BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech’s season-opening rout of VMI did plenty to calm the noise around the quarterback room, but it didn’t settle everything.
Junior Ethan Grunkemeyer looked the part in the Hokies’ 73-3 win, and James Franklin’s comments Monday made it sound like the job remains his to lose. Grunkemeyer finished 17 of 20 for 224 yards and two passing touchdowns, operating efficiently and keeping the offense on schedule.
“I thought Grunk did a really good job of running the offense and managing the offense, communication and distributing the ball, getting us in the right plays and getting us out of the wrong plays,” Franklin said. “Touchdown-interception ratio, completion percentage, those things were good.”
The misses were there, though, and they came on the kind of shots Virginia Tech will need to hit once the competition stiffens. Two of Grunkemeyer’s three incompletions were deep attempts for wide receiver Que'Sean Brown, including one that was just a step or two too far in front of the Duke transfer.
Most of what the Hokies asked him to do came underneath, and he handled it. The downfield connection is still a work in progress.
“When you're the head coach, you're spending most of your time on things that you can improve,” Franklin said. “And obviously, we had some opportunities for two big explosive plays that that we missed, we've got to be able to hit those.
We're going to need those moving forward. But overall, I thought [Grunkemeyer] played well.”
The more interesting battle now is behind him. Bryce Baker was the only other quarterback to see the field in the opener, and he made the most of his chances. The UNC transfer went 10-of-12 for 127 yards and a touchdown, including a 40-yard strike to wide receiver Chanz Wiggins.
“Bryce went in and did some really nice things,” Franklin said. “It's funny we hadn't hit that part of the progression [in the naked bootleg play where Baker threw a touchdown to Wiggins], and it had been open a couple times.
It's really not part of our true read; it's more of an alert. Once he went through his first progression, his second progression, his third progression, he had time, looked down the field; it was open, and [he] took it.”
Baker didn’t record any rushing yards, but Franklin said the quarterback can show that part of his game as well. He also pointed to third- and fourth-down snaps as the kind Virginia Tech has to cash in.
“We've gotta hit those gimmies specifically on third and fourth down, so we can stay on the field and not put our defense in a challenging spot,” Franklin said. “I think the quarterbacks want us to be aggressive in those situations, and the offense wants us to be aggressive in those situations that when we do it, then we've got to go out and execute.”
And Baker isn’t being handed the No. 2 role just yet. Franklin said the backup job remains open, with Kelden Ryan and Troy Huhn still in the mix. Neither saw action against VMI, and both were on the scout team in practice last week.
“I thought {Baker] did a nice job, but it's not like we're ready to crown him as the No. 2 quarterback... that will continue to be a competition,” Franklin said. “All three of those guys, again, we feel like the competition is close enough that it will continue, and we'll see how that plays out this week, as well.”
Virginia Tech’s opener came against a VMI team ranked No. 405 in Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, so the real test comes next. Old Dominion sits at No. 95, while the Hokies are No.
- On FPI, Virginia Tech is No. 31 and the Monarchs are No.
Virginia Tech hosts Old Dominion on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Lane Stadium. The game will air on The CW.
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Old Dominion brings a little extra edge because of what happened a year ago, but Franklin made clear the Hokies are treating this matchup as its own test rather than a chance to relive last seasons loss. The result is a familiar early-season mix of urgency and evaluation: Virginia Tech wants to clean up the details, keep building confidence on defense and, at the same time, sort out a quarterback depth chart that could matter later even if it does not decide Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
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The matchup carries an edge beyond the usual in-state intrigue because Old Dominion was the team whose victory helped trigger Prys dismissal. It is rare enough for a coach to return to the same program after getting let go, and even rarer for that reunion to come against the opponent most closely tied to the end of his first run. For Virginia Tech, it turns Saturday into more than an early-season test. It is also a charged reminder of how quickly the narrative around one program can turn. [Read more 🡒]
James Franklin Showed Virginia Tech Fans What To Watch Closely
Virginia Techs 73-3 win over VMI gave James Franklin his first game as head coach, and the result was never really in doubt once the Hokies settled in. Still, the opener offered a clear look at the kind of details Franklin will value as he sorts through a roster that includes 27 transfers, because even a blowout can tell a coach plenty about how his team responds in live action.
Franklin also used the game to get a better feel for his depth, especially at quarterback, where backup Bryce Baker saw significant playing time. For a team trying to establish a new baseline under a new coach, those reps matter just as much as the score, and Virginia Techs next stretch will show which of those early evaluations were simple opening-day housekeeping and which ones hint at bigger roles ahead. [Read more 🡒]