Five Most Important Things From James Franklin's Aug. 31 Press Conference

BLACKSBURG, Va. — It's game week for Virginia Tech football. Head coach James Franklin hosted his weekly media press conference today five days ahead of the Hokies' season opener against VMI. Here's what I think were the five most important notes to take away from Aug. 31's presser.

No. 1: Virginia Tech has finally named its starting quarterback.

Virginia Tech has finally named Ethan Grunkemeyer as its starting quarterback for its Week 1 opener against VMI on Sept. 5. The long-awaited news comes five days ahead of the opener, though who will be the QB2 is a battle still yet to be settled, according to Franklin. Grunkemeyer threw for 1,339 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions last season at Penn State, starting the last seven games of the season for the Nittany Lions and winning the final four.

Franklin lauded Grunkemeyer's decision-making and his leadership when discussing what went into selecting the redshirt sophomore to start Sept. 5's opener.

"His ability to distribute the ball and decision-making, those things are big," Franklin said. "And I think he has the ability to still be a threat in the running game, or a guy that can extend plays. But just his daily approach, I think he leads the position the right way. He approaches the position the right way. I think our coaches and his teammates have a ton of confidence in him based on his approach and consistency."

What has Grunkemeyer improved in most?

"He's worked really hard on getting stronger and getting more explosive," Franklin said.

Moreover, Franklin spotlighted Grunkemeyer's leadership, saying that the redshirt sophomore has stepped up as a leader recently.

"I think he's been the leader in the clubhouse for a number of practices and maybe weeks," Franklin said. "But I don't think it was like a foregone conclusion that this was going to happen, or or we would have told you guys and made an announcement. I think it's been a real competitive group. ... I think there's a level of consistency and maturity that he has shown to give the coaches and his teammates trust."

No. 2: Virginia Tech's battle for the offensive line has a clear vision, Franklin says.

Here's the order from left to right: Justin Terry at left tackle, Layth Ghannam at left guard, Kyle Altuner at center, Montavious Cunningham at right guard and Aidan Lynch at right tackle.

Cunningham played at right tackle for portions of fall camp, while Brody Meadows was playing at right guard.

"There are some rotations that we could have," Franklin said. "We'd like to try to play six or seven guys at some point during the game, so that once again, if we do have any issues, a guy's not going into the game cold."

Franklin remarked that Cunningham will have the opportunity to paly at both right guard and right tackle, while Terry was working at both left tackle and left guard. Virginia Tech also experimented with Ghannam at left tackle, per Franklin. Oklahoma transfer Logan Howland, who missed the entirety of the spring, Brody Meadows (missed 2025 season due to foot injury) and Lucas Austin were also named as other players who could factor into the battle.

"By Lynch doing a really good job during training camp over the last couple weeks at right tackle, [that] gave us confidence to move Montavious in to guard and getting our best five on the field," Franklin said.

Per Franklin, the most hotly-contested battle was between Howland and Terry at left tackle.

No. 3: Virginia Tech did not release a depth chart today and plans to do so during game day.

"We'll probably do a depth chart on game day in the flip card that [the media gets] in the stadium," Franklin said. "To be honest with you, there's still a decent amount of moving parts."

Franklin remarke dthat the challenge is that, if the team is monitoring bumps and bruises from a Saturday game, that it's an unknown how that will impact the team the next week by Monday's press conference.

Another note to monitor is the status regarding Class of 2022 athletes, some of whom have been cleared to play following state-specific actions. Nation-wide, the situation remains murky, currently up in the hands of the courts.

"That's a little bit why we're waiting to update our rosters until Friday," Franklin said. "Because, now with the 105, that's when your roster has to be set. So, it doesn't really make sense to give you guys or put something out today that could change by Friday. ... I've been very transparent since I got here that we were going to create competition at every single position and they needed to embrace that.

"For the most part, our guys have really done a really good job of that... But this is the nature of college football now, and you have to embrace all those things... You do your homework, you do your due diligence the best you possibly can."

No. 4: Virginia Tech's fight for QB2 remains active.

Though Grunkemeyer has been confirmed as the starter for Sept. 5's game against VMI, the question of who will operate as his backup is not. Virginia Tech currently has three options in its repertoire to pick from. Bryce Baker enters from North Carolina after being a four-star recruit out of high school. Redshirt freshman Kelden Ryan enters his second year with the program; he was the No. 55 quarterback in the Class of 2025, per 247Sports.

Then, there's three-star true freshman Troy Huhn; Huhn was rated as the No. 28 quarterback in the 2026 class.

No. 5: FCS games are "worth playing", per Franklin.

Virginia Tech has won its last 13 games against FCS opponents and last lost to an FCS school back in 2010 against JMU, which has now been an FBS school since the start of the 2023 season. The Hokies enter their Week 1 clash with VMI projected to win a whopping 68-0 by ESPN writer Bill Connelly's SP+ metrics.

Virginia Tech also has season-opening FCS clashes against The Citadel in 2027 and Gardner-Webb in 2028. The game against the Runnin' Bulldogs in 2028 will mark the Hokies' fourth FCS opponent in as many years. Given that, it's fair to question whether the games have value; per The Virginian-Pilot's David Teel, FCS teams have lost 125 consecutive games against Power Four schools over the past three years. Franklin thinks they're worth it.

"I think every game on your schedule is worth playing," Franklin said. "Every single game on your schedule is important and obviously critical for what we're trying to do. It's not just play; it's play well. And there's also an aspect in college football that you don't have a preseason. ... They're all critical, and you better approach it the right way.

"You better have the right mentality. And for us, it's we're always going to respect our opponent, but ultimately, it's about us and how we go about our business."

Virginia Tech's season-opening tilt with VMI kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be available for viewing on the ACC Network and will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1984.

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