Kyle Fuller and Antone Exum to Miss Senior Day

Senior defensive backs Kyle Fuller and Antone Exum will miss Saturday's tilt with Maryland due to injuries, preventing them from playing in Lane Stadium one last time.

Exum, the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl MVP and a second team All-ACC selection in 2012, suffered a serious knee injury in the off-season playing basketball and had just returned to the line-up a few weeks ago against Duke. He saw limited action in the Duke and Boston College losses and left the Miami game early due to an ankle injury. That ankle injury is what will keep him out of the lineup on Saturday, but hopefully he'll be healthy after a week off to play at Virginia to close out the regular season.

Fuller, a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award and Bednarik Award in 2013, suffered a groin injury during the week off preceding the Duke game and had limited participation against Duke, BC and Miami.

Expect freshmen Brandon Facyson and Kendall Fuller to fill the roles of Exum and Kyle Fuller.

Fuller and Exum have combined for 12 interceptions, 359 tackles, 64 pass break ups, 76 passes defended and 6 sacks in their Virginia Tech careers. By comparison, their young replacements have combined for 9 interceptions, 60 tackles, 12 pass break ups, 21 passes defended and no sacks. Not bad for one year of work.

More than anything, it's just a bummer to see two guys that have been leaders on this team have to miss out on their final game at Lane Stadium. I'm sure they'll be part of the pre-game festivities honoring the seniors, but it is a little sad to think that their last home game was a loss to Duke. Sigh.

Luckily for the Hokies, lacking depth at defensive back may not be too much of an issue since Maryland is down to just four wide receivers total. Obviously, Kyle and Antone bring a lot of experience and leadership to the field so that is something that will be sorely missed.

How do you think these absences affect the Hokies for Maryland?