Arias Nash 
Defensive tackle 
Mercer 
6-1, 275 
1 year remaining (Sr.) 

Virginia Tech added depth up front on Monday evening when Mercer defensive tackle Arias Nash committed to the Hokies.

The Charlotte, N.C., native racked up 12.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks and 14 quarterback hurries this season with the Bears and was named an FCS All-American by FCS Football Central. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

In three seasons at Mercer, Nash notched 70 tackles, deflected three passes and forced one fumble to go with 14 sacks and the aforementioned nine TFLs over 1,038 snaps.

In 2024, he posted eight tackles in back-to-back games against Princeton and Samford. Nash also tallied four tackles, including a TFL, and two quarterback hurries in November at Alabama — his lone FBS competition of the year. The following week against Furman, he had his first career two-sack game vs. Furman while forcing his first career fumble.

PFF was impressed with his play this season. In 648 snaps, he received an 85.8 overall grade, an 80.2 mark for run defense and an 83.5 for pass rush. His tackling grade was poor at 46.0, though.

Nash is the second defensive tackle addition of the offseason for the Hokies, joining Hampton’s Jahzari Priester. He gives Tech eight scholarship tackles to work with next season, a group headlined by returners Kelvin Gilliam (r-Sr.), Kemari Copeland (r-Jr.) and Emmett Laws (r-Fr.).

He’s a product of Stuart Cramer High School, where he had 371 tackles, 15.5 sacks and two defensive touchdowns to accompany his 11 forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. As a senior, he was the region’s defensive player of the year and earned all-state accolades after compiling 114 tackles, 29 TFLs, six sacks, five forced fumbles and 22 quarterback hurries.

Despite that, Nash was an unranked prospect out of high school. He held offers from nearby Charlotte and Gardner-Webb, along with Emory & Henry and other Division II schools. This time around, he entered the transfer portal in mid-December and kept his recruitment quiet.

Overall, Nash is Tech’s 13th portal acquisition and the seventh on defense, five of which are defensive backs.

For more information on Virginia Tech’s comings and goings in the portal, click here for Tech Sideline’s roster management page.

Arias Nash links: 

Mercer bio 

West Virginia is getting in on the action for what will be one of the most coveted recruits in the transfer portal, sending out an offer to former Alabama freshman linebacker Sterling Dixon.

Dixon has also been contacted by Houston, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and a few others. He appeared in just three games this season, making one tackle, which came in their win over Western Kentucky. WVU is hoping to get a date for a visit nailed down soon.

He chose the Crimson Tide over offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCF, USC, and about a dozen others.

In his senior year at Spanish Fort High School, Dixon racked up 128 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 32 hurries, 15 sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, one interception, and one pass breakup.

Dixon will have four years of eligibility remaining.

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Virginia Department of Transportation crews pre-treated about 2000 miles worth of roads in Northern Virginia and has crews on standby ready to plow the snow that’s heading towards the area Monday.

“We should have around 3000 pieces of equipment out there ready to go, ready to attack the snow as it begins to really pile up overnight, and that is the forecast for some heavy snow,” said Alex Liggitt with VDOT.

Virginia State Police announced it’s already seen an increase in crashes in the southwestern part of the state, where conditions worsened earlier on Sunday.

Authorities are urging everyone to stay off the roads unless it’s absolutely essential to be out there. If you must travel, state police are asking drivers to make sure your car is in good working order with plenty of fuel, functioning windshield wipers and be sure to check the tread on your tires.

From VDOT, the more cars that are out there, the harder it is for them to do their job.

“This isn’t going to be, ‘Okay, we’re out there tonight, tomorrow morning and we’re done. We’re going home,’” Liggitt said. “Yeah, we’re likely going to be continuing to treat spots over the next several days.”

VDOT told News4 it’s responsible for 17,000 residential streets in Northern Virginia alone, so it’s asking residents to remain patient because it could be a couple of days before the streets in your neighborhood are treated.