James Franklin’s arrival has already changed the temperature in Blacksburg, and the schedule gives Virginia Tech a real chance to turn that into something tangible. After a 27-7 loss at Scott Stadium in the program’s last game, the Hokies head into a season with a new coach, a rebuilt roster and a few numbers that invite some big swings.
Franklin’s résumé is the kind that makes people pay attention. He won 104 games in 12 seasons at Penn State, the second-most in school history, and left with a 128-60 record as a head coach. In five months, he also helped push a recruiting class from outside the top 100 to No. 24 nationally, added more than 20 players through the transfer portal and brought his old Penn State quarterback with him.
That kind of overhaul creates room for bold calls, and Virginia Tech has a few players who could make them look smart by November.
Bhayshul Tuten’s production says a bigger scoring season is coming. He carried 118 times last year for 749 yards and only one rushing touchdown, a strange combination for a back who averaged 6.3 yards per touch.
He also forced 44 missed tackles, picked up 562 yards after first contact and ripped off 23 runs of 10 yards or more. His track record suggests the volume can hold up, too: he ran for 1,053 yards and 18 touchdowns at Central Missouri in 2023.
Ty Howle’s offense should keep him involved, and while Tuten has never reached 200 carries in a season and missed the Virginia finale with an unknown injury, 1,000 rushing yards feels well within reach. Ten rushing touchdowns would be a tougher climb, but not out of the question.
At receiver, Trell Harris could be set up for a much bigger role than the one he had at Penn State. He caught 26 passes for 257 yards and no touchdowns last season, which is hardly the profile of a No. 1 target.
But that came in a season when Penn State fired its head coach in October and lost its starting quarterback to injury. The spring game offered a different glimpse, with Virginia Tech’s tight ends responsible for 205 of the team’s 428 receiving yards and Harris leading them with five catches for 69 yards.
Howle’s connection to Harris matters here. He recruited him, coached him for two years and won national tight ends coach of the year in 2024, when Tyler Warren caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards and became Penn State’s first Mackey Award winner.
Harris does not need to be Warren. He just needs to be a reliable outlet for a quarterback who threw seven touchdowns and no interceptions over the final three games of his first season as a starter.
The schedule also leaves room for confidence early. Virginia Tech opens with VMI, Old Dominion, at Maryland and at Boston College.
VMI won a game last season. Boston College won two.
Maryland won four. If the Hokies are what people think they can be, September should take care of itself.
The tougher stretch arrives after that. Pitt comes to Lane Stadium under the lights on Oct. 2, then there’s a trip to Cal, followed by Georgia Tech at home on Oct. 17 and Stanford on Nov.
- Those two home games are the ones this season’s best-case scenario cannot afford to miss.
The road tests will shape everything: Clemson on Oct. 24, SMU after the bye and Miami on a Friday night on Nov.
- Win one of those, and eight victories starts to look comfortable.
And then there’s the game that will linger no matter what else happens. Virginia won 11 games last season and beat Virginia Tech 27-7 in Charlottesville, a result that has sat with the Hokies for a year.
Franklin has never coached in this rivalry, but he knows what the first one means. The players who were on the field in November get another shot at home, and Lane Stadium on the Saturday after Thanksgiving is not where a visiting team wants to be if the season still matters.
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