Virginia Tech won’t learn much about its ceiling against VMI on Saturday night, but the first look at Ty Howle’s offense should still tell a story.
SP+ has the Hokies rolling 68-0, and the model gives Virginia Tech a 100 percent win probability. So the scoreline is basically a formality.
The real intrigue is how the offense looks in its first public showing, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at a sold-out Lane Stadium on ACC Network. It’s also the first meeting between Virginia Tech and VMI since 1984.
All eyes start with quarterback Blake Grunkemeyer, the redshirt sophomore James Franklin named the starter Monday and elevated to team captain. Grunkemeyer followed Franklin from Penn State and stepped in after Drew Allar’s injury, starting the final seven games. In that stretch, he completed 123 of 178 passes for 1,339 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.
"His ability to distribute the ball and decision-making, those things are big," Franklin said.
The passing efficiency was solid, but the workload was light. Grunkemeyer averaged a little more than 16 attempts and about 122 passing yards per game at Penn State, working behind a run game powered by Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. He also offered very little as a runner, finishing 2025 with -46 yards on 35 carries.
That makes Saturday less about completion percentage and more about how often Ty Howle opens things up, and where the ball goes when he does. Virginia Tech’s 2025 starter, Kyron Drones, completed 56.5 percent of his passes for 1,919 yards, so even basic accuracy would represent an upgrade.
The Hokies’ backfield has its own odd wrinkle. The redshirt senior rushed for 749 yards on 118 carries last fall, averaged 6.3 yards per attempt and scored only once on the ground.
He also forced 44 missed tackles and picked up 562 yards after first contact, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s on the Doak Walker Award preseason watch list, one of 62 backs.
The red zone will be a useful clue. Inside the 10, the question is whether Howle leans on Hawkins, gets heavy, or lets Grunkemeyer keep the ball himself. Franklin and Howle inherited a back who did everything except score, and the source of the intrigue is whether that changes quickly.
Luke Reynolds is another name worth tracking. The junior transferred in from Penn State after catching 26 passes for 257 yards in 13 games last season without a touchdown.
On paper, that doesn’t jump off the page. In context, it’s different: he was a five-star recruit and the top tight end in the 2024 class according to 247Sports, and Howle was the coach who recruited him to Happy Valley.
Howle also coached Tyler Warren to Penn State’s first John Mackey Award in 2024.
"We've always thought Luke was a big-time player," Franklin said in August.
Reynolds and defensive tackle Kemari Copeland both made the Senior Bowl Top 300, and Reynolds caught five passes for a game-high 69 yards in the spring game on April 18.
The best clue might come before the scoreboard even matters. Watch the first drive and the personnel packages.
If Virginia Tech opens with two tight ends or even three tight ends, that says plenty about what Howle wants to build. In a game that should be over fast, the play sheet is the thing worth studying.
In Other News...
Pop Watsons Breakout Is Giving Virginia Tech Fans Mixed Feelings
William Pop Watsons first weekend at UMass offered a reminder of why Virginia Tech fans were intrigued by him in the first place. After transferring out of Blacksburg, the former Hokies quarterback walked into the season opener and helped lead the Minutemen to an upset of Rutgers, looking poised and efficient while completing 19 of 22 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns.
For Virginia Tech supporters, the performance had to land with a familiar mix of pride and regret. Watson had spent three seasons in the program, appearing in 11 games and making two starts, so there was already a sense of what he might become with a bigger opportunity. Seeing him seize that chance elsewhere only sharpened the question Hokies fans could not help asking about what might have been. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Must Solve VMIs Trickiest Offensive Threat First
VMI opened its season by leaning hard into the ground game, and that is exactly the sort of challenge Virginia Tech has to sort through first when it studies the Black Knights' new-look opponent. Under first-year head coach Ashley Ingram, who installed a triple-option offense, VMI ran the ball 52 times for 229 yards against Idaho State while the passing game barely factored in, producing just 11 yards on nine attempts. Even in a 38-10 loss, Ingram said he was proud of the effort, which is usually what a coach says when the scheme is still finding its rhythm but the identity is already clear.
The Hokies do not need to worry about an aerial shootout here. They need to get lined up, tackle cleanly and keep an eye on the players who can turn a normal option snap into something bigger. VMI already showed it has a lead runner in Wilson, and the offense got an extra burst from true freshman Simon, who ripped off a 46-yard run. Against a system built to force hesitation, those are the kinds of plays that can tilt a game before the defense settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Techs Opener Will Reveal James Franklins First Real Plan
The season opener against VMI should offer the first real glimpse of how James Franklin plans to run Virginia Tech, and the curiosity starts at quarterback. With the Hokies set to play Sept. 5 on the ACC Network, the attention naturally falls on how the offense will be organized in Franklins debut, especially with a new coach trying to set the tone from the start.
There is also real intrigue in how many quarterbacks might see the field, which could tell as much about the staffs priorities as any opening-drive script. Virginia Techs defense is expected to handle its share of the heavy lifting too, so even a routine opener could reveal plenty about the balance Franklin wants between experimentation, control and early-season certainty. [Read more 🡒]