BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech didn’t just open the 2026 season with a win Saturday. The Hokies rolled VMI 73-3, and a few players left Week 1 looking a lot more valuable than they did going in.
With James Franklin now 1-0 in Blacksburg, the biggest stock boost came from a trio of standouts who made the most of a lopsided afternoon.
Jaylen Brown was as dangerous as advertised. He finished with a team-high 109 receiving yards on six catches, and that number could have climbed even higher if quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer had connected on a pair of deep shots. Even so, for Brown’s first real game at Virginia Tech, it was the kind of debut that turns heads fast.
Those 109 yards were the second-most of Brown’s career, behind only his 10-catch, 178-yard outing against Arizona State in the 2025 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. Franklin had plenty to say about what Brown brings.
"He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he is explosive," Franklin said. "One of the fastest guys that we have in our program.
We've got to continue to get him the ball in space. He's a physical blocker, and he's got a chance to be an explosive returner for us, as well."
Franklin also said Brown cramped up in the first half and missed several series because of it. In the coach’s view, the missed deep throws left even more production on the table.
"We'll get those cleaned up and hit them in the future," the head coach said.
The ground game had its own breakout name in Quaydarius Overton. The sophomore piled up a team-best 104 rushing yards on nine carries, scored twice and averaged 11.6 yards per attempt. His day started with a bang, as Virginia Tech’s opening drive ended with a 50-yard touchdown run around the left side.
Overton’s two scores were a single-game career high, and the performance added to the momentum he built late last season after returning from an ACL injury. He had 146 yards over the final four games of 2025, and Saturday looked like the next step.
"We think we got a one-two punch that we had a lot of confidence coming into camp and throughout camp, but you never truly know until you get in the game," Franklin said.
Overton and Marcellous Hawkins, who added 69 yards, combined for 173 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Hawkins called Overton exactly what Virginia Tech needs alongside him.
"He's a great running back," Hawkins said of Overton. "I feel like to have a great offense, you've got to have those two complementary running backs that complement each other differently."
The third stock riser was quarterback Jayden Baker, who made his first collegiate appearance and handled it cleanly. After Grunkemeyer left with Virginia Tech ahead 52-0, Baker came in and completed 10 of 12 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t force anything, and he kept the offense steady.
Grunkemeyer finished 17-for-20 for 224 yards, but Baker was the only other quarterback to see the field. Kelden Ryan and Troy Huhn did not play, with both spending the week on scout team duty.
Baker opened his day by completing his first eight passes, capped by a 40-yard strike to Chanz Wiggins for Baker’s first college touchdown and Wiggins’ first catch and first score.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Still Has One Big Quarterback Decision Before Old Dominion
Virginia Tech heads into Week 2 with one of the more practical questions of the early season still hanging over it: who settles in as the backup quarterback behind the starter. James Franklin said Bryce Baker has put himself in the conversation, and that battle for QB2 has become part of the buildup to Old Dominion, even as the Hokies try to keep their focus on the larger shape of the season. Franklin also spent time praising the defense and talking through the value of how future games are scheduled, a reminder that the first few weeks can shape more than just the win-loss column.
Old Dominion brings a little extra edge because of what happened a year ago, but Franklin made clear the Hokies are treating this matchup as its own test rather than a chance to relive last seasons loss. The result is a familiar early-season mix of urgency and evaluation: Virginia Tech wants to clean up the details, keep building confidence on defense and, at the same time, sort out a quarterback depth chart that could matter later even if it does not decide Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Techs Quarterback Battle Isnt Over Behind Ethan Grunkemeyer
Virginia Tech left its season-opening win over VMI with one part of the quarterback picture looking settled and another still very much in motion. Junior Ethan Grunkemeyer handled the job well enough in the opener, completing 17 of 20 passes for two touchdowns, and the Hokies got the kind of steady start they wanted from the top of the depth chart.
The more interesting question now sits behind him. Head coach discussed the quarterback situation after the game and made clear the backup role is still a competition among Bryce Baker, Kelden Ryan and Troy Huhn, with Baker getting into the opener but no definitive No. 2 yet named. For a team trying to build early-season rhythm, that kind of uncertainty matters, and it gives the next stretch of practice a little extra edge. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Gets A Charged Reunion With One Painful Opponent
Brent Prys return to Virginia Tech has already added an unusual layer to James Franklins first season in Blacksburg. Fired as the Hokies head coach in September 2025, Pry is back on the staff as defensive coordinator, and the schedule wasted little time in putting him in a spotlight game with extra meaning. Virginia Tech hosts Old Dominion on Sept. 12, 2026, with both teams off to 1-0 starts and the Hokies installed as the favorite.
The matchup carries an edge beyond the usual in-state intrigue because Old Dominion was the team whose victory helped trigger Prys dismissal. It is rare enough for a coach to return to the same program after getting let go, and even rarer for that reunion to come against the opponent most closely tied to the end of his first run. For Virginia Tech, it turns Saturday into more than an early-season test. It is also a charged reminder of how quickly the narrative around one program can turn. [Read more 🡒]