Virginia Tech Football 2025: Offensive Preview
Can Cal stop the VT rushing attack? My magic 8-ball says "Outlook not so good."
This will be the second ever matchup between these two teams, after an Aaron Rodgers-led Cal team last beat Virginia Tech in the 2003 Insight Bowl.
Virginia Tech had a very rough start to the season, losing their opening three games—first to SEC schools South Carolina and Vanderbilt (now ranked an AP Top 10 team), but then falling to Old Dominion. This last loss proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Old Dominion only has three P4 victories in their entire history (in no particular order): Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Virginia Tech. So VT fired their head coach, Brent Pry. Pry and ODU head coach Ricky Rahne were actually coordinators on the same team—Penn State, under James Franklin. Not a popular coaching tree at the moment.
After firing the head coach, offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery assumed the interim head coaching role. Virginia Tech bounced back with a win over 2-5 FCS Wofford, and then a surprise upset over North Carolina State. In case you were a Tech fan beginning to feel optimistic again, VT lost as home favorites against Wake Forest, and then again to a surprisingly tough Georgia Tech (who, like Vanderbilt, is also now ranked as an AP Top 10 team). In other words, I am not sure much has really changed on the coaching front. Some feel that the defense is playing better (without the defensive-minded Brent Pry), but… they’re still the 15th ranked defense in the ACC (17 teams) in points allowed, and the 15th ranked offense in points scored. (For comparison, Cal is the #14 offense, #7 defense in the ACC— although those numbers might look different were the to be adjusted for opponent’s strength).
One thing I love about teams that have struggled at home—particularly those that suffered shocking home upsets (e.g. being down 31-0 in the 3rd quarter of the ODU game)—is that they’re ripe for great fan reaction shots.
For example, this Hokie would look right at home in a black-and-white WWI trench photo:
Hey Gobblers, how is the season going?:
VT fans really showed up this season with enthusiasm, packing their home stadium, which only really highlighted how bad things were when people were constantly leaving the game by the 2nd quarter:
You can also get some good crowd shots in there too:
Not to mention, the most relatable fan reaction I’ve seen as a Cal fan:
I hope this gives you a better understanding of Virginia Tech football. It’s like Cal football, but with more losses this season.
Let’s take a look at the positional breakdowns.
Offensive line
Alright, I’m not in the business of taking lowlights (I could have clipped a ton more if that were the goal), but I feel like it’s necessary to point out Virginia Tech’s offensive line struggles, particularly at the tackle positions. On one hand, you can’t expect an offensive line to block forever, especially if you have a mobile QB who likes to scramble around in the pocket and hold onto the ball way too long, but on the other hand there are too many examples of plays being blown up at the line of scrimmage:
The entire offensive line has struggled against defensive stunts/twists, and so opposing defensive have brought a lot of them.
The right tackle spot in particular has been a weakness, where a redshirt freshman is starting. I probably could have pulled better clips if I had that in mind to highlight to begin with (because I definitely noticed it and wrote it down in my notes that it was a consistent problem), but here’s just one example I took from their last game (i.e. the one I watched most recently):
For what it’s worth, PFF grades Virginia Tech’s run blocking a 45.2—good for 131st of 136 FBS teams—while their pass blocking gets a 51.1, good for 118th/136. Blocking has been a consistent struggle for this offense.
The offensive line is going to get beat, but that’s only the first hurdle in stopping the VT offense, because they have an extremely mobile quarterback.
Quarterback
Virginia Tech is led by the extremely mobile dual threat quarterback, Kyron Drones. Drones is extremely athletic, and a constant threat to escape the pocket for a big run on any given play. For this reason, I’m going to start my QB section off with some running clips first.
3rd and long may seem like an obvious passing down, but not for Drones. He could see 5 defenders and no blockers between him and the line to gain, and he’d still (rightfully) like his odds of scrambling for the first down.
Drones will run RPOs and option plays, and he has the ability to make tacklers miss in open space or use his 6’2” 235 lbs. frame to run through defenders:
If Drones can get some blocks, it’s over:
Drones has excellent vision when running the ball:
Defense must absolutely account for Drones in the run game at all times. As a result, Drones may use designed rollouts or run fakes to draw the defense, or he may simply buy time in the pocket with his feet as he looks to throw downfield:
Most of VT’s success in the passing game is due to the scramble drill, as it’s virtually impossible to keep receivers covered forever, and Drones will use his feet to buy as much time as possible. While Drones completion percentage may be buoyed by quick screens and short predetermined throws, his most successful play is often the scramble drill:
Although VT may have struggles on the offensive line and should not be giving up pressure on a 3-man rush, Drones himself is very difficult to sack because of his elusiveness:
In addition to Drones speed and quick change of direction, he also has a strong arm, which lets him do things like the following:
Even under a ton of pressure, Drones will be looking to make a play downfield. The following is just a fantastic throw, especially given the mitigating factors here (back-pedaling under pressure, throwing on the run, off the back foot) as he still manages to perfectly layer this throw over the outstretched hands of the defensive back. Definitely the best Drones throw I’ve seen:
Because of Drones tendency to throw on the run, he will use a lot of upper body arm strength on throws:
When Drones has time to throw, he can set his feet and make accurate throws downfield:
Although a lot of Drones’s throws will be bullets into tight windows, he can also show some nice touch in layering throws over defenders when given a clean pocket:
QB Kyron Drones layers the throw over the defender for 22 yards to WR Cameron Seldon
Although Drones has a talent for improvisation, his field reads and decision-making can suffer under pressure:
Drones has also struggled in a traditional pocket-passing offense. Although he can scramble around and make things happen, he will also struggle running vanilla plays:
And to decision-making suffering under pressure, here’s a terrible decision to throw:
QB Kyron Drones under pressure and launches an ill-advised throw off his back foot deep into double coverage for an INT
Drones is a powerful and elusive runner who excels at improvisation and throwing from a moving pocket, but he can struggle with reads and his accuracy on throws. He also has a tendency to hold onto the ball way too long, and is often late on his throws (likely related to his reads). Defenses this year have brought a ton of pressure on Drones as a result, but he’s able to make plays with his feet to compensate.
Running back
After losing last year’s star RB Bhayshul Tuten to the NFL and Malachi Thomas to Purdue, VT turned to the transfer portal to reload. To complement QB Kyron Drones’s elusiveness, VT looked to add some heavy bruisers to the RB room. The starting running back, Marcellous Hawkins, is actually a transfer from D2 Central Missouri and currently leads the team in rushing.
While Hawkins may not have breakaway speed, he’s proved difficult to bring down on initial contact, with 24 missed tackles forced on 64 carries (per PFF):
Hawkins does a good job of running through contact and falling forward for extra yards:
Here Hawkins showed a nice bit of elusiveness himself with some quick change of direction:
And again, side-stepping a tackler:
Backing up Hawkins is Bowling Green transfer Terion Stewart, who is a bowling ball of a runner at 5’9” 222 lbs.
Here he makes a nice run to the outside:
And like Hawkins, Stewart is also difficult to bring down on initial contact, perhaps even tougher: PFF has him with 22 missed tackles forced on 44 attempts. Stewart may not outrun the secondary, but he will run through them:
Just a hard-nosed running style:
Tacklers just bounce off him:
Stewart runs through arm tackles and also falls forward for extra yards:
Here Stewart does a nice job of cutting it back for a big gain:
Breaking the mold a bit is RB PJ Prioleau (“pray-low”), who’s faster and shiftier:
There was also this nice run by the redshirt sophomore Jeremiah Coney, although he’s a bit further down the depth chart:
Not featured here is Coastal Carolina transfer Braydon Bennett, whose only carries came against FCS Wofford.
Receivers
QB Kyron Drones top two receivers are the “Greene Brothers”, Ayden and Donavon. (No, they’re not actually brothers). Ayden is an extremely reliable receiver, who I am pretty sure has glue for hands:
Ayden Greene is Drones’s favorite deep threat target, with Ayden having 11 targets of 20+ yards (the second most is Donavon Greene with 4). Ayden does a good job of creating separation on his routes and adjusting to Drones’s throws:
Here he picks up some nice yards after the catch:
Here Ayden runs a nice route, getting the DB to bite on the fake:
The other Greene is Wake Forest transfer Donavon Greene, who I prominently featured in last year’s Wake Forest preview. Donavon Greene is still a talented receiver with reliable hands and the ability to make a contested catch in coverage:
Both Greenes can pick up yards after the catch with their speed:
With the departure of Tucker Holloway to the transfer portal, the new starting slot receiver is Takye Heath. Heath is a speedy, if undersized, receiver who has done well in recent weeks to find the soft spots of coverage:
And again with the YAC:
Conclusion
I’m not particularly optimistic about Cal’s chances in this game. Cal has made some pedestrian teams look like run game powerhouses (BC, UNC), which doesn’t bode well for against a team like Virginia Tech that’s actually good at running the ball. VT’s defense has struggled with tackles and coverages, but Cal’s offense hasn’t really shown the ability to carry the team to victory. Even much better Wilcox defenses have historically struggled with extremely athletic dual-threat quarterbacks, because even the most well-prepared Cal defenses aren’t prepared for the completely improvised plays they couldn’t possibly have seen coming. Knowing your defensive responsibilities, staying disciplined, not busting coverages, etc., don’t help you tackle someone who can change direction on a dime. I’m sure Cal will bring pressure and muddle the defensive reads for Drones, but the key will be if that pressure can get home.
As always,
Go Bears.
You can find my full clips here.
think we win this.. thru interceptions.
their QB likes to scramble, throw to tight windows...
but we will suffer some big QB scramble runs..
let's just hope our offense is clicking.
So hope for Drones to miss some targets and contain him so he can’t break off any Khalil Tate runs. Make him beat you with his arm.