Virginia Tech Finally Gets Its Measuring Stick — And Passes It (9-19-26)
By: Joey Raymond
Headline Photo Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network
For the first time this season, Virginia Tech walked into a game where there were going to be some real questions to answer.
VMI was never going to tell us much about this team. Old Dominion gave us a little more to work with, but there were still plenty of questions about what Virginia Tech would look like when it stepped onto the field against another Power Four program.
That was the point of Saturday night in College Park. While Virginia Tech certainly didn’t play a perfect football game, the Hokies did exactly what they needed to do. They went on the road, played a team that came in 2-0, handled the moments when Maryland pushed back, and walked out of SECU Stadium with a 35-26 victory. Virginia Tech is 3-0 for the first time since 2017. More importantly, this one finally gives us something real to talk about.
Virginia Tech Came Out Ready
There wasn’t much of a feeling-out process from the Hokies.
Virginia Tech took the opening kickoff and immediately put together a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ate more than six minutes off the clock. Ethan Grunkemeyer looked comfortable from the beginning, spreading the ball around and keeping Maryland’s defense moving.
Eventually, the drive ended with Grunkemeyer finding Luke Reynolds for a 14-yard touchdown. And if you’ve been watching these first three games, you probably weren’t surprised to see those two involved. Reynolds had already established himself as one of Grunkemeyer’s favorite targets against Old Dominion. On Saturday, that connection went to another level.
The touchdown gave Virginia Tech a 7-0 lead, but the bigger message was how the Hokies got there. They weren’t trying to force something. They were patient, they converted third downs and they simply kept moving the football. That became a theme for the night.
Maryland had the opportunity to answer, but Virginia Tech’s defense forced the Terps into a three-and-out. Then Grunkemeyer and the offense went right back to work. A false start and a sack put the Hokies in a difficult third-and-goal situation from the 18-yard line. Instead of forcing a throw, Grunkemeyer stepped up, found a lane, and took off. Eighteen yards later, he was in the end zone, and just like that, Virginia Tech had a 13-0 lead.
Maryland Finds Some Life
The Terps weren’t going to simply disappear. Maryland answered with a long drive of its own, eventually getting on the board when Iverson Howard punched it in from two yards out. Suddenly, it was 13-7, and for a few minutes, the game felt like it might settle into the kind of back-and-forth fight everyone expected.
Then Jeffrey Overton Jr. happened. Virginia Tech got Overton matched up in space, and Grunkemeyer found him down the sideline. Overton did the rest, turning a short completion into a 49-yard touchdown.
It was one of those plays where you could almost feel the momentum swing back immediately. Virginia Tech was back in control, 20-7.
Overton has quietly become one of the most interesting pieces of this offense. He’s capable of hurting you as a runner, but getting him matched up against linebackers in space creates an entirely different problem.
Then Came the Drive That Might Have Been the Most Important One
Maryland answered again late in the second quarter. Malik Washington found Chris Durr Jr. for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:11 left before halftime, cutting Virginia Tech’s lead to 20-14. This was the point where the Hokies could have let Maryland completely take the momentum into halftime.
Instead, they did the opposite. Virginia Tech went 75 yards in 11 plays, using just under two minutes to march down the field. There were some big moments along the way. A pass interference penalty on Maryland kept the drive alive. Benji Gosnell came up with a couple of important catches. Luke Reynolds continued doing Luke Reynolds things. Overton picked up 16 yards on the ground.
And with just 18 seconds left, Grunkemeyer found Ja’Ricous Hairston for a two-yard touchdown. 27-14. It’s easy to look at the final score and point to the 35 points, but that late second-quarter possession was one of the moments that really separated Virginia Tech from Maryland. The Terps had just scored and the crowd had energy, the game was starting to turn and Virginia Tech answered immediately.
Grunkemeyer Is Starting to Make This Look Normal
There’s a point where you stop saying, “Well, it’s only been three games.” We’re not there with everything yet, but we’re getting pretty close with Ethan Grunkemeyer. He finished Saturday night 31-of-39 for 314 yards and three touchdown passes without throwing an interception. He also ran for a touchdown.
That’s his second consecutive 300-yard passing game. Through three games, he’s now thrown for 865 yards with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions, and perhaps the most impressive part of Saturday wasn’t the numbers. It was how little the moment seemed to bother him.
Maryland came into this game with 10 sacks through its first two games. Virginia Tech’s offensive line also had to adjust after Justin Terry left the game late in the first quarter and did not return.
Grunkemeyer still got sacked only once. He didn’t panic. He didn’t start forcing throws. And when Maryland did create pressure, he was willing to use his legs. That’s a pretty good sign for a quarterback making his first road start of the season against a Power Four opponent.
Virginia Tech Keeps Its Foot On The Gas
The Hokies opened the second half with a defensive stop. Then the offense went right back to work. This drive wasn’t flashy. It didn’t need to be. Virginia Tech went 67 yards in 11 plays before Overton finished the possession with a two-yard touchdown run. Suddenly, it was 35-14.
At that point, the game felt like it was slipping away from Maryland. Honestly, for much of the night, that’s what it looked like. Virginia Tech controlled the football. The Hokies finished with more than 36 minutes of possession and converted 12 of 18 opportunities on third or fourth down.
That last part might be one of the biggest takeaways from the entire game. When you can consistently stay on the field, you don’t have to rely on one explosive play after another. You can just keep putting pressure on the defense. And that’s exactly what Virginia Tech did.
But Maryland Wasn’t Done Yet
Virginia Tech’s defense had done a good job limiting Maryland’s running game all night. The Terps finished with only 64 rushing yards, and their inability to establish the run made things difficult for them, but Malik Washington could still throw the football. And in the fourth quarter, he started doing exactly that.
Washington finished with 359 passing yards and three touchdown passes. Two of those touchdowns came in the fourth quarter, including scores to Dorian Fleming and Chris Durr Jr. Maryland cut into the lead. Then it cut into it again. Suddenly, what had been a 35-14 game wasn’t nearly as comfortable as it had looked a few minutes earlier.
And this is probably where my biggest criticism of Virginia Tech’s night belongs. The defense gave Maryland too many opportunities through the air, particularly late. For a team that wants to compete in the ACC, that’s something that has to be cleaned up. And quickly. You can be happy about winning the game and still acknowledge that giving up 359 passing yards isn’t going to be good enough every week.
Then Virginia Tech Did What It Needed To Do
This is the part that I think gets overlooked when you look at the final score. Virginia Tech didn’t need another touchdown. The Hokies needed first downs. They needed to keep the clock moving. And most importantly, needed to make Maryland use its remaining timeouts.
That’s exactly what the Hokies did. The offense continued converting when it needed to, eventually putting the game away by simply refusing to give Maryland the football back with enough time to complete the comeback.
One of the final big moments came on fourth down when Reynolds made the catch, fought his way past the line to gain and stepped out of bounds. After a review, the call stood. With Maryland out of timeouts, that essentially ended the game. And fittingly, it was Reynolds again.
Luke Reynolds Is Becoming A Real Problem
It’s almost impossible to talk about this game without spending a little more time on Reynolds. Twelve targets with Twelve catches for 107 yards and one touchdown. Quite literally perfect. That’s not hyperbole. He literally caught every pass thrown his way.
A week after catching eight passes for 108 yards against Old Dominion, Reynolds has now put together back-to-back 100-yard receiving games. That’s something Virginia Tech hasn’t seen from a tight end in a very long time. What’s more interesting to me is the way Grunkemeyer trusts him.
When the offense needs something, Reynolds keeps finding his way into the picture. Third down? Reynolds. Need to keep a drive alive? Reynolds. Need a big play? Reynolds. Fourth down with the game on the line? Reynolds. At this point, it’s pretty clear that this isn’t just a hot streak. Grunk & Reynolds isn’t a pair to be trifled with.
The Defense Wasn’t Perfect — But It Did Enough
I don’t want to gloss over the defensive performance because of the final score. There are things to fix. The Hokies struggled to consistently pressure Washington, and Maryland’s passing game found some holes late. There were also some communication issues in the secondary that led to explosive plays.
However, there was another side to it. Virginia Tech completely took away Maryland’s running game. The Terps finished with just 64 rushing yards, and their backs averaged only 2.8 yards per carry.
Even though Washington threw for 359 yards, Maryland couldn’t consistently stay balanced. The Hokies forced the Terps to rely heavily on the passing game, and eventually Virginia Tech made enough plays to close it out.
Keon Wylie, Kaleb Spencer, and Aycen Stevens were among the top defensive performers according to PFF, while Spencer, Wylie, and Quentin Reddish each finished with six tackles. So no, this wasn’t a defensive masterpiece, but it was enough. And against a Maryland team that entered the night averaging more than 20 points per game, that counts for something.
This One Feels Different
That’s probably the biggest takeaway for me. Virginia Tech is 3-0. We’ve known that since the clock hit zero. But now we actually have some evidence behind it. The Hokies didn’t just beat VMI and they didn’t just beat Old Dominion.
They went into a sold-out stadium on the road, against a 2-0 Maryland team, and controlled large portions of the game. This is a team that could walk into a real test and shows that the first two weeks weren’t fooling us. There is still plenty to clean up. The defense has to find more ways to generate pressure, and giving up 12 fourth-quarter points isn’t something you want becoming a habit. But for the first time this season, Virginia Tech gave us a legitimate answer to the question we’ve been asking since September began:
What does this team look like when the competition is actually good?
Now we know. They look like a 3-0 football team. And for the first time in a long time, that feels like it actually means something. Virginia Tech’s ACC schedule now begins Saturday at Boston College.
