Virginia Tech makes a return trip to Berkeley, after a double overtime victory last year in Blacksburg. You may remember VT running all over Cal en route 42-34 win in which VT’s quarterback ran for more yards than he threw, and VT put up 357 yards rushing total over a typically strong defense under Wilcox.
Well, the good news is: this is an entirely different Virginia Tech team, as this one is led by former Penn State head coach James Franklin. Of course, Penn State got so tired of their top ten finishes, 10+ win seasons, Rose Bowl appearances, CFP win, etc. (“my steak is too juicy, my lobster too buttery”), simply because they could never win the biggest games on the schedule and compete for a national title (1-10 against Ohio St, 3-7 against Michigan, 4-21 against AP Top 10 opponents). Of course, losing as 24.5-point favorites over an awful, disgusting, embarrassing UCLA team was just a bridge too far and demanded an immediate firing after 12 seasons.
However, there are a whole lot of teams that would be happy to win Rose Bowls and a game or two in the CFP, and Virginia Tech is one of them, and happily swooped in to hire Franklin.
Of course, Franklin brings a host of Penn State transfers with him, raising the talent level of this squad, and VT was undefeated heading into last week and looking at a national ranking with a win over Pitt (spoiler: they lost).
There was even some drama with Franklin bringing in his former quarterbacks with him, which I will probably save for my Virginia article. The cliff notes: Former Penn St QB and then-Mizzou QB Beau Pribula was about to sign with Franklin and VT, only for presumptive Penn State QB Ethan Grunkemeyer to let Franklin know he was interested, and Franklin chose Grunkemeyer instead. Pribula’s likely reaction:
Pribula then decided to sign with their rivals instead: Virginia.
Of course, after VT lost last week to Pitt, questions remain whether Franklin can win games when they matter most.
VT will be looking to bounce back with a get-right game over an opponent they’re expected to beat (the Franklin special), while Cal is looking to get anything right.
Let’s take a look at the positional breakdowns.
Quarterback
Virginia Tech is led by Penn State transfer QB Ethan Grunkemeyer. Grunkemeyer took over the starting job last year at Penn State after a season-ending injury to the starter, Drew Allar. He got off to a rough start, going 0-3 in his first 3 starts, throwing for 457 yards, 0 TDs, and 4 INTs in those 3 games—but to be fair, two of those games were to #1 Indiana and #2 Ohio State. He bounced back after that, finishing the season with 4 straight wins (capped off with a win over 7-6 Clemson in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl), throwing for 777 yards, 6 TDs, and 0 INTs the rest of the way in those 4 games. The Grunkmeister is a polished passer, and shows good accuracy on touch on his throws:
A common theme so far for this season is that the VT offensive line will provide excellent protection for the Grunkster, giving him plenty of time to pick apart a defense with precision:
Grunkmaster G shows a good understanding of leverage and does a good job of placing the ball where only his receiver can get it:
While Grunk isn’t particularly known for his mobility, he does show an ability to buy time in the pocket to extend plays:
Grunkamole does a good job of finding his man against the blitz when given good protection:
Grunky Kong does a good job of keeping his eyes downfield and not letting pressure affect his throws—there’s a few examples of him being knocked off-platform and still making the throw:
And while Sir Grunks-a-Lot is not exactly a dual-threat, he’s not afraid to keep it himself:
Although Grunkasaurus Rex is generally good at his field reads, he does sometimes spend too long making these reads, and sometimes gets preoccupied with a receiver, forcing dangerous throws into traffic:
And although Grunk the Skunk generally does a good job of layering his throws, he does still struggle with his deep ball:
Sometimes Grunkzilla is slow to process the field (and is accustomed to a really good offensive line) absorbing unnecessary sacks or turnovers in the process:
And sometimes Grunkles just makes bad reads altogether:
Virginia Tech doesn’t have a whole lot of experience in the QB room. While Grunks is a redshirt sophomore, the backups are all freshmen. The backup QB Bryce Baker is a redshirt freshman and dual-threat quarterback, but he’s considered more of a raw talent than a polished passer. Baker does show some nice arm ability:
And Baker does have a set of wheels:
Overall, Ethan “Pinkberry” Grunkemeyer (sorry, still playing with the VonStickyhands stuff) has been showing improvement each week as the starter, and he shows a lot of promise going forward.
Running back
Leading the charge at running back for VT are Jeffrey Overton Jr and Marcellous Hawkins Jr. Coming into this season, I thought VT would lean heavily on the power run game of senior RB Marcellous Hawkins Jr (bruising interior runs, daring a defense to load up in the box before throwing it over their heads), but we are currently in the midst of redshirt freshman RB Jeffrey Overton’s breakout season. Overton has earned the starting role with his explosive runs, putting up 209 yards on Boston College two weeks ago, and is currently 3rd in the ACC in rushing yards. It’s clear that Overton has the speed to be a homerun threat:
Here Overton Jr punishes tacklers for their poor angles:
Overton does a good job of letting his blocks develop and finding his lane:
Once he hits that hole, he’s gone:
Overton does a nice job of navigating traffic to make defenders miss and keep falling forward:
Here Overton turns nothing into something, keeping his feet and stiff-arming the defender to pick up more yards:
Overton shows nice balance, and even though he’s primarily a speedy guy, he’s also shown some nice physical running:
VT will also look to get Overton into space, sending him on wheel routes where he can outrun the linebacker:
While Overton may be quick and elusive, Hawkins packs a punch:
Hawkins also does a good job of finding open space:
Hawkins shows a reluctance to go down on first contact:
And although Hawkins and Overton have received the vast majority of the carries, true freshman Messiah Mickens has also shown promise:
Hawkins and Overton seem very much like the thunder and lightning duo that Cal was going for with Mohammed and Vargas.
Receivers
The star of the show here is the 5-star Penn State transfer, tight end Luke Reynolds. Reynolds is an extremely talented tight end and likely early round NFL Draft pick for his hands and redzone target ability. His connection to quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer dates all the way back to the 2023 Elite 11 Camp, when he served as a receiving target for many of the top QB prospects in the class, and ultimately earned MVP Honors at the TE position group as he earned a reputation for catching everything thrown his way (and rocketing up the recruiting rankings himself as a result). Despite the obvious size, speed, and athleticism that you’d expect from the #1 ranked tight end of the 2024 class, I was really impressed with his receiver skills. He’s a natural receiver that can create separation with his route running:
And he’s as reliable of a receiver as it gets:
Here Reynolds does a nice job of hauling this one in:
And of course, with his large frame and sure hands, it should be no surprise that he’s a contested catch specialist:
And again:
The following play is just a simple tunnel screen, but it’s the sort of play you draw up for your speedy slot receiver to get him in space to make a play. It’s not something you typically seen drawn up for a big tight end, but it shows the kind of faith VT has in his play-making ability:
VT will line up Reynolds all over the field to scheme up creative ways to get him the ball. I included the split backs formation above as one of the interesting ones, but he can line up as an inside receiver, outside receiver, running back, or even at quarterback. Here he takes the direct snap on the wildcat, but it’s also worth mentioning that he was a quarterback in high school and has the capability to throw the ball here:
The big knock against Reynolds early on is that he is relatively unproven as a blocker, but here he does a nice job of setting up the block for the touchdown:
The other receiver dominating targets this year is the Duke transfer, slot receiver Que’Sean “Queso” Brown (who earned the starting role over Penn State transfer Tyseer Denmark). Cal, of course, saw Brown last year (seen here in my Duke preview), and Brown was QB Darian Mensah’s top target that game as he put up 7 catches for 108 yards. Brown is Virginia Tech’s most explosive receiver, and he already has two catches for 50+ yards this season (and three for 40+). In short, he’s a homerun threat any time he gets the ball (which is also why he’ll appear on VT special teams as a returner). Here Brown turns this simple tunnel screen into a touchdown:
And here he takes another short pass and turns it into a big play, using his speed and elusiveness:
Like Reynolds, Brown has also shown some nice hands, which has been helpful for hauling in the occasional off-target throw from Grunkemeyer:
And here is Brown showing off that speed on special teams for yet another big play:
Virginia Tech also returns their top receiving target from last year, Ayden Greene. Greene was the deep threat and contested catch specialist last year, although he hasn’t really been used in the same way under the new coaching staff. He returned from an injury last week to face Pitt and posted a season-high 88 yards, so he will likely see some increased targets soon. So far, Greene has been doing a good job of creating his own yards after the catch:
And here he does it again last week:
True freshman WR Davion Brown has been making an immediate impact this season for VT. Brown has straight line speed and an ability to use his frame to bully smaller corners, but so far this season he has just shown a knack for getting open:
At the WR-X is Marlion Jackson, the senior transfer from Louisiana Tech, who is bringing his experience to a younger receiver room. Although Jackson has the size to play outside, he has the versatility to play in the slot as well. Here Jackson makes a nice catch on the fade:
And here he is with a strong run after the catch:
Backing up Que’Sean Brown in the slot is Penn State transfer Tyseer Denmark. Although he’s had a few catches this season, I think he has been most noticeable so far this season on trick plays. Despite not being a high school QB (as far as I can tell), he can throw it:
And despite other former HS QBs on the roster, Denmark seems to be the choice for the double pass trick play:
Behind Marlion Jackson is the redshirt freshman AJ Brand, and he has also shown an ability to create his own yards:
Last but not least, the other tight ends—Benji Gosnell and Ja’Ricous Hairston—are also worth mentioning. Although they’ve been overshadowed this season by Luke Reynolds, I have quite a few Gosnell and Hairston highlights from previous seasons. I don’t know the best way to put it, but I thought Benji Gosnell would be having a bigger impact so far this season. Gosnell had the second most catches on the team back in 2024, but he only has 5 catches in 5 games so far this season. Gosnell is more of a receiver than a true tight end in my opinion, so he may just be crowded out of targets this season. Ja’Ricous Hairston is a blocking tight end, but he often catches teams off-guard when he does finally go out for a pass, and he’s shown good hands in the past:
Overall, I’d say that TE Luke Reynolds and WR Que’Sean Brown will be the stars of the show here, and they pose much different challenges in coverage.
Conclusion
Virginia Tech is a good team that will probably finish somewhere near (but not at) the top of the ACC. This should be a good bellwether game as Cal heads into the tougher portion of their schedule, as Wake Forest, SMU, NC State, Virginia, and Pitt will all are all on that similar tier of opponent (i.e. pretty good). None of the games are truly hopeless (like a Miami game would be), but Cal needs to become the team we thought they were in the preseason if they’re going to compete with any of these teams. I don’t really have much in the way of optimism to offer here with Cal potentially without QB1, RB1, RB2, WR1, their main playmaker on defense, etc. All I can say is that when I was in Vegas, I noticed bettors slamming bets on Cal as a 2-TD underdog, so apparently there is some value to believing in Cal losing by just a little bit (VT with a cross-country slog, jet lag, overlooking the opponent, etc?). Ah well.
As always (but really dejectedly this time):
Go Bears.
You can find my full clips here.