"Definitely a Revenge Game." Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech Have Sour Taste Heading into Matchup with Vanderbilt

While Vanderbilt public address announcer Joe Deyo leaned into his microphone and put himself on the national map with his “Vanderbilt wins!” call as Vanderbilt’s players jumped around, hugged and reflected on what they’d just done, all you had to do to understand the magnitude of their week one win was look to the other sideline.

Across from Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and his array of bear hugs stood a group in white jerseys that looked like they’d just seen a ghost. It wasn’t supposed to happen the way it did at FirstBank Stadium for that Virginia Tech team. Brent Pry’s group had College Football Playoff aspirations and was considered a dark horse heading into the season opener.

Instead, it got a harsh reminder of reality as Vanderbilt finally got some proof of concept. It’s not hiding from the idea that what happened that day in Nashville won’t be in its head when the two teams match up in Blacksburg in week two of the 2025 season.

“Definitely a revenge game,” Returning Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones told On SI’s Graham Dietz in an exclusive interview that was obtained by Vandy on SI. “Definitely a Redemption game.”

Drones says that Virginia Tech is focused solely on its season opener against South Carolina as it enters fall camp, but he’ll have to fight to not get ahead of himself. The Virginia Tech quarterback completed 22 of his 33 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns against Vanderbilt last season, but that’s not what he remembers.

Instead, he’s thinking about the three sacks he took and one interception he threw. He’s thinking about how he didn’t get the chance to be out there as Vanderbilt sealed the deal with an overtime stop. In a similar way, Virginia Tech linebacker Jaden Keller won’t remember his five tackles or contributing to a tackle for loss in that game fondly.

He and the rest of the Virginia Tech defense are set on finding a way to reverse the trend that losing five one-score games created around their program.

“For sure [a revenge game], we got a lot of guys that still have that bad taste in their mouth,” Keller said. “Having that chip on your shoulder, having that usually adds motivation, fuel to the fire. It's huge. We got a whole bunch of guys that know what that feels like.”

Perhaps unlike some of those other one-score games, Virginia Tech’s loss in Nashville can be partially attributed to it overlooking its opponent. At that point, Lea had yet to record a winning program under Lea and was coming off of a 2-10 record. Its roster was full of newcomers, too.

In some ways, Pry’s team likely believed it could come into FirstBank Stadium and outman Vanderbilt even if it wasn’t at its best. Now it’s seen what Lea’s team can do with Diego Pavia–who Keller describes as a “dynamic athlete” and Virginia Tech defensive lineman Kevin Gilliam Jr. says is “a football guy”–and is unlikely to overlook it.

“We have respect for them,” Gilliam Jr. said. "It's a program that was definitely on the rise of the SEC. You've seen that last year with that Alabama game. It's gonna be a dog fight every week. We want to make it a dog fight.”

Perhaps in a way, Vanderbilt’s matchup with Virginia Tech is a microcosm of what it’s going to take to win as a program with expectation rather than one that sneaks up on everyone on its schedule. Lea says Vanderbilt has its best offensive line of his tenure and could have improved its defensive line, but he has to know that going to Virginia Tech to play against a team that has an idea of what his will do is going to be a challenge.

Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s unorthodox scheme likely won’t catch Virginia Tech all that off guard. Vanderbilt’s talent won’t, either. In a few weeks, it will have to buckle up and grind it out against a team that knows what’s coming.

“We've been putting all this work and for Vanderbilt to come to Lane Stadium this year as a night game,” Gilliam Jr. said, “We're excited. They're gonna be excited. They're gonna be fired up. And so, we're really looking forward to that matchup.”