BLACKSBURG -- Lyndell Gibson has moved from the outhouse to the penthouse in a hurry.

Now, the Virginia Tech redshirt freshman linebacker will find out how he can handle prosperity.

Gibson, who was suspended from all but the final week of spring practice last April for a violation of team rules, will draw his first college start Thursday night when the 22nd-ranked Hokies travel to East Carolina.

Defensive coordinator Bud Foster confirmed the move following Tech's practice Saturday. Gibson will replace sophomore Jake Johnson as the starter at the Hokies' inside backer spot.

Gibson replaced the struggling Johnson and played the entire second half in the Hokies' 20-17 loss to North Carolina last Thursday in Lane Stadium, finishing with eight tackles.

Foster, whose defense has been gutted for 490 rushing yards in consecutive losses to Georgia Tech and UNC, is hoping the move will provide a spark for his unit.

"Right now, Jake has done a solid job and Lyndell has continued to improve, and we just need to find more production out of that spot," Foster said. "Jake's still going to play, I'm just going to give the nod to Lyndell right now to see if we can get juiced a little.

"There's some other positions as well. But that's just one thing I'm going to try to do. I talked to Jake about it this morning. I think he has started out well and has kind of leveled off here a little bit, and Lyndell has continued to improve. So you're just trying to make a decision that you think that's best for the football team."

Fine with Gibson, a 5-foot-10, 220-pounder from Virginia Beach's Salem High School.

"It's my turn, I guess," said Gibson, who got the news from Foster in pre-practice warm-ups Saturday. "I guess I can bring something new now that Coach Bud has changed up the depth [chart]. Whatever I've got, I'm giving it all up for him."

That wasn't the case last year. Gibson conceded it was tough for him not playing after being a two-time Beach District defensive player of the year in high school, and he made what Foster labeled "stupid" mistakes.

"We held [Gibson] out of [spring] practice," said Foster, not going into specifics. "When you go out and do things that are detrimental to yourself and to the program, you've got to pay the consequences. You want a kid to do the right thing.

"He got only three days of practice, so I didn't have enough information on him. But he showed he's an instinctive guy, he's got good common sense, he's got good awareness, and he's steadily improved."

Foster said he informed Johnson, who has started the first eight games, of the move in a meeting Saturday morning. When asked if Johnson, whose 48 tackles ranks fourth on the team, understood the switch, Foster said: "I hope so."

"It's been kind of coming with just how we've been substituting him more," said Foster of the 6-1, 231-pound Johnson. "Jake is a guy who right now has got to do a better job at adjustments during the game. The other day [against UNC] he didn't make an adjustment, so I took him out. I kinda fired him for that. The kids have to understand that they're not letting me down, they're letting their teammates down when they don't execute and perform."

"We talked about that. It's not anything against him. It's a lack of experience and maybe sometimes coming in a backup role might be better for him right now. We're trying to stir up the pot and see if we can't get it going a little bit."

Gibson, who didn't play a down in the Sept. 5 season opener against Alabama, has gotten more and more time the past several games. Foster said Gibson reminds him of another "757" linebacker he used to have -- a guy named Vince Hall.

"His mannerisms, he's kind of laid-back, got a a little bit of humor," Foster said.

Can Gibson be another Hall, a veritable tackling machine from 2004-07 at Tech?

"I hope so!" said Foster, laughing. "If we could get him to play like Vince that would be pretty special because Vince Hall was a great football player. Lyndell has got some similarities so ... ."

Gibson said all the reps he's been getting lately has helped him adjust to the faster college game. He'll find out in his starting debut at ECU in front of ESPN's national cameras.

"I don't want to get too happy before a game, I don't want my head to get big and all that," Gibson said.

"Hey, I'm happy. It makes me feel good. Hopefully, I can do something. I want to look good on ESPN. You know what I'm saying ... I want to be like all them other cats."