With Ali Jennings unavailable with an ankle injury and Jaylin Lane being a game-time scratch with a hamstring issue, wide receiver Da’Quan Felton knew he had to rise to the occasion to be Virginia Tech’s top wideout against Rutgers. When asked after the game if he was capable of doing so, he kept it short, sweet, and confident.
“Always.”
With a team-high six catches for 84 yards – highlighted by a 39-yard touchdown reception – the Norfolk State transfer did just that.
“It was a good feeling,” Felton said to reporters after the 35-16 loss. “Just got to act like you've been there before. But it was a better feeling just to be able to bring energy to the team with that touchdown. … I just knew we got behind the defense. The linebackers had their eyes in the backfield. I knew it was a touchdown.”
It was the breakout that the receiver desperately needed after recording just one catch for 34 yards in the first two games of the season.
“It just feels good to make plays for the team. I prepare, train hard, and practice hard," Felton said.
Felton had a tough third quarter drop that took a potentially massive play off the board for the Hokies, but the importance of his strong showing cannot be understated. He proved his ability to be a reliable and effective target for whoever lines up under center for Tech in the coming weeks.
“I think he needs to and he wants to,” Tech head coach Brent Pry told the media on Tuesday. “He gets better all the time. He was pretty raw coming in here. He's got a great work ethic. He's tough. He’s beating himself up over the drop. This guy has got to be an impact guy for us. He's capable. He's gonna get better each week.”
He appears to have a particularly strong rapport with Kyron Drones, which bodes well for the Hokies if Grant Wells continues to miss time with his ankle injury.
“We’re comfortable with each other,” said Felton. “We talked all week, texting each other and just building each other’s confidence. … I’m very proud of KD. We’re going to continue to build to be even better next week.
“I knew I was wrong to drop that pass. Mistakes are going to happen, that’s part of life. But he told me, ‘I’m going to keep coming back to you.’ He’s just got that much confidence in me.”
Drones also shared some insights on the strong chemistry he has with Felton.
“Me and Da'Quan have just been working ever since we both got here in January,” Drones told reporters on Tuesday. “We always threw outside of workouts leading up to this season. And he definitely knows he's just got to step up now that Ali is out. We're just going to keep working.”
Tech is continuing to deal with a flurry of injuries on both sides of the ball, but the Hokies should be confident in what they have out wide even without Ali Jennings and Jaylin Lane. As the season progresses and he continues to grow in this offense, Da’Quan Felton has everything it takes to blossom into an elite receiving threat.
