Star Virginia pass rusher Chico Bennett Jr. is out for the Cavaliers’ season opener against Tennessee, Virginia coach Tony Elliott shared Tuesday.
“So Chico was pushing for this week and obviously was a big scare for all of us— and it’s a crazy story of how it happened,” Elliott said. “We’re very fortunate that it was situation where it was a minor procedure and they just had to remove some bone fragments so really it’s how quickly could the swelling go down. … He’s back running a little bit so I’m anticipating next week is realistic for him.”
“Chico was pushing for this week but it was probably the smartest thing to wait and hold him until next week.”
Bennett is perhaps Virginia’s top player, earning All-ACC honorable mentions after totaling 34 tackles, seven sacks and two forced fumbles last season.
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The 6-foot-4 edge rusher led the Cavaliers in sacks last season and the season opener against Tennessee was set to be somewhat of a homecoming for the Virginia star. While Bennett is an Ashburn, Virginia native he played his final two prep seasons at Franklin’s Battle Ground Academy.
Bennett originally signed with and enrolled at Georgia Tech out of high school before transferring to Virginia ahead of the 2021 season which he had to sit out because he was ineligible.
While Virginia hopes to get Bennett back early in the season, they’ll have to turn elsewhere for pass rush production against Tennessee Saturday. Virginia’s second leading sack man last season, Nick Jackson, transferred to Iowa this offseason. Defensive tackle Aaron Faumui is Virginia’s leading returning sack man that’s expected to be available Saturday.
Faumui recorded 4.5 sacks in 2022. Defensive end Paul Akere is also back after totaling four sacks last season.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Virginia is at noon ET Saturday at Nissan Stadium. Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer and Katie George are on the call for ABC
