the younger guys to really step up and fill the role, knowing you have them to fall back on when they get back so when we put them in, we can feel confident in our backups," Mihota said.

In fact, Mihota says he's observed a big jump in the second defensive group in general this spring, which bodes well for the year to come.

"I feel like we've closed the gap from the second string to the first string," Mihota said. "So there won't be that drop off anytime somebody has to sub in for the first string guys."

Even still, it seems that Mihota has made a particularly large leap this spring, and he fully plans on building on those strong results and showing the staff what he's capable of when fall camp opens in August.

"I feel like I've gotten their attention, and now I've got to show them how much more I can play and how much better I can do," Mihota said.