Virginia
Virginia Tech Football: Antwaun Powell-Ryland drops huge announcement
This season, the Virginia Tech football team’s defense was one of the tops in the ACC in terms of sacks. In fact, they were tied for first in the conference for sacks and seventh in the country and a lot of that had to do with the addition of defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland.
The University of Florida transfer was a big part in the Hokies’ success on that side of the ball for offensive coordinator Chris Marve and on Sunday, Powell-Ryland dropped a message on X that gets Virginia Tech fans excited.
Antwaun Powell-Ryland announced that he’s returning in 2024
A junior, Antwaun Powell-Ryland on X Sunday morning announced that he will return for another season in Blacksburg for head coach Brent Pry, Marve, and the Hokies.
Powell-Ryland’s announcement comes right before Virginia Tech is about to find out its bowl destination and before clicking on listening to him make his announcement, you got the feeling that he was going to announce that he was leaving Blacksburg, but instead, he announced that he’ll be back in 2024.
This season, Powell-Ryland had 39 tackles, 22 solo, and 9.5 sacks for the Hokies and played a huge part in their wins at home with his relentless pressure on the opposing quarterbacks, and other team’s offensive lines had a hard time stopping him.
After struggling in the first four weeks, the Virginia Tech defense got better as the season went l along and shined in their wins over Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Boston College, and Virginia in the ACC. In their non-conference games, they gave up big plays and were not able to get stops, something that changed in conference play.
Yes, they struggled in losses to Florida State, Louisville, and North Carolina State, but in the final eight games, they showed a lot of promise for next season and a lot of the success came from Powerll-Ryland, who is coming back in 2024 and it’s a major boost for the team.