Way-Too-Early 2026 Virginia Tech Football Preview and Prediction: Week 1, vs. VMI

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We're back. After nearly a year off, the "Way-Too-Early" series is back for the second go-around. Today, we'll give a look at Virginia Tech football's Week 1 opponent: VMI.

The Hokies and Keydets haven't matched up against one another since 1984, a clash that Virginia Tech won, 54-7. The Hokies have won their last three matchups against VMI by a combined 86 points, and this September's clash should be no different.

Why? VMI has gone 1-11 in each of the last two seasons, and the Keydets lost their head coach Danny Rocco when he stepped away six months ago and moved to the Hokies to become their senior analyst. The Keydets' football program can't bring in graduate transfers since there's no graduate program at the university.

Simply put, VMI is unlikely to be competitive in its own conference, much less against a Power Four squad in Virginia Tech. The Hokies have their own fair share of questions – chief among them being this: How good is their ceiling – but against a highly manageable squad in VMI, the contest should be effectively over by halftime.

VMI's 2025 starter, Collin Shannon, is now at Murray State after throwing for 1,982 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. Behind him, Chandler Wilson and Nana Utsey should factor in as the 1-2 in some order. Wilson completed 28 of his 54 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown, while Utsey went 15-for-41 and compiled 254 passing yards.

In the backfield, Leo Boehling ran for 537 rushing yards, tallying 149 against The Citadel. At wide receiver, VMI sports redshirt sophomores Noah Grevious and Owen Sweeney. Grevious, who hails from Charlottesville, compiled a team-high 731 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Sweeney was right behind him in the yard total department, logging 723 and producing a team-high eight receiving touchdowns.

Still, the Keydets are multiple cuts behind the Hokies. Of VMI's 11 losses in the 2025 season, only two were settled by one score. VMI's lone win was a 42-7 shellacking of Ferrum where Shannon passed for 223 yards and Grevious logged 78 receiving yards. Only one of the Keydets' games was against an FBS opponent: Navy, which it lost to 52-7.

Virginia Tech retained the VMI game aboard its schedule when the ACC announced its expansion to a nine-game slate – and cut the non-conference games to three – and it instead opted to cut out their clash with James Madison.

Like VMI, Virginia Tech will be ushering in a new signal-caller. Last year, Kyron Drones threw for 1,919 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions as the Hokies lost their final four games of the season – and six of their last seven. After a 307-yard performance against Wofford – like VMI, an FCS school – Drones did not eclipse the 200-yard mark again, and he was held to 125 yards or fewer in seven of his final nine games.

Drones rounded out his Virginia Tech career after throwing for 78 yards on a 4-of-16 clip against then-No. 18 Virginia. Fifty-seven of those yards came on a touchdown to freshman wide receiver Shamarius "Snook" Peterkin when Virginia Tech was trailing 27-0.

Off the back of that 3-9 season, however, Virginia Tech has undergone a cultural renaissance. James Franklin steps in as the Hokies' new head coach after 11-plus years at Penn State. The former Nittany Lions head whistle compiled a 128-60 record in his time at Happy Valley, though he was fired following a 3-3 start to the 2025 season. Penn State ultimately finished 7-6 and won the Pinstrip[e Bowl over Clemson – who the Hokies will play Oct. 24.

The Hokies will presumably be led under center by redshirt sophomore Ethan Grunkemeyer this fall. Grunkemeyer, who transferred from Penn State and followed Franklin, threw for 1,339 passing yards and eight touchdowns to four picks. In a 27-24 loss to then-No. 2 Indiana, which went on to win the national title, Grunkemeyer threw for 219 yards, completing 22 of his 31 passes.

In his final four games of the season, Grunkemeyer went 59-for-80 for 777 passing yards (194.3 yards/game). His addition into Virginia Tech's system should serve as a valuable boost to a program that has received scant consistency at the spot in the past half-decade. In the backfield, the Hokies return leading rusher Marcellous Hawkins (118 carries, 749 rushing yards, 6.3 yards per carry) and potential breakout star Jeffrey Overton Jr. (25 carries, 146 rushing yards, 5.8 yards per carry).

At receiver, Ayden Greene leads the returning group with 516 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 31 receptions. The Hokies welcome a bevy of transfers at wideout, including Que'Sean Brown (Duke; 846 receiving yards and five touchdowns with the Blue Devils in 2025). On the defensive front, defensive tackle Kemari Copeland is back after a 4.5-sack, 48-tackle 2025 season that earned him All-ACC Third Team honors.

Virginia Tech and VMI's clash is set for Saturday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the contest slated to be carried on the ACC Network.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginiatech as Way-Too-Early 2026 Virginia Tech Football Preview and Prediction: Week 1, vs. VMI.

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