Virginia Tech has opened the season with a defense that is piling up havoc at a ridiculous rate, and that’s the biggest reason the Hokies are 2-0 for the first time since 2021. Through two games, no team in the country has more tackles for loss than Virginia Tech’s 32, and no one has more sacks than its 12.
That kind of start came against VMI, a 73-3 rout, and Old Dominion, a 44-21 win. James Franklin said after the ODU game that the Hokies were winning the battles he cares about most.
"We won all those," Franklin said after the ODU win. "Usually when you do that, good things happen."
The competition stiffens Saturday night, when Virginia Tech goes to Maryland at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 for Franklin’s first nonconference Power Four game since taking over. If the Hokies are going to leave College Park with another win, there are five players they can’t afford to lose.
The biggest one is Grunkemeyer, who has been clean and efficient all season. The junior has completed 48 of 62 passes for 551 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception, and his performance against ODU was the best of his career: 31 completions on 42 attempts, 327 yards, two touchdowns, and a rushing score.
Virginia Tech may need even more from him against Maryland. The Hokies ran the ball 42 times for only 89 yards against ODU, and sacks dragged that number down.
Marcellous Hawkins Jr. and Jeffrey Overton Jr. combined for just 90 yards on 25 carries. Right guard Montavious Cunningham, who was ejected against ODU, will be back Saturday, and the line will need him if the game opens up into a shootout.
On the other side of the ball, Williams has already turned one of the roster’s question marks into a problem for opponents. The junior Penn State transfer posted 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and two forced fumbles against ODU, and that outing earned him ACC Player of the Week honors.
One of those forced fumbles turned into points. Williams came off the right side and buried Quinn Henicle, and Tyson Flowers picked up the loose ball and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown. It was exactly the kind of disruptive play Brent Pry wants out of this defense.
Pry was fired as head coach the day after ODU beat Virginia Tech last September, and Franklin brought him back in February. The message from Franklin and defensive line coach Sean Spencer has been straightforward: "being disruptive and getting people off schedule."
Maryland will try to resist that pressure. Franklin described the Terrapins’ offensive line as "big and physical."
Reynolds has become another reliable piece in the passing game, and his production through two games already stands out. The junior has 13 catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns, which is already a career high in scoring.
Against ODU, he caught eight passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns, both career bests. One of those scores came on fourth-and-2 from the ODU 10 with Virginia Tech up 17. Franklin kept the offense on the field, Grunkemeyer found Reynolds in the flat, and Reynolds beat a defender to the pylon.
Both players followed Franklin from Penn State, and right now they look like the most dependable connection on the roster.
Brown is the only Hokie who is affecting the game in two different phases. The senior Duke transfer has 13 receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown, and he has added three punt returns for 117 yards.
His 79-yard return against ODU was Virginia Tech’s longest since Tucker Holloway went 90 yards against Georgia Tech in 2022. That kind of production fits the profile Brown built at Duke, where he caught 64 passes for 846 yards last season.
At 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, Brown is not built to win a lot of contested catches against a Big Ten secondary. That is not the point. Virginia Tech wants him in space, and Maryland’s punter will need to know where he is.
Love rounds out the group, and kickers do not usually end up on lists like this unless they are doing something important. He made all three field goals and all five extra points against ODU, giving the fifth-year kicker 303 career points, which ranks sixth in program history.
He still has not missed an extra point in his college career.
That matters because the offense has already shown it can stall. After Brown’s return set Virginia Tech up at the ODU 1, the Hokies backed up and settled for a 22-yard field goal. On the road, those drives tend to show up even more often.
Virginia Tech has not beaten a nonconference Power Four opponent since 2017. If that changes Saturday night, Love’s foot may have something to do with it.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Finally Gets A Matchup That Will Reveal Plenty
Marylands 2-0 opening has brought a little early confidence, but Mike Locksley is treating the next step as something closer to a real exam. The Terrapins now head into a meeting with Virginia Tech that should tell them much more about where they stand, and Locksley made it clear this is the kind of game that starts to separate a decent start from something more meaningful.
From Marylands perspective, the challenge is obvious: Virginia Tech brings a defensive front seven that can control the line and an offense that wants to lean on the run. Locksley pointed to the need for better offensive rhythm, cleaner discipline on defense and stronger play in the trenches, all areas that get tested quickly when the competition rises a notch. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Brings Back A Familiar ACC Rival In 2027
The ACC has already given Virginia Tech a look at the 2027 road ahead, and it comes with a familiar twist. The conference released schedules for its member schools this week, including the Hokies and Virginia, as both programs prepare to see former Coastal Division rivals again under the new league format. The slate includes the usual mix of conference home-and-away assignments, nonconference games and the leagues scheduling priorities, from protected rivalries to Power Four matchups.
Virginia Techs long-range picture also reflects how much the ACC is still balancing tradition with uncertainty. Athletic directors approved the 2027 schedule during recent meetings, but more detailed scheduling conversations were pushed back because the College Football Playoffs expansion remains unresolved. For the Hokies, it means one more reminder that the conference calendar is beginning to settle in, even if the final shape of college footballs next era is still very much a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Is 2-0 But One Doubt Still Follows The Hokies
Virginia Tech has opened 2-0 and benefited from a strong ACC weekend overall, as the league piled up wins and looked better against Power conference competition. Around the conference, there was plenty to like in Week 2, with teams such as Boston College, Syracuse and Georgia Tech all drawing attention for the way they handled their own business and shifted the early-season conversation heading into Week 3.
For the Hokies, though, the record alone has not erased the bigger question hanging over the start of the season. The early results have been good enough to keep them moving in the right direction, but the same kind of clarity that is starting to emerge for some ACC rivals still needs to show up in Blacksburg as the schedule gets tougher and the margin for easy answers gets smaller. [Read more 🡒]