Virginia Tech has spent four games under James Franklin showing signs that some old problems are finally loosening their grip. The next test comes fast. Pittsburgh, unbeaten at 4-0 and 1-0 in the ACC, visits Friday night at 7 p.m. for the first real measuring stick in a difficult October run.
The early returns have been encouraging for the Hokies, who are also 4-0 and 1-0. They handled the games they were supposed to handle, rolling through FCS opponent VMI and Group of Six foe Old Dominion while getting plenty of younger players meaningful snaps once the starters had done the heavy lifting. They also picked up a nonconference win at Maryland, their first victory on the road against a Power Four opponent since 2016, when Virginia Tech stunned Notre Dame.
Then came last week’s 21-14 comeback against Boston College, the kind of finish that has been rare around Blacksburg in recent seasons. The Hokies erased a second-half deficit with 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, and it marked only the fourth time since 2022 that Virginia Tech had come back from behind after halftime and won. Two of those wins - last year at North Carolina State and in the double-overtime win over Cal - came after Brent Pry was dismissed as head coach.
“That felt real good,” defensive lineman and former Kellam High star Kemari Copeland said on Monday. “I feel like our team’s been working hard.”
That kind of resilience has been missing far too often in recent years. Since that same stretch began, the Hokies were within a touchdown in 24 of their 30 losses, and Pry responded with major changes in an attempt to fix it. He moved on from strength and conditioning director Dwight Galt IV after the 2024 season, fired offensive line coach Ron Crook and replaced him with Matt Moore, and then made the boldest move of all by replacing defensive coordinator Chris Marve with NFL assistant Sam Siefkes before the 2025 season.
Even with all that upheaval, the losses kept piling up, and six of Virginia Tech’s nine defeats last year came in games they either led or were within one score of in the second half.
Franklin’s arrival brought more change, but it also brought a return to a familiar defensive foundation. Pry was brought back as defensive coordinator, and the basic system that had worked for him under Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State came back with it.
So far, the defense has done enough to keep the Hokies in control of games and, when needed, keep them alive. Virginia Tech did not allow a first-half touchdown until the second quarter of its third game at Maryland. The Terrapins and Boston College both found some second-half success, but the Hokies answered each time.
Against Maryland, Virginia Tech held firm after the Terrapins scored 12 fourth-quarter points, even stopping two two-point conversion tries. That left Maryland still behind by nine with less than six minutes left. A week later, at a sloppy Boston College, the Hokies forced the Eagles to punt on their final two possessions after BC had grabbed a 14-6 lead early in the fourth quarter, giving the offense the opening it needed to finish the comeback.
“I think it’s obviously strength and conditioning, and our staff, led by (first-year strength and conditioning director) Chuck Losey, and the players have done a really good job there,” Franklin said. “But I also think it’s the depth we’ve worked really hard to develop. It’s also playing a number of guys in the first couple games to create that confidence and depth and get guys on the field.”
Copeland pointed to the same area, while also crediting Franklin for pushing the team to keep moving instead of getting comfortable after wins.
“We are practicing real hard, and I think it’s showing on the field,” Copeland said. “Coach Franklin harps on us just consistently trying to get better.
“Last year, when we would come in after a win, we weren’t really pressed in the same way to get better. But this year, it’s something different. Everybody’s eager to just get better and the energy is just totally different.”
Franklin also said Pry is getting help from being back with Sean Spencer, another coach he has worked with before at Vanderbilt and Penn State.
“Defensively, there’s some things we’re really doing well, but there’s also some areas that we’ve got to get cleaned up - like a lot of programs across the country,” Franklin said. “This is going to be an important week for us … to take another step this week against a really good opponent that’s going to cause a bunch of challenges.
“Getting more of a rotation at some positions has been really important. Some of it has been forced through injuries, and some of it has just been us trying to get as many guys in the game as we possibly can so we can keep our best players fresh.”
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For the Hokies, the matchup carries the feel of an early-season checkpoint as much as a conference game, especially with Pittsburgh making its first road trip of the year. Lane Stadium should give Virginia Tech the kind of setting it wants, but the challenge is figuring out whether the Hokies can match Pittsburgh possession for possession against a team that has looked sharp on both sides of the ball and has yet to be tested away from home. [Read more 🡒]