Virginia and Virginia Tech are heading into 2026 from very different places, and that gap showed up clearly when David Teel sized up the Commonwealth rivals at ACC Kickoff in Charlotte.
Teel, a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, put Virginia slightly ahead of the Hokies in his preseason ballot. He had the Cavaliers at No. 5 and Virginia Tech at No. 7, and his reasoning started with one obvious advantage: Virginia’s veteran front.
"I think they're fairly even," Teel said. "But I give Virginia the edge based on No. 1, a very experienced offensive line, and No. 2, the fact that not only did they beat the Hokies last season; they won 11 games in the process."
That line is the kind of thing that makes a preseason case on its own. Virginia returns 161 career starts and more than 11,000 snaps up front, an unusual level of continuity in today’s college game. Four of the five linemen have earned All-Conference recognition at some point in their careers, though not all of it came in the ACC.
The question now is who benefits from all that protection. Virginia has to replace J’Mari Taylor at running back, and Teel pointed to Peyton Lewis, the Tennessee transfer and two-time 100-meter champion in high school in Virginia, as a name to watch.
The Cavaliers also have a new quarterback. Chandler Morris is gone after his petition for a seventh year of eligibility was denied by the NCAA. In 2025, Morris completed 282 of 436 passes for 3,000 yards, 16 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Virginia Tech is making a change there, too. Kyron Drones finished 178-for-315 for 1,919 yards, 17 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and his season-ending line was rough: 4-for-16 for 78 yards, one touchdown and two picks in the finale. Teel noted that if you strip out Drones’ 57-yard touchdown to Shamarius "Snook" Peterkin when the Hokies were already down 27-0 in the fourth quarter, he went 3-for-15 for 21 yards.
The Hokies are turning to Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer, who threw for 1,339 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions after taking over as the starter when Drew Allar suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
Virginia’s answer under center is Beau Pribula, a transfer from Mizzou who posted 1,941 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions in one season. He was slowed by injury late in the year, and over his final four games he had a 0:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Remove those four games, and his season line improves to 11 touchdowns and five picks.
Teel drew a clear contrast between the two new quarterbacks.
"In comparing them, they're both former James Franklin quarterbacks - I mean, how crazy is that going to be on November 28th?" Teel said. "Pribula is by far the more mobile and [dual-threat] type, and Grunkemeyer is the more conventional dropback pocket passer."
Even with Virginia coming off an 11-3 season, Teel doesn’t expect a repeat of that exact number to come easily. The schedule, he said, is tougher than it looks.
"I'd be surprised if the Cavaliers win 11 of their games this season," he said. "The schedule is a little bit challenging.
Have to go to Blacksburg, where they haven't won since 1998. ... They have to go to SMU.
They have a fairly tricky non-conference game here in Charlotte against West Virginia. So, the schedule ramps up.
"But they have an incredibly experienced offensive line, an experienced transfer quarterback in Beau Pribula and arguably the ACC's best defensive player in Kam Robinson."
Robinson, who missed six games last season, was Third Team All-ACC and received the second-most votes for ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He finished with 64 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
The year before, he had six tackles for loss and five sacks. This season, both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports named him Preseason All-ACC First Team, and Steele also included him on his Fourth Team Preseason All-American list.
Teel also laid out what success should look like for both programs. For Virginia, the standard is higher after last year’s breakthrough. For Virginia Tech, the climb is different, but the Hokies still have a path.
"For Virginia, the bar is higher in terms of defining success this year after last year," Teel said. "So I think for UVA, eight wins or better would define success. I think for Virginia Tech, if the Hokies go 7-5 - now, it depends on who the seven are and who the five are. - then that seems to me that, given 3-9 [in the 2025 season], it'll more than double your wins ... [and] by the way, James Franklin has never coached a team that was not postseason-eligible, so I think that gives you a basis for where the Hokies should be."
Teel, who currently writes for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, held that role from 1984-2020 before returning in 2024 after a 4 1/2-year stint at the Richmond Times Dispatch.
In Other News...
Has James Franklin Already Found Virginia Techs Quarterback Answer
Virginia Techs quarterback room has been one of the biggest pieces of the roster reset under James Franklin, and the staff has moved quickly to add both experience and upside. Ethan Grunkemeyer arrived as part of that overhaul after a stint at Penn State, while Bryce Baker gives the Hokies another young arm to develop as Franklin puts his own stamp on the program.
Grunkemeyer brings the kind of rsum that makes him hard to ignore in a room looking for clarity. He is a former four-star recruit with Power Five experience, and last season he started seven games for Penn State after stepping into a larger role. With three years of eligibility left, he gives Virginia Tech a quarterback option that can help right away and still fit into the long view of the rebuild. [Read more 🡒]
James Franklin Faces An Early Test With Virginia Tech Receivers
As Virginia Tech moves through its first offseason under James Franklin, the wide receiver room is one of the clearest places to watch how quickly the new staff can settle things. Greene and Brown give the Hokies a proven starting point, both bringing ACC experience and past production, but the group behind them is still sorting itself out as the 2026 season approaches.
That makes the next few months important for more than just depth chart order. Takye Heath, Tyseer Denmark and Marlion Jackson are among the names in the mix for the next role, while Virginia Tech could also lean more on 12-personnel looks if the competition stays open. Add in Adams and Wiggins returning as redshirt sophomores after injuries, and the opener against VMI on Sept. 5 could offer the first real glimpse of how Franklin wants this passing game to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
What Could Derail Virginia Techs Push Back To Charlotte
Virginia Techs path back toward Charlotte starts with a familiar offseason problem: sorting through change fast enough to stay in the ACC race. James Franklin takes over in his first year with a roster that has both turnover and promise, and the Hokies will need the new pieces to mesh quickly while the returning core gives the program a steadier floor than it had a year ago.
The pressure points are easy to spot. Up front, the defense has to replace veteran production, and on offense the Hokies are asking new faces to settle in around quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and Duke transfer QueSean Brown. Even before the league schedule tightens, Virginia Tech is staring at a stretch that will test whether this group is built to climb or merely to compete, and the answer may decide whether the Hokies can make a real push back to the championship game. [Read more 🡒]