Maryland Football opponent overview: Virginia Tech

John Gugs
14 minutes ago
4 min read

Before their bowl matchup in the Pinstripe Bowl in 2021 where Maryland ran away with a 54-10 win, the last time the Terps and Hokies faced off was in 2013 when the Terps came away with a 27-24 win in Blacksburg. In week three this season, the Terps renew the rivalry with their former ACC foes as they host the Hokies for a Saturday night game.

Virginia Tech is coming off yet another disappointing season where they finished 3-9 after they fired their former head coach Brent Pry after starting 0-3. Virginia Tech ended up hiring a very familiar face to Terps fans in former Penn State head coach James Franklin to try and turn things around down in Blacksburg. Franklin has a career record of 128-60 in his 15 years as a head coach and was 104-45 in his 12 years at Penn State.

Offense

Key Players: QB Ethan Grunkemeyer, TE Luke Reynolds, RB Marcellous Hawkins

Scoring: 21.4 ppg

Passing: 166.3 ypg

Rushing: 182.4 ypg

Turnovers: 1.2 turnovers per game

The last several years, the Hokies have struggled on offense. The last time Virginia Tech averaged 30 or more points a game as well as over 400 yards per game was in 2020. With the hiring of Franklin who was an offensive coordinator before he became a head coach, the Hokies will be looking to find their groove on offense again starting in 2026.

Franklin and the Hokies will be looking at Grunkemeyer to lead the offense in 2026. Grunkemeyer followed Franklin from Penn State where he originally arrived out of high school as a four star. In his career, Grunkemeyer has passed for 1,348 yards and eight touchdowns while having a completion percentage of 68.9% and throwing five interceptions. Now that Drew Allar is not in front of him anymore, the starting job is Grunkemeyer’s to lose and he will look to prove his four star transfer rating.

Along with Grunkemeyer, the only other four star transfer that the Hokies were able to land was Reynolds. Reynolds is a massive 6-foot-4, 250 pound tight end that, like Grunkemeyer, followed Franklin from Penn State. In his two seasons at Happy Valley, Reynolds brought in 35 receptions for 368 yards and a touchdown. While he has not been the main guy until now, he has a lot of potential and will be looked at as a key piece for the Hokie offense up the middle of the field.

While the Hokies lost 40 total players to the portal, one of the few key returners they have is starting running back Hawkins. In 2025, Hawkins ran for 749 yards and a touchdown while adding 12 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown as well. In the past, Franklin led offenses are offenses that have been known to want to run the ball and have a consistent running game. If Hawkins is able to get going, it could massively help ease Grunkemeyer and the rest of the new offense into things as the season goes on for the Hokies.

Defense

Key Players: LB Kaleb Spencer, DL Kemari Copeland, CB Jaquez White

Scoring: 30.2 ppg

Passing: 224.8 ypg

Rushing: 153.3 ypg

Turnovers: .5 turnovers per game

For a team that was being led by a defensive head coach, Virginia Tech massively struggled on defense last season. The Hokies had not given up more than 30 points a game since Pry was hired. A big reason the defense struggled last season was how little pressure on the quarterback they were creating. The entire defense only got 19 sacks all season last year. However, this year they will rely on a lot of returners to up the production on defense, especially in the front seven.

Spencer led the Hokies in total tackles last season with 67 while also adding nine TFLs and a pass deflection to his name. In his three year career, Spencer has 100 total tackles, 14 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, and three pass deflections. With Spencer being one of the key returners on the Hokie defense, look for him to have a big impact on leading the new look squad in 2026.

Another key returner for the Hokie defense will be Copeland. Copeland led the Hokies in sacks with 4.5 in his first season as a starter in 2025. Along with the 4.5 sacks, Copeland also added 47 total tackles and 7.5 TFLs to his name in 2025. With the Hokies needing lots of help rushing the passer, they will rely on Copeland on the interior defensive line to create pressure.

While the Hokies return a few secondary players as well, their most intriguing player to look out for might be White. White was second team All-SBC in 2025 while at Troy where he finished the season with 67 tackles, 11 pass deflections, three interceptions, a sack, and a touchdown. None of the players returning for the Hokies last season had more than a single interception or more than six pass deflections. Look for White to make an instant impact in the secondary as a big transfer for a defense that returns a lot of production from last season.

What to watch for

While the Terps offense will be facing a brand new defense in week two against UConn, it will be the complete opposite in week three when they face the Hokies. Virginia Tech will be relying on a lot of new faces on offense especially at the quarterback position in 2026. With the likes of Sidney Stewart, Zahir Mathis, Daniel Wingate, Trey Reddick, and Messiah Delhomme all back for the Terps along with some new key transfers and incoming freshmen, the matchup between the experienced Terps defense and defensive coordinator Ted Monachino against James Franklin’s new look offense will be very interesting to watch when they meet in College Park in week three.

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