Virginia Tech football: WR Ali Jennings injured in 1st quarter vs. Purdue

The Virginia Tech Hokies and Purdue Boilermakers may — or may not — complete Saturday’s game at Lane Stadium. As of now, the game has been in a weather delay for hours. It’s the second weather delay of the game, which forced it to start a bit later than expected.

When the Hokies did finally start the game, their defense looked abysmal. Purdue easily marched down the field, finding open running lanes and wide-open receivers throughout the drive before a 15-yard touchdown run put the Boilermakers on the board first.

Tech would then go on offense and after quarterback Grant Wells found wide receiver Jaylin Lane for a 21-yard gain and into Purdue territory. Unfortunately, on the play, wide receiver Ali Jennings, who was blocking downfield, went down toward the end of the play as Lane ran into him. Jennings immediately began clutching his ankle.

It was later revealed that Jennings was in a walking boot.

This is tough news for the Hokies. Jennings caught four passes and two touchdowns in his Virginia Tech debut last week. From the looks of it — and I am no doctor — it appears Jennings may have suffered a high-ankle sprain, and the recovery time on that injury varies, but it is often a multi-week injury that could impact Jennings for the remainder of the season.

We’ll wait to hear head coach Brent Pry discuss Jennings’ status, but it’s an unfortunate blow for the Virginia Tech offense.