Maryland’s matchup with Virginia Tech arrives with a little extra edge, a lot of familiarity and a crowd that’s starting to feel like a real event.
The Terps and Hokies meet Saturday in what’s being framed as one of Maryland’s biggest games in years, and the buildup has plenty of layers. Both teams are 2-0 after handling FCS and non-power conference opponents, but the jump in competition is obvious.
So is the connection between the staffs: Maryland’s Mike Locksley and Virginia Tech’s James Franklin both worked under Ralph Friedgen from 2000 to 2002, and Locksley said he still has plenty of respect for Franklin. Their relationship did get tense in 2024, though, after Penn State scored on the final play of a 44-7 win over Maryland and Locksley confronted Franklin at midfield.
Still, Locksley made it clear he isn’t interested in turning this into a coach-versus-coach story.
“This won’t be about James and Locks,” Locksley said. “This will be about the players that he has and the players that I have, that know a lot about each other.”
Linebacker Daniel Wingate said the game does feel “a little different” because of the extra attention, but the bigger focus inside the Maryland camp is the challenge Virginia Tech brings. Locksley called it an “upgrade,” and the most obvious test figures to come up front.
Virginia Tech has been wrecking pockets early. The Hokies lead the country with 12 sacks through two games, including seven against Old Dominion, and they’ve added four forced fumbles and 14 tackles for loss.
Locksley pointed to NFL Draft prospect Kemari Copeland as “one of those stout interior, twitchy guys,” and he also singled out Cortez Harris, a Largo, Maryland native who has become one of the key pieces in that front. Harris had two sacks and two tackles for loss against Old Dominion and added a sack in the opener against VMI.
Maryland also has to account for linebacker Noah Chambers, another former Terps recruiting target, along with linebacker Brett Clatterbaugh and defensive backs Sherrod Covil and Joshua Clarke, all of whom visited College Park. Chambers is one of 12 players who followed Franklin from Penn State to Virginia Tech, and one of 11 Maryland natives on the roster.
“The front seven is the strength and I think as I said, not just an upgrade in opponent. This will be an upgrade for us upfront for our first test against a really talented front four,” Locksley said.
There’s plenty of roster overlap in the other direction too, especially with the DMV presence on Virginia Tech’s team. Wingate and Gabe Williams were high school teammates and will face each other in college for the first time, though not directly in a one-on-one matchup. Malik Washington said the familiarity is real, but so much has changed since those prep days that it’s less about scheme and more about recognizing who these players are now.
“Guys that we played against before, may know some of their tendencies. But people are way different now than they were in high school,” Washington said.
“Players are a lot smarter, a lot bigger, stronger, faster, all areas of the game. So it's really less of like a X and O scout, more just like a personality scout on who they are as people.”
Wingate said there hasn’t been much chatter with Williams lately.
“it's not too much conversation from this point on. It's just kind of game vision, tunnel vision, and like I said, it's outside noise that we don't have to be worried about.”
Virginia Tech’s offense starts with the ground game, where sophomore Jeffrey Overton Jr. has already flashed big-play ability. He ran nine times for 104 yards and two touchdowns against VMI, then followed with 14 carries for 47 yards in the win over Old Dominion. Maryland’s run defense has been sturdy so far, holding Hampton and UConn to a combined 77 rushing yards, and Locksley knows the Hokies want to lean on that part of the playbook.
“They’re run-first. They try to establish the running game, the run action pass off of it,” Locksley said.
Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer has been the steady hand at quarterback. The junior has completed 77.4% of his passes for 551 yards and four touchdowns without a turnover through two games. Wingate said Grunkemeyer runs the system well and gets the ball to the right people.
“[Grunkemeyer] plays the system very well at Virginia Tech,” Wingate said. “He’s able to get their guys the ball … it’ll be a good challenge for us. I think we just got to be on our P’s and Q’s.”
The passing game also includes tight end Luke Reynolds and slot receiver Que'Sean Brown. Reynolds is coming off career highs in catches and receiving yards, plus two touchdowns, in the win over Old Dominion, and Wingate said Reynolds is another player Maryland has to limit.
“He's a receiving threat, so he does a lot well for them,” Wingate said of Reynolds. “And we just got to be able to do our job and make sure that we do the right things to make sure that we limit some of that.”
The stage should be set by the atmosphere as much as the matchup. Maryland is closing in on a sellout at SECU Stadium, and Locksley said the student section “has been great over the last two years, three years,” with the rest of The Shell expected to fill in around it. Wingate said the locker room is already feeling it.
“The locker room is super amped about it. First sellout crowd of the year, just ready to feel that atmosphere, feel the fans out there.
Just packing out The Shell. It's very exciting, and we're really excited to approach this week just like that,” Wingate said.
Washington wants the noise to carry from the student section to the rest of the stadium.
“They showed up. They were loud, they were proud.
They were rooting for us. Same thing.
Energy kind of helps us as a team. We're looking to find it somewhere.
We know we can always trust them,” Washington added.
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