Louisville football: Players you need to know from Virginia Tech

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Oct 3, 2020; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies running back Khalil Herbert (21) breaks free for a first down run ahead of Duke Blue Devils safety Marquis Waters (0) and Duke Blue Devils cornerback Jeremiah Lewis (39) in the second half at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Virginia Tech Hokies won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports /

Khalil Herbert – RB

Kansas football has been a cesspool of nothing for the last decade or more, yet, Virginia Tech somehow found a star at running back from the program. Khalil Herbert’s transfer from the Jayhawks to the Hokies didn’t make much of a wave at the time, but now with the graduate senior leading the country in all-purpose yards and sitting second in rushing yards, Louisville somehow will have to figure out a plan to stop the oddly good former Kansas running back.

Through five games, Herbert has already totaled 656 yards and five touchdowns, to go along with another 318 total return yards and 114 yards receiving, serving as a triple-threat playmaker for Justin Fuentes and Virginia Tech. As Scott Satterfield said on Packer & Durham this week, the kid can do just about anything with the ball in his hands, and as we saw this past weekend against FSU with their trio of running back’s, the Cards can be susceptible to the run.

Herbert has averaged 8.7 yards per rush attempt and an 22.8 yards per catch average this season and has shown time and time again to be the homerun hitting threat Tech hoped he could be. He’s had a ton of help from a big, athletic, and versatile line, and if Louisville doesn’t come with the same energy they had against FSU and Notre Dame, this could be a career day for Herbert.

You’d like to think Louisville has moved past their days of giving up huge performances to top backs, but Herbert could quickly test that theory this weekend.

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