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Virginia Tech Crystal Ball: Predicting every Hokies football game in 2024
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Editor’s note: Saturday Down South’s annual Crystal Ball prediction series continues today with Virginia Tech. We’ll go in alphabetical order through the 17-team ACC.
Previously: Boston College | Cal | Clemson | Duke | FSU | Georgia Tech | Louisville | Miami | NC State | North Carolina | Pitt | SMU | Stanford | Syracuse | Virginia
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Beamer Ball wasn’t just a style of play.
It was an attitude that became the trademark of a Virginia Tech football program that was among the nation’s best under Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer.
It’s also the foundation upon which Brent Pry has built his own coaching career.
Pry was a graduate assistant under Beamer during the height of the Hokies’ success in 1995-97. And he has embraced his mentor’s approach toward hard work, physical defense and game-changing special teams.
They’re core concepts that have become the driving force behind Pry’s effort to return the Hokies to the championship form they enjoyed when they entered the ACC.
It’s not exactly Beamer Ball.
Call it Brent Ball.
Coming off a 2023 season in which Tech won 5 of its final 7 games and returns virtually every player of significance on both sides of the ball, including several who passed up the NFL Draft to help their team reach its potential, the Hokies are poised to become this year’s version of Louisville.
The Cardinals exceeded modest expectations last season to win 10 games and earn a spot in the ACC Championship Game. The biggest difference is that Tech was picked to finish 6th in the league’s preseason poll, 2 spots higher than the Cardinals were a year ago.
Not only does Tech rank No. 1 nationally with 95% of its production back on offense and 86% back on defense – including dynamic dual-threat quarterback Kyron Drones, 1,000-yard rusher Bhayshul Tuten and star edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland – it also has a schedule that sets them up for success.
They don’t have to play Florida State in the regular season and their toughest test, against Clemson, is in Blacksburg.
And with the elimination of divisional play, all they have to do is finish 2nd in the ACC to earn a shot at the title. That’s still a lot to ask from a program that hasn’t contended for a title in nearly a decade.
But like his mentor Beamer, Pry set his sights high.
“I want those expectations. I understand those standards,” Pry said. “We all came to Virginia Tech because of those expectations. This is a place where you should expect to compete for the Playoffs and expect to compete for a championship. That’s who Tech is.”
Is that an expectation that can be backed up by results?
Let’s take a closer look and find out.
High-flying Drones
Nothing will derail a season faster than a significant injury, especially when it involves a starting quarterback. But the opposite was the case for the Hokies last year. When Grant Wells went down in a Week 2 loss to Purdue, his injury opened the door for Kyron Drones to take over leadership of the offense.
And Tech took off from there.
Combining with fellow transfers Bhayshul Tuten and Jaylin Lane, the former Baylor Bear provided a badly needed jolt to an attack that was one of the ACC’s worst in 2022. His passing and running helped elevate the Hokies from a 1-3 start to bowl eligibility and their 1st winning record since 2019.
It was a performance that impressed even Michael Vick, who provided Drones some words of encouragement during a conversation earlier this summer.
“He just told me to go out there and be MVP,” Drones said. “I know what type of quarterback I am. I’m owning that by being myself, working hard, going out there and trying to lead the team to a win every week.”
Not since Vick finished 3rd in the Heisman voting as a freshman in 1999 has Tech had such a dynamic dual-threat performer at quarterback. Drones threw for 2,085 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions while also rushing for 818 yards and 5 scores.
He capped his breakout season by setting school and Military Bowl records with 176 rushing yards in monsoon conditions in Tech’s 41-20 rout of Tulane in Annapolis. Given a full season under center, 1,000 rushing yards in 2024 and serious Heisman consideration aren’t unrealistic goals.
Ryland-Powell running it back
As much of a catalyst as Drones was for the improvement of Tech’s offense, Antwaun Ryland-Powell was just as important to the emergence of its defense. The Hokies ranked next-to-last in the ACC with 23 sacks in 2022 but jumped No. 2 with 31 last season thanks to his arrival from Florida.
The lean 6-4, 246-pound graduate is a former 4-star prospect who didn’t exactly live up to his promise in Gainesville. Although he made steady progress in each of his 3 seasons there, he combined to record only 4.5 sacks and 7.5 TFLs in 27 games as an outside linebacker in the Gators’ 3-4 scheme. It took his transfer to Tech, where he became a more traditional pass-rushing defensive end, to finally blossom.
“Having a defensive-minded coach is always good, especially for my position,” he said of Pry. “I like the scheme. Being able to play a more traditional defensive end, it’s a better chance for me to get sacks.”
Ryland-Powell doubled his career total by recording 9.5 sacks in his first season with the Hokies to rank in the ACC behind only Louisville’s Ashton Gillotte and ahead of first-round NFL draft pick Jared Verse of Florida State.
Although he was projected as a mid-round pick this spring, he joined several other draft-eligible Hokies in running it back and building on the modest success they achieved in 2023.
“We feel very fortunate and we’re proud of this group,” Pry said. “It’s a mature group. They love one another. They love Virginia Tech and they believe this could be a really good year for us.”
Peebles a rock in run defense
The Hokies led the ACC in pass defense last season, allowing only 168.8 yards per game while ranking 2nd in the league in sacks. But in order to take the next step and become a serious championship contender, they have to be better at stopping the run.
They were just 6th in the conference in rushing defense with an average of 148.8 yards allowed.
That might not sound like a huge number. But it is considering that Tech was 6-0 when it allowed fewer than its season mark and 1-6 when opponents surpassed that total. The 1 victory, against Old Dominion in the season-opener, is the only time in 12 games during Pry’s first 2 seasons in Blacksburg that the Hokies have won a game while allowing at least 140 rushing yards.
While Pry didn’t go heavily into the transfer portal this offseason because of the abundance of returning talent, he did make at least 1 significant move by bringing in run stopping tackle Aeneas Peebles from ACC rival Duke to help shore up his defensive line.
Peebles, who is 6-1, 290, played 47 games in 4 seasons with the Blue Devils, earning 3rd-team All-ACC recognition last year after amassing 40 tackles, 4.0 sacks and a forced fumble. He made an immediate impact by being named as the Hokies’ defensive MVP of spring practice.
Game-by-game predictions
Week 1: vs. Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium, Nashville (W)
The Commodores enter the new season on a 10-game losing streak that includes a double-digit defeat at the hands of a Wake Forest team that won only 3 other times last year. The Hokies are exponentially better than those Deacons.
Week 2: vs. Marshall (W)
The Thundering Herd beat the Hokies in Huntington last season. But that was before Drones fully established himself as the starter and the offense got rolling. Marshall will have a different look this time as well. Its quarterback is Mitch Griffis, whose spotty play got him replaced as Wake’s starter after 9 games.
Week 3: at Old Dominion (W)
The Hokies have come a long way since they lost to the Monarchs the last time they played in Norfolk 2 seasons ago in Pry’s debut game with the program. Still, this could be tricky for Tech if it doesn’t show up ready to play.
Week 4: vs. Rutgers (W)
Another opportunity for revenge after the Scarlet Knights handled Tech easily in New Jersey last year. This will be by far the biggest challenge of the Hokies’ nonconference schedule. If they are truly a championship contender, this is a game they have to show they can win.
Week 5: at Miami (L)
Talk about jumping right into the ACC schedule. Friday night in South Florida against another team with legitimate title game potential. Both have dynamic quarterbacks, proven receivers and solid running games. Both have elite pass rushers and linebackers but questions in the secondary. It’s going to be a battle. Edge to the home team.
Week 6: at Stanford (W)
The potential for a post-Miami letdown is there. Despite the distraction of a cross-country trip, the Hokies have too much talent to get beat by this Stanford team.
Week 7: Open
Week 8: vs. Boston College (W)
Drones and the Eagles’ Thomas Castellanos have similar skill sets. Drones has a much better supporting cast.
Week 9: vs. Georgia Tech (W)
Like the Hokies, the Yellow Jackets are heading in the right direction under a coach named Brent. Pry’s team is a year further along in the process. Especially on defense.
Week 10: at Syracuse (W)
Beware the trap game.
Week 11: vs. Clemson (W)
Cade Klubnik has a history of making bad decisions when pressured. And no one in the ACC puts more pressure on quarterbacks than Powell-Ryland and Tech’s talented defensive front. The folks in Blacksburg have been waiting more than a decade for an opportunity like this. The atmosphere is going to be off the charts. And they’re not going to be disappointed.
Week 12: Open
Week 13: at Duke (W)
The Blue Devils might be playing for bowl eligibility. But the Hokies, led by former Duke defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles, will be playing for a spot in the ACC Championship Game.
Week 14: vs. Virginia (W)
The Hokies haven’t lost to their in-state rival at home since 1998. With so much on the line beyond the Commonwealth Cup, they’re not about to let the streak end now.
2024 projection: 11-1 (7-1)
#ThisIsHome
More than a decade has passed since Frank Beamer retired. But the legendary coach’s presence at Virginia Tech is still as strong as ever. That’s a testament to Pry, who said he still feels like a young graduate assistant whenever he’s around his former mentor.
“I just want to make him proud,” Pry said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for him.”
The respect is likely to be mutual if Pry can continue to keep the Hokies on their current trajectory.
They’re still a long way from the heights they reached during their heyday, when they posted 25 straight winning seasons and played in 5 of the first 6 ACC Championship Games upon entering the league in 2005.
But with 95% of its offensive production and 86% overall back from a 2023 team that fashioned a 4-win improvement from the previous season, Tech is poised to make a serious run at returning to the top of the conference. Three years into Pry’s building process, the future is now in Blacksburg.
No, it’s not Beamer Ball.
But Brent Ball could turn out to be just as good.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
