A rough night for Virginia Tech got way worse during the fourth quarter of their 24-14 loss to Clemson when freshman linebacker Gabe Williams went down with a severe injury that required him to be put on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital via an ambulance that was allowed to come onto the field at Lane Stadium. In his press conference at the game, Brent Pry did not have an update on Williams' status, but did share the following.
"No update. Gabe’s worked really hard getting an opportunity to play a little bit down the stretch here. Unfortunate. Obviously the team supports him and is thinking about him right now. I’m sure I’ll get an update later this evening," Pry said.
I have since learned that Pry, after fulfilling his required postgame obligations, went to the hospital to check in on Williams. This included Pry skipping the recruiting that he would normally do after a game, delegating that off to other staffers including having Gunter Brewer extend at least one scholarship offer to a recruit in Pry's place.
Obviously, there was plenty of heartbreak among his teammates as well when asked about Williams postgame. Let's started with Keonta Jenkins who shares the linebacker room with the former four-star recruit and has gotten to watch his development as a freshman.
After the game, Jenkins shared his heartbreak along with what he had told Williams before the freshman entered the game during the fourth quarter.
"It hurt my heart. I told him before the play ‘don’t worry about being right or wrong, just play fast and physical, just get to the ball, we’ll handle everything in the meeting room’ and I think that’s what exactly he did. He played fast. He actually made a play on the injury and tried to get up but it was just his fate. He’s gonna bounce back, I know Gabe (will)," Jenkins said.
Quentin Reddish and Williams were two of the headline recruits in Virginia Tech's 2024 recruiting class. Unsurprisingly, this hit deeper for Reddish with plenty of prayers and hopes for a quick recovery sent to his fellow true freshman.
"Obviously, it hits different. Me and Gabe talk every day. Me and all my freshmen, we talk every day, I’m probably closest with them, so it really hurts, but I mean we pray for him. I have no idea what could be wrong right now, but hopefully he gets better," Reddish said.
Here at The Tech Lunch Pail, we as a team also send our prayers to Gabe Williams and hope for a speedy and full recovery from whatever his injury may be.
