The Roanoke Times I File November

Stephan Virgil started the Virginia Tech football team's final nine regular-season games.

The Roanoke Times I File November

Virginia Tech's Stephan Virgil (22), shown in the regular-season finale against Virginia, had 36 tackles and one sack this year.

For the second straight season, Virginia Tech's football team will be missing a starter for its bowl game because of academic issues.

Senior cornerback Stephan Virgil has been ruled academically ineligible under NCAA guidelines for the Hokies' matchup against Tennessee in the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

It's a tough finish to a difficult season for Virgil. After playing well in Tech's 34-24 loss to Alabama in the Sept. 5 season opener in Atlanta, Virgil injured his left knee making a tackle on the game's final play. The injury was listed as a bruised knee, but it kept him out of the lineup for the Hokies' next two games against Marshall and Nebraska.

Virgil, the Hokies' most experienced cornerback, returned to start the final nine regular-season games. Following the Hokies' regular-season finale against Virginia on Nov. 28, the Rocky Mount, N.C., native had the knee "cleaned" in minor arthroscopic surgery.

"It was not a ligament tear or anything like that, which would have been bad," Virgil said last week in an interview. "I just wanted to try and get myself right for the season and my future."

Virgil, whose playing time was cut some following the knee injury, had 36 tackles in 10 games, including a secondary-leading six stops for loss. He recovered two fumbles. He had one sack and one interception.

With Virgil sidelined, the Hokies are expected to start sophomore Eddie Whitley at the field corner position against the Vols. Whitley, who is listed on Tech's bowl depth chart as the backup to free safety Kam Chancellor, made his first college start against Nebraska on Sept. 19.

Cris Hill, a redshirt sophomore who started the first game that Virgil missed (Marshall, Sept. 12), is listed as the backup at the field spot for the bowl, and should get playing time along with Whitley.

Virgil was listed Wednesday on the East team's roster for the East-West Shrine Bowl game on Jan. 23 in Orlando, Fla. Virgil said last week that he planned to start training sessions in preparation for February's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, a three-day showcase for college players deemed as prospective candidates for the NFL Draft.

"That's why I got my knee done now," Virgil said. "I wanted to make sure I was right for that so I can go ahead and help myself for my future and my family, and just go out and live my dream of being in the NFL."

Last season, senior guard Nick Marshman was declared academically ineligible and missed Tech's 20-7 victory over Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl.