Two WVU Defensive Starters are 'Highly Questionable' to Return in Regular Season

Jeff Koonz's unit will be a little undermanned in the secondary down the stretch.

West Virginia University cornerback Ayden Garnes. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The West Virginia secondary has been a bit shorthanded over the last couple of games, and it appears they will continue to be for the rest of the season.

Head coach Neal Brown told reporters Monday afternoon that cornerback Ayden Garnes and safety Aubrey Burks will miss this Saturday's game versus Baylor and when asked about their timeline to return, Brown stated, “They’re going to be out. I think highly questionable for any regular season game."

Burks has dealt with multiple things this season but hasn't played much since leaving the Kansas game with an upper-body injury where he went down on the sideline and had to be carted off the field and transported over to Ruby Memorial Hospital for further evaluation. In six games this year, Burks has recorded 13 tackles and two tackles for loss.

After a rough start to the season, Garnes began to settle in and played a lot better in the month of October. So far, he's racked up 25 tackles, one pass breakup, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit.

Although Burks and Garnes were out this past Saturday, WVU made significant strides in defending the pass.

“I thought our corners, that’s the best we’ve played all year. We were really tight on those guys," Neal Brown said. "They completed some balls. I think that tight end is really good and we limited him pretty well. Hutchinson is a big, fast guy and I thought we did a nice job on him. We had the miscue where we didn’t cover the back out of the backfield, that hurt us. But I thought our corners did a nice job, but I thought KK (Tarnue) and Zae (Jennings) did a nice job at the spear in some coverage too.”

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