Virginia Tech’s trip to Maryland comes with a few moving parts, and James Franklin spent Wednesday laying them out after practice in Blacksburg.
The biggest one at quarterback remains the backup job behind Ethan Grunkemeyer. Sophomore Bryce Baker is still sitting in the No. 2 spot, and Franklin said that’s likely to stay that way if Baker keeps doing what’s expected of him every week and keeps making the most of his reps.
Sophomore Kelden Ryan and freshman Troy Huhn are still right there, though neither has played a snap of college football yet. Baker, meanwhile, was 10-of-12 for 127 yards in the opener against VMI and is the only other quarterback besides Grunkemeyer to see game action this season. Grunkemeyer has completed 48 of 62 passes for 551 yards and four touchdowns.
“The hard part is once you designate it, you got to get the two the reps in practice, right?” Franklin said.
“You can't get them all reps in practice because you can't get them all ready. And then Bryce went in the game, and because of that competition, it was going to be a short leash.
But then he went into the game and did a nice job. So we'll continue to evaluate that based on practice, based on the reps that they get, the Sunday scrimmages that we do, their tests, their tip sheets, all of it.
“Right now, it's it's a tight race between all three of them. But we started the season with Bryce in the number two spot, so he's got to get those reps until something changes.”
Franklin also gave updates on several personnel situations. Running back Bill Davis was at practice Wednesday but worked off to the side and did not go through drills.
Defensive lineman Emmett Laws was dressed out in full gear, though he wasn’t seen participating in drills. At receiver, Takye Heath, Luke Stuewe and Shamarius “Snook” Peterkin were still working off to the side, and none of the three have appeared in a game this season.
At center, Virginia Tech had Tommy Ricard make his third career start against Old Dominion after Altuner sat out. Franklin said Altuner was available for Week 2, but not fully healthy.
“We felt if we could hold him out last week, then we would have him for 100%. And we were able to do it,” Franklin said.
“There's a ton of value in getting Ricard that work, too... [Altuner] does a phenomenal job for us.
He's a leader. He's a culture driver. ...
I do think missing him was felt, so having our starting center and I'd make the argument [as] the captain of our offensive line], just in terms of what the offensive center has to do in terms of communication and getting everything started, I think it's significant.”
Franklin also said guard Montavious Cunningham is available and will not be suspended for the first half against Maryland after his altercation with an Old Dominion player in the second half last week. He added that, with Altuner and Cunningham’s situations in mind, “the guys that are our starters are the starters.”
On the other side of the matchup, Maryland quarterback Malik Washington has been efficient early this season, going 53-of-72 for 533 yards, three touchdowns and 7.4 yards per completion. Against UConn last Saturday, the sophomore completed 34 of 41 passes for 347 yards and two scores.
“Super accurate,” Franklin said of Washington. “18 straight completions last week. I know him well; we recruited the heck out of him.
Know his family. He's an impressive kid.
Makes a ton of plays, off-balance throws. He had a couple throws in the UConn game - [including] one where he jumped up, kind of flipped his body around and threw a dart inside.
He's a problem, so it's going to be a challenge; there's no doubt about it.”
Franklin also singled out three Maryland receivers when asked who has caught his eye: Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, Kaleb Webb and Chris Durr Jr.
Abdul-Rahim Gladding has 14 catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns this year after transferring from Old Dominion, where he had 51 receptions for 667 yards and six scores last season. He also caught three passes for 71 yards and a touchdown against Virginia Tech a year ago.
Webb has six catches for 69 yards this season after posting 22 receptions for 318 yards and two touchdowns last year. Durr Jr. has 16 catches for 147 yards this season; he played at Wyoming last season and finished with 45 catches for 469 yards and four touchdowns.
“Those guys are impressive,” Franklin said. “They make a bunch of plays.
YAC [yards after catch] yards, I think, is going to be a major factor in this game. If I'm the head coach at Maryland, I'm telling the offense to get the ball out quickly.
That's already what they do a ton of is perimeter screens. So tackling in space, I think, is going to be really important.
“And then we also have to be ready for the screen-and-gos off of those things, which can be challenging too. But I think we're going to see a lot of that.
That's kind of how they operate anyway. Ball comes out quick a lot, so that's going to be a big part of this.”
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