Virginia Tech are making their final preparations for the 2017 Camping World Bowl, one of the most highly-anticipated bowls this year. Throughout the regular season, Justin Fuente would usually announce the player who would wear the #25 jersey on Thursday, two days before gameday.
With it being two days before Thursday’s bowl game, Fuente announced a senior captain will wear the #25 jersey this week.
He epitomizes everything it means to be a Hokie. And in his final game at VT, he’s wearing the 2️⃣5️⃣ jersey!! @Uncle_Drew_28 #BeamerBall pic.twitter.com/WRlULqe5N3
— Justin Fuente (@CoachFuente) December 26, 2017
Justin Fuente announced that Andrew Motuapuaka will wear the #25 jersey against Oklahoma State. This is the second time Motuapuaka has worn the #25 jersey as he wore it on his Senior Day against Pittsburgh.
Motuapuaka is a fitting choice to wear the #25 jersey in his final game as a Hokie. Motuapuaka has played well this year with 10.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 85 tackles, 1 interception, and a career high 6 pass breakups this season.
However, what stands out the most about the senior captain is his leadership in the heart of the Hokies’ defense. Motuapuaka has been a leader at mike linebacker and is part of the reason why VT has one of its best defenses in the Bud Foster era this year.
Andrew Motuapuaka has flown under the radar playing in the shadow of Tremaine Edmunds, but has been valuable both as a run defender and in pass coverage. Motuapuaka’s pass coverage has received some praise from Pro Football Focus in particular.
Virginia Tech LB Andrew Motuapuaka yielded a passer rating of just 14.9 on throws into his coverage – the lowest among all FBS inside linebackers this season. pic.twitter.com/6I4Kkj9k87
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) December 10, 2017
This stat shows how valuable Motuapuaka has been in pass coverage this year. You can expect Motuapuaka to have a significant role in pass coverage against one of the best QBs in the nation, Mason Rudolph.
Congrats to Andrew Motuapuaka on being chosen to wear the #25 jersey this week.
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