Virginia Tech football: 5 takeaways from Hokies’ 73-3 season-opening win

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The Virginia Tech Hokies are 1-0. James Franklin’s bunch defeated the VMI Keydets 73-3 on Saturday night in Blacksburg. Yes, it was impressive, but it also requires context. VMI is a lower-level FCS team that has won one game in three of its last four seasons.

OK, now that we’ve gotten that disclaimer out of the way, let’s talk about the Hokies’ win.

Here are five takeaways from Virginia Tech’s season-opening win over the Keydets.

Hokies did what they were supposed to do

Over the years, Virginia Tech was favored to beat several teams, including numerous FCS schools, by double digits. And in those games, the Hokies would often win, but they’d make it much closer than it should have been. Every game felt like a slog. So, yes, Virginia Tech was a 55.5-point favorite over VMI. But how many actually believed the Hokies would cover that? This isn’t about sports betting, but it was nice to see a Virginia Tech team that was supposed to crush an opponent crush that opponent.

The Hokies did it in all three phases. That felt good not only for the team, but also for everyone inside Lane Stadium. Of course, fans will want to see similar results next week. No, fans don’t expect VT to defeat Old Dominion by 70 points, but they do expect them to handle them by at least covering the spread.

A special backfield

Did you see Lane Stadium when Jeffrey Overton Jr. took that first-quarter handoff and raced 50 yards to the end zone? Did you hear Lane Stadium? The young running back is quickly developing a reputation as someone who fans believe can take it to the house every time he touches the ball. Overton had his first career 100-yard game and also rushed for two touchdowns. He did all of this on nine carries.

Marcellous Hawkins said, ‘Don’t forget about me.‘ The senior back carried the ball 12 times for 69 yards and rushed for three touchdowns. While Hawkins has the speed to take it to the house, too, he’s also proven he can bounce off tackles and get the tough yards inside. Together, Overton and Hawkins make the perfect duo because they complement one another well. The key for the Hokies is keeping them both healthy as the schedule toughens. Having a backfield like Overton and Hawkins makes quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer’s job much easier.

A great start for Grunkemeyer

Grunkemeyer completed 17 of 20 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. He mostly attacked VMI in the short-to-intermediate areas, allowing his talented receivers and tight ends to run after the catch. That’s a smart strategy when you have explosive playmakers. Sure, VT wasn’t facing a Power Four opponent on Saturday, but it’s the type of start you want to see from Grunkemeyer. Remember, Grunkemeyer has some valuable experience despite being a redshirt sophomore. He faced some of the country’s top teams last season at Penn State.

One area of improvement for Grunkemeyer from Saturday’s game was his deep passes. He had Que’Sean Brown open for two touchdowns, but just missed him each time. They weren’t egregious misses, and could be more of a timing issue. He’d have likely had over 300 passing yards if he had connected. You can bet Grunkemeyer was remembering those two misses more than anything else.

Brown and Reynolds are Hokies’ top two receivers

If we learned anything on Saturday despite the quality of the opponent, it’s that Grunkemeyer loves throwing to Brown and tight end Luke Reynolds. He has some great weapons, including Tech’s returning receiving leader Ayden Greene, Benji Gosnell and super freshman Davion “Fatrat” Brown. But there is a level of comfort in throwing to Brown and Reynolds. It makes sense with Reynolds, considering they were teammates for two seasons at Penn State. That connection has come to Blacksburg. Reynolds caught five passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. He’s set for a big year.

Brown is set for a huge year. Imagine if Grunkemeyer had hit those two deep throws. We’d be talking about Brown having close to 200 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He’s a special receiver, and Tech was lucky to land him out of transfer portal. Yes, it’s early, but Brown appears set on having one of the greatest single seasons for a wide receiver in school history. He wins deep, he wins at the line of scrimmage, he’s slippery, and he’s dynamic after the catch. It will be fun to watch Brown the rest of the season as the schedule toughens.

Virginia Tech has a really good group of pass catchers.

James Franklin is exactly what Virginia Tech needed in many ways

How many times have we said this? Franklin will challenge Virginia Tech’s administration to always match his demands to win. The Hokies are off to a great start there. Franklin has greatly increased Tech’s talent, and the future looks even brighter. There are so many reasons why Franklin is exactly what the Hokies needed. But we have another: he’s relentless.

After the game, Franklin spoke about giving redshirt freshman quarterback Bryce Baker some action in the second half. Baker needed experience, and he wasn’t getting valuable reps by just handing the ball off. The Hokies were going to run their offense. That’s how you evaluate your players. While those on social media worry about hurting the other team’s feelings, Franklin is worried about his team. Franklin treats all 60 minutes equally, regardless of the opponent. Something else Franklin noted in his postgame press conference: if you show anything soft on tape, opposing teams will attack it over and over. He’s right.

It’s only one game, but it’s also a breath of fresh air. Next up: Old Dominion. We know Franklin is close with ODU coach Ricky Rahne, but he also knows how much the Hokies, especially Brent Pry, want to get that bad taste out of their mouths from last September. If the Hokies can get a big lead on ODU, will Franklin ease up due to his friendship with Rahne? I doubt it.

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