The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AFTER showing flashes of his big playmaking ability numerous times in his debut season, Demitri Knowles has moved up the depth chart of the Virginia Tech receiving corps as it heads into a crucial point in ACC play.

Knowles has been elevated to co-number one’s on the Hokies’ depth chart with starter at flanker Dyrell Roberts.

Fellow reserve Corey Fuller also moved up the depth chart to co-number one with the team’s leading receiver Marcus Davis.

Knowles is fourth on the team with 469 all purpose yards.

He has totalled 10 catches for 152 yards and one touchdown and also fielded 11 kicks for 306 yards and one touchdown.

The move comes in time for Knowles as he prepares to play closer to home than he ever has in his short collegiate career thus far.

Virginia Tech is 0-4 away from Lane Stadium with losses to Pittsburgh 35-17, Cincinnati 27-24, North Carolina 48-34, and Clemson 38-17, while Miami is 2-2 at home this season.

In an interview on the website of Hokies’ head coach Frank Beamer (www.beamerball.com), wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman said the move doubles as a reward for the two former reserves and a motivational tactic, while Beamer said the competition at the position would maximise productivity.

“I think there’s a possibility we’re playing some guys too much,” Beamer said. “We want good competition and we want to get Knowles in the ball game because I think he can do things. Corey Fuller has been very, very good all year long. He’s been exceptional. I think trying to have a fresh receiver in the ball game and have good competition at that wide receiver position cause competition makes everyone better. That’s the big picture.”

Davis leads the team with 33 catches, 643 yards and four touchdowns, while Fuller has 25 catches for 503 yards and four touchdowns in just four starts and Roberts has 22 catches for 280 yards and a touchdown.

Knowles opened his NCAA career with a touchdown reception in his debut, and set several career highs and reached the end zone for the second time four games later.

Knowles finished with six catches for 83 yards and returned a 93-yard kickoff for a touchdown in the Virgina Tech Hokies’ 48-34 loss against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

He finished with three returns for 141 yards to set career highs in receptions, receiving yards, return yards and all-purpose yards (224).

His score was the first kickoff return touchdown for the Hokies since 2010.

The Hokies have looked to Knowles and the remainder of the group to develop faster than scheduled after a season ending injury to one of its top pass catchers, senior wide receiver D J Coles.

Coles was shut down for the season after he suffered another setback in his recovery from offseason knee surgery.

Knowles garnered national headlines when he caught one pass in his first game as a Hokie, a 42-yard touchdown reception to put Virginia Tech ahead 14-20 with just under eight minutes left to play, in a game televised in primetime on ESPN.

Knowles, the native Grand Bahamian, son of Keith and Jackie Knowles, was a two-sport star throughout high school and continues to excel in both sports at the collegiate ranks.

After sitting out his true freshman season for Virginia Tech football, Knowles joined the track and field team in January following the football season.

He ran a season’s best time of 6.90s in the 60 metres at the VT Challenge and ran a 6.98s in the 60m at the SPIRE Division I Invitational in his debut.