How Virginia Tech's Defense Can Start the Season with Momentum

Virginia Tech opens Sept. 5 against VMI, an FCS opponent it hasn't played since 1984 and shouldn't lose to under any circumstances. The Keydets have gone 1-11 in each of the last two seasons out of the Southern Conference. The Hokies are big favorites, but the scoreboard isn't where the story is.

For a defense coming off the year Tech just had, the opener is a chance to define what it wants to be before anyone good shows up. And someone good shows up fast. Old Dominion, the team whose 45-26 win in Lane Stadium last September got Brent Pry fired, returns to Blacksburg on Sept. 12. Pry is the defensive coordinator now. The reps against VMI are the dress rehearsal for the game that could actually sting.

So what does a successful day against the Keydets look like? Start with the line of scrimmage. Everything for this front begins with controlling the point of attack and getting off the field on third down-the exact thing Tech couldn't do a year ago.

The 2025 defense let opponents convert 46.32 percent of their third downs and gave up 30.2 points a game. Against an FCS line, that should look nothing alike. If VMI is still moving the chains on third-and-6, that's a problem no final score can hide.

Then there's the pass rush, and that's where Kemari Copeland matters. The defensive tackle came back for his senior season after a third-team All-ACC year: 48 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks, and an interception. He's the disruptive presence the middle of this defense will look to for the entire season.

A successful opener means Copeland and Missouri transfer edge Javion Hilson living in the backfield, pressure showing up with a four-man rush, and a stack of tackles for loss next to VMI's name in the box score. Negative plays were the whole point of the retool. Week 1 is where you start proving it.

The quieter markers matter just as much. No explosive plays, no busted coverages, and chunk runs that turned 2025 into a slog. A takeaway or two, the kind of complementary football Tech almost never got.

And a rotation that looks connected, because much of this secondary was assembled through the transfer portal and hasn't played together. Cohesion is the season-long question for this group, and the answer starts against a team that can't punish the growing pains.

None of it requires a shutout, though a shutout would say plenty. It requires the defense to look like the thing Pry is selling: a front that wins early downs, a secondary that doesn't give up anything cheap, a unit that finishes drives instead of extending them.

Beat VMI by five touchdowns while surrendering 380 yards, and it's an empty win. Hold the Keydets to a handful of first downs, get Copeland home a few times, and walk off clean, and this defense heads into the ODU rematch with something it hasn't had in a while. Proof, not hope.

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