CANESPORT BREAKING NEWS: Jake Garcia to start Saturday and likely beyond as Tyler Van Dyke rehabs off shoulder injury
The Jake Garcia fan club will get a chance to see what the redshirt freshman can accomplish with a full week of first team reps in practice … and his first career start. CaneSport confirmed that Garcia will start at Virginia this weekend, with Tyler Van Dyke dealing with a shoulder injury. Per a source it’s expected Van Dyke will also miss the Florida State game before being re-evaluated to see if he can return to face Georgia Tech or a top Clemson defense.
Garcia hasn’t gotten many opportunities to practice with the first team offense prior to this week, and his prior results this year have added up to 32 of 49 passing for 470 yards with two TDs and three INTs. Last game for Garcia saw a couple of great passes/reads when he first came in vs. Duke, resulting in 71-yard and 34-yard TD passes. But three interceptions came later in the game, a 45-21 loss.
Van Dyke had struggled early in the season but was playing at a high level the two games leading up to his injury with 496 yrds and three TDs against North Carolina followed by 351 yards and two TDs against Virginia Tech.
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Now it’s time to find out what Garcia can do, and for reference he was neck-and-neck with Van Dyke when both these quarterbacks were competing in practices behind D’Eriq King last season. Both shared reps the game following King’s season-ending injury, against Central Connecticut State, but that game saw Garcia suffer a season-ending injury and Van Dyke went on to star and earn ACC Rookie of the Year honors.
Now it’s somewhat the reverse, with Garcia getting his chance to shine as Van Dyke works his way back off injury. The Canes nation will find out soon enough if he can put up points in Josh Gattis’ offense and get this team back on a winning track.
