Virginia Tech’s offense is heading into Saturday with Old Dominion serving as the real test, not VMI.
The Hokies rolled for 619 yards in their opener, but that game told them very little about where they actually stand. VMI managed only 83 total yards, lost four yards on 43 rushing attempts and had already been beaten 38-10 by Idaho State the week before.
Old Dominion is a different kind of measuring stick. The Monarchs went 10-3 last season, won seven straight and came into Lane Stadium last September to beat Virginia Tech 45-26, a loss that led to Brent Pry being fired the next day.
Kickoff is set for noon Saturday on The CW, and a few offensive names will do most of the talking for Ty Howle’s group.
The cleanest place to start is at quarterback, where Grunkemeyer gave Virginia Tech exactly what coaches want in a debut: efficiency without mistakes. He completed 17 of 20 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, but the bigger number was zero interceptions. Backup Bryce Baker also avoided a turnover after taking over midway through the third quarter, finishing 10 of 12 for 127 yards.
That fits Grunkemeyer’s profile. Ball security has long been his calling card.
He started the final seven games at Penn State last season after Drew Allar was injured, threw for 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 69.1% of his passes, and won his last four starts. In that stretch, he had six touchdown passes and no interceptions.
He followed James Franklin from Penn State in January.
That matters because Old Dominion showed in its opener that it can create chaos. The Monarchs forced three turnovers against Norfolk State, and if they’re taking the ball away again, Virginia Tech’s path gets a lot harder.
The run game also has to hold up, and Overton made a strong first impression. He needed just nine carries to pile up 104 yards and score twice, both touchdowns coming in the first quarter.
One was a 50-yard burst on Virginia Tech’s opening drive. The other covered 23 yards and pushed the Hokies ahead 21-0 with 4:56 left in the period.
It was the first two-touchdown rushing game of his career.
The sophomore’s production is even more notable because of how little he played a year ago. He missed the first eight games of 2025 with an injury, then finished with 25 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown over the final four games.
Old Dominion’s front has already shown it can squeeze out explosives. Against Norfolk State, the Monarchs allowed only 220 total yards while also recording three sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Jalyn Daniels still found some room, rushing for 84 yards on 11 carries, but the Monarchs also came up with a huge early takeaway when Brandon Crutchfield recovered a fumble in the end zone after Daniels had broken free on the opening drive.
If Virginia Tech wants to avoid getting forced into a grind, Marcellous Hawkins is the answer on the ground. He carried 12 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns against VMI after putting up 749 yards last season at 6.3 yards per carry.
The most dynamic piece of the passing game, though, was Brown. He caught six passes for 109 yards and turned a short throw into a 51-yard touchdown late in the second quarter, shaking multiple defenders on his way to the end zone. That score gave Grunkemeyer his first touchdown pass as a Hokie, and Brown was named the team’s offensive player of the game.
It could have been even bigger. Grunkemeyer missed Brown deep twice before halftime, once wide and once overthrowing him on a play where Brown had beaten his defender clean.
The 5-foot-8 senior brought plenty of production with him from Duke, where he caught 64 passes for 846 yards and five touchdowns in 2025 and shared the team’s offensive skill player of the year award. He finished that season with 10 catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns against Arizona State in the Sun Bowl, including the 17-yard game-winner with 2:10 left. Brown is also on the preseason Biletnikoff Award watch list.
Saturday was already his third 100-yard game and his second straight one.
“I feel like it was an OK performance,” Brown said. “Still got work to do.”
In Other News...
James Franklin Brings One Intriguing Trend Into Virginia Techs In-State Tests
James Franklin arrives in Blacksburg with a track record that should matter to anyone watching Virginia Techs in-state slate. As a head coach, he has gone 11-3 against opponents from his own state, and the last time one of those teams beat him came back in 2016 against Pittsburgh. That history includes some eye-opening results along the way, from his Vanderbilt days against Tennessee to repeated success against Penn States in-state rivals.
Now Franklin gets a new version of that challenge at Virginia Tech, where the schedule is quickly moving from a tune-up against VMI to a more relevant test against Old Dominion and, soon enough, the Commonwealth Clash with Virginia. For a coach still settling in with the Hokies, those games will say a lot about how quickly his formula translates to the kind of regional matchups that can define a season in Blacksburg. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces A Week 2 Quarterback Concern It Cant Ignore
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The bigger intrigue now is Week 2, where several ACC quarterbacks are headed into matchups that should say more about where they stand than opening weekend ever could. With the top eight quarterbacks in the league already being sorted and upcoming opponents lined up across the conference, Virginia Tech has a close eye on whether its own passing game can climb with the rest of the pack before the schedule starts tightening up. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Gets A Chance To Answer Last Years Old Dominion Loss
Virginia Tech gets a fresh shot at Old Dominion at Lane Stadium, and there is plenty of reason for Hokies fans to treat this one as more than just another nonconference date. Last years loss to the Monarchs still lingers, and the setup this time feels different, with staff analysis leaning toward a Virginia Tech response on its home field.
A number of the predictions around the matchup point to the Hokies being in position to control the game, helped by the way Old Dominion has been reshaped since the last meeting. The Monarchs will look different at key spots, including quarterback, which only adds to the sense that Virginia Tech has a real opening to answer an old bruise and do it in front of its own crowd. [Read more 🡒]