Virginia Tech senior wide receiver D.J. Coles has been shut down for the season after he suffered another setback in his recovery from offseason knee surgery. 

Coles, who spent most of the preseason rehabbing his surgically-repaired right knee, injured the knee again in the first quarter of Monday’s season opener against Georgia Tech. He did not return to the game and has been unable to practice this week. 

The 6-foot-3, 216-pound Coles, who is scheduled to undergo an MRI, is eligible to apply for a medical hardship waiver at the conclusion of the season. 

Hokies head athletic trainer Mike Goforth said in a written statement that he is almost certain Coles, a former Goochland High standout, will be granted the waiver and will return for a fifth season next year. 

Coles has 39 career catches for 507 yards and three touchdowns. His absence this season will open the door for more playing time for senior wide receiver Corey Fuller, who had five catches for 82 yards in the opener, and redshirt freshman wideout Demitri Knowles, who had one catch for a 42-yard touchdown in his collegiate debut Monday.

BLACKSBURG – No. 15 Virginia Tech’s opponent Saturday, Austin Peay, is significantly less recognizable than its first, Georgia Tech. 

In fact, Hokies linebacker Bruce Taylor was completely off base with his first impressions of the small school in Clarksville, Tenn., named after the 32^nd governor of Tennessee. 

“To be honest, somebody told me that Austin Peay was in Texas. You know how we’re Virginia Tech and Tech stands for Polytechnic University? Uhh, I was thinking that it was Austin, Texas, and the ‘P’ was for something like that,” Taylor said. 

“But I found out today that Austin Peay was a guy, and … I’m gonna have to read up on that. That’s all I know.” 

The Hokies (1-0), who beat Georgia Tech 20-17 in overtime Monday night, were in the process of familiarizing themselves with the Governors on Wednesday and getting ready for their next game on only five days’ rest. 

Austin Peay (0-1) is a Football Bowl Subdivision team from the Ohio Valley Conference. It returned to scholarship football in 2006, but it hasn’t had much luck against upper division opponents. 

The Governors managed only 164 total yards (11 yards passing) in their 49-10 season-opening loss at Western Kentucky on Saturday. 

In its last two games against BCS conference opponents, Austin Peay lost to Wisconsin 70-3 in 2010 and to Cincinnati 72-10 last season.

Injury update

Hokies coach Frank Beamer said wide receiver D.J. Coles (knee), Taylor (ankle) and defensive tackles Luther Maddy and Antoine Hopkins were to practice in blue (limited contact) jerseys Wednesday, but all four are expected to play against Austin Peay. 

Taylor said his ankle was a cut-block casualty during the Georgia Tech game, and he was limited at the end of the contest, though not limited enough to prevent him from forcing the bad Tevin Washington throw that cornerback Kyle Fuller intercepted in the end zone in overtime. 

Beamer said senior wide receiver Marcus Davis (shoulder) would practice full contact Wednesday and be ready to go for Saturday’s game.

Thomas still critical

Hokies junior quarterback Logan Thomas struggled throwing the ball in the first three quarters Monday before leading the team to a comeback victory. He was critical of himself after the win, but was slightly less displeased of his performance after watching the replay. 

Thomas said he wasn’t happy with his footwork during the game. He threw off-balance, which messed with his accuracy. 

“Looking at it, I don’t think I played as bad as I thought I did at the time, but I still played pretty bad,” said Thomas, who passed for 230 yards and two touchdowns. “It’s something I can build on, learn from my mistakes so I can get better just through practice and going out there and working as hard as I can and paying attention to more detail.”

Offensive line coming together

The Hokies’ inexperienced offensive line showed promise in the season-opening win over the Yellow Jackets. 

Three of the linemen made their starting debuts and all five played every snap. Tackles Nick Becton and Vinston Painter also played five special teams snaps, making for a very busy day. Painter said he was up for the hefty workload, and he was pleased with the way he and his line mates played.  

“We have definitely made some great strides since the spring, playing together as a unit, picking up blitzes faster, recognizing things that defenses are doing faster as far as fronts and blitz giveaways and whatnot. We’ve definitely made great strides there,” Painter said. 

Thomas was pleased with the offensive line’s play. He was sacked twice, but he otherwise had plenty of time to throw. 

“I thought they did a great job. I couldn’t ask for more. They gave me time pretty much every play, other than the one busted one in the third quarter, but they gave me time on every play and created big holes,” Thomas said.

Extra points

Virginia Tech has 15 graduates on its roster, the most in the country. … Beamer said the misplayed snap by punter A.J. Hughes in the first quarter Monday was a combination of a wide snap and Hughes taking his eye off the ball for a split second. … Painter cut off his dreadlocks of three years before Monday’s game. He said they were making his head hot and he wanted to save money on haircuts. He also said he wants to look more like a father. He has a 1-year old daughter in Norfolk.

***Virginia Tech linebacker Tariq Edwards will not play in the season opener, Hokies coach Frank Beamer said during his teleconference Monday. 

Edwards, who had offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture in his leg, has been slow to recover during training camp. He had a recent follow up procedure to remove a screw that was causing discomfort in his knee and told reporters Saturday he is making progress. 

He said he could be ready in time for Tech’s second game against Austin Peay next Saturday, but a more realistic timetable for his return may be the Sept. 15 game at Pittsburgh. 

***Beamer said he has a lot of confidence in senior offensive lineman Michael Via, who has playing experience at center, guard and tackle for the Hokies. 

He may even challenge projected right guard starter Brent Benedict for the No. 1 spot, Beamer said. The coach indicated that right guard is still a fluid situation and that the starter would be decided from this week’s practice. 

***Another starting job up for grabs is punter, where walk-on freshman A.J. Hughes and Hunter Windmuller are still pushing each other for the top spot. 

Beamer said the competition will continue this week. Both put up very similar numbers in the preseason. Right now, the left-footed Hughes is No. 1 and Windmuller is No. 2, but we’ll see if that continues to be the case after this week. 

The kickoff job will be decided this week as well. Beamer said Cody Journell, Michael Branthover, Ethan Keyserling and Brooks Abbott are all in the running. 

***Beamer said freshman running back J.C. Coleman’s fractured right hand isn’t a concern at this point. It hasn’t affected Coleman’s play this preseason – he has looked strong in the scrimmages – and Beamer doesn’t think it will be a problem. 

***Defensive end James Gayle has been hampered by ankle injuries this preseason. Beamer said he expects Gayle to get back on the field and practice today. 

***Virginia Tech has had extra time this preseason to prepare for its first opponent, Georgia Tech, and its unique spread option offense and 3-4 defensive front. That’s one good thing that comes from playing your chief divisional rival in the very first game of the season, but Beamer said there are disadvantages too.   

“The good is you’ve had extra time, and I think your players’ practices have gone very well because they’ve got an opponent we really respect and know how good they are and know this ballgame is important to both of us,” Beamer said. “But playing your first ballgame when you’re really keeping score for real, some unusual things could happen. That’s scary too. There’s some good and bad about playing a team like Georgia Tech in your opening ballgame.”

Virginia Tech freshman running back Trey Edmunds is expected to dress for the season opener against Georgia Tech on Sept. 3, according to coach Frank Beamer’s website. 

Beamer’s site indicated that a combined 20 redshirt and true freshmen are expected to dress for the opener. 

True freshmen expected to join Edmunds in that group are running back J.C. Coleman, wide receiver Joshua Stanford, free safety Desmond Frye, cornerbacks Donaldven Manning and Donovan Riley, linebacker Deon Clarke, punters A.J. Hughes and Hunter Windmuller, kicker Brooks Abbott and long snapper Eddie D’Antuono. 

Just because a freshman dresses for a game doesn’t mean he will actually play. The Hokies have dressed freshmen in the past, wide receiver Demitri Knowles last season and linebacker Chase Williams in 2010 to name two, and later decided to redshirt them. 

Tech running backs coach Shane Beamer indicated after Wednesday’s scrimmage that the team could use a similar approach with Edmunds. 

“I think Demitri Knowles was a guy last year that we traveled and dressed for about the first six games, trying to make a decision on whether or not we were going to play him,” Shane Beamer said Wednesday. “We haven’t really discussed it, but Trey could be a guy like that, where we just keep working with him throughout the season and maybe by game three or four we see where things are.” 

Edmunds, a product of Dan River High, said he feels he could contribute to the team this season. He rushed for 102 yards on 20 carries in two preseason scrimmages, but he showed his inexperience Wednesday with two fumbles. 

“I’m just going to work hard in practice and try to work on the minor things to get better,” Edmunds said.

True freshmen most likely to play against the Yellow Jackets include Coleman, who is tied for second on the depth chart with seniors Tony Gregory and Martin Scales, and one of the punters, depending on which one wins the starting job. 

Frank Beamer said Saturday that Abbott is in the running for kickoff duties.

On Wednesday, the ACC released its full conference basketball schedule for 2012-13. The Hokies followed that up by revealing its non-conference slate Thursday. Game times and television will be announced on a later date.

Tech and first-year head coach James Johnson debut at home on Saturday, Nov. 10, against East Tennessee State and host games against Rhode Island, VMI, Appalachian State, Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Oklahoma State, Mississippi Valley State and Georgia Southern.

The Mississippi Valley State game on Dec. 10 is Tech’s opener in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The Hokies also host Georgia Southern in the tournament Dec. 15 and then head to Las Vegas for games against Bradley (Dec. 22) and either Colorado State or Portland on Dec. 23.

Tech’s road schedule includes games against UNC Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum, West Virginia and BYU at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Here is the Hokies combined non-conference and conference schedule:

Nov. 10 East Tennessee State

Nov. 12 Rhode Island

Nov. 15 VMI

Nov. 19 at UNC Greensboro (Greensboro Coliseum)

Nov. 23 Appalachian State

Nov. 27 Iowa ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Dec. 1 Oklahoma State

Dec. 8 at West Virginia

Dec. 10 Mississippi Valley State*

Dec. 15 Georgia Southern*

Dec. 22 Bradley**

Dec. 23 Colorado State/Portland**

Dec. 29 at BYU (Salt Lake City)

Jan. 5 at Maryland, 12 p.m.

Jan. 9 Boston College, 7 p.m.

Jan. 1 at Georgia Tech, 2:30 p.m.

Jan. 19 Wake Forest, 2 p.m.

Jan. 24 Virginia, 8 p.m.

Jan. 27 at Clemson, 1 p.m.

Jan. 30 Miami, 9 p.m.

Feb. 2 at North Carolina, 12 p.m.

Feb. 7 Maryland, 9 p.m.

Feb. 9 Georgia Tech, 1 p.m.

Feb. 12 at Virginia, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

Feb. 16 at N.C. State, 2 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Feb. 21 Duke, 9 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Feb. 24 Florida State, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)

Feb. 27 at Miami, 7 p.m.

March 2 Clemson, 8 p.m.

March 5 at Duke, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

March 10 at Wake Forest, 2 p.m. 

*Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic home game

**Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic game in Las Vegas