Virginia Tech heads into its bye week sitting at 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, already past last season’s win total. The next stop is Dallas, where the Hokies will meet No.
19 SMU on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, with a chance to grab their first regular-season win over a ranked opponent since 2021.
Before that trip, the first eight games offer a pretty clear snapshot of who has carried this team on a Pro Football Focus level and who still has work to do.
Luke Reynolds has been Virginia Tech’s top-graded offensive player at 86.6, and the number pops even more when you pair it with 453 snaps. Que'Sean Brown is right behind as the most productive receiver in the room by grade, checking in at 81.0, while Ethan Grunkemeyer has posted a strong 77.8 across a team-high 564 offensive snaps.
The backfield has held up well, too. Jeffrey Overton Jr. sits at 76.2 and Marcellous Hawkins at 75.2, giving the Hokies a solid one-two punch. On the line, Aidan Lynch leads the group with a 74.9 grade, standing out in an offensive front that has been uneven overall.
Not every offensive piece has checked out the same way. Benji Gosnell’s 46.1 grade has been a tough mark for the fifth-year tight end, and Marlion Jackson’s 53.3 also lands as a disappointing number.
One note on the snap totals: several players who logged only one snap came off the fake punt against Clemson, and those names are bolded in the source.
Defensively, Virginia Tech’s front has been the most reliable area. Aycen Stevens has put together an 82.6 grade, Kemari Copeland is at 79.8, and Kaleb Spencer is close behind at 79.2, with all three seeing more than 290 snaps. Keon Wylie’s 73.6 and Cortez Harris’s 75.0 add to that steady production up front.
The story in the secondary has been less consistent. Joshua Clarke at 71.6, Thomas Williams at 72.1, and Tyson Flowers at 71.3 have all held up fairly well, but Kenny Woseley Jr. at 49.8, Cam Chadwick Jr. at 55.3, and Isaiah Brown-Murray at 56.7 have not graded nearly as cleanly. One more note from the source: Que'Sean Brown and Pierce Petersohn are included as having taken one offensive snap, and they are italicized.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Is Suddenly Playing For More Than A Bowl Bid
Virginia Tech is already bowl eligible at 6-2, but the conversation around the Hokies has shifted well beyond simply getting to a postseason game. With four games left, they are still mathematically alive in the ACC Championship race, and that alone gives the rest of the season a different feel. In a year defined by parity and a steady stream of upsets among highly ranked teams, the Hokies have positioned themselves to keep playing for something bigger than the usual late-fall bowl calculus.
The next stretch will tell whether that opportunity turns into something more meaningful, because the path ahead comes with a chance to reshape both their league standing and their postseason ceiling. A strong finish would not only improve Virginia Techs case for a higher-tier bowl, it could keep the door open to the ACC title picture, which is a far different place to be than simply trying to lock in a sixth win. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Keeps Starting Fast But One Problem Wont Go Away
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The bye week gives coach James Franklin and defensive coordinator Brent Pry a chance to reset before the next stretch, and there is plenty to sort through. Virginia Tech needs more complete play across four quarters, but it also has to get healthier up front and find a way to stop the game from slipping away in the third quarter. Until those pieces come together, the Hokies will keep carrying the same uneasy question into each Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Florida States ACC Push Now Rests On One Huge QB Question
Week 8 in the ACC turned into another reminder that quarterback play can tilt the entire race, with Stanfords Davis Warren and Syracuses Steve Angeli among the signal-callers who helped shape the leagues weekend conversation. The latest roundup also turned its attention to the quarterbacks who still have the biggest say in what happens next, ranking eight of them not just on what they did recently, but on what their upcoming matchups could mean for their teams.
For Virginia Tech, the spotlight naturally stays on the quarterback situation after the Hokies latest trip to Clemson, where the position once again mattered in a game that carried real weight in the ACC picture. With Week 9 lining up more consequential quarterback tests around the league, the Hokies are right in the middle of the discussion, because the way that spot plays over the next stretch could decide how far this team can push its season. [Read more 🡒]