Notes and Quotes from James Franklin's Sept. 16 Media Availability

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Two days from now, Virginia Tech football will contest Maryland in SECU Stadium in College Park, Md., looking for its first non-conference Power Four victory since the 2017 opener vs. West Virginia. Ahead of this week's tussle, Hokies head coach James Franklin fielded questions from the media after practice Wednesday. Here are the most pertinent notes and quotes from the proceedings:

No. 1: The backup quarterback job remains alive.

Sophomore Bryce Baker remains in the lead for QB2, a gap that Franklin thinks he'll continue to hold "as long as he's doing everything that he's supposed to every single week and continues to take advantage of the reps that he gets."

According to Franklin, though, sophomore Kelden Ryan and freshman Troy Huhn, neither of whom have played a snap of collegiate ball yet, remain close. Baker went 10-of-12 for 127 yards in the season opener against VMI, and he's the only quarterback other than starter Ethan Grunkemeyer (48-of-62, 551 passing yards, four passing touchdowns) to log snaps this season.

"The hard part is once you designate it, you got to get the two the reps in practice, right?" Franklin said. "You can't get them all reps in practice because you can't get them all ready. And then Bryce went in the game, and because of that competition, it was going to be a short leash. But then he went into the game and did a nice job. So we'll continue to evaluate that based on practice, based on the reps that they get, the Sunday scrimmages that we do, their tests, their tip sheets, all of it.

"Right now, it's it's a tight race between all three of them. But we started the season with Bryce in the number two spot, so he's got to get those reps until something changes."

No. 2: Here's a look at several injury updates.

Running back Bill Davis was present at Wednesday's practice, though he was off to the side and wasn't partaking in drills. Defensive lineman Emmett Laws was in full gear, though I didn't see him engage in any drills. As for the wide receivers, Takye Heath, Luke Stuewe and Shamarius "Snook" Peterkin continued to be off to the side. None of the three have played in any games this season.

No. 3: Kyle Altuner is an expected full-go for Saturday.

Altuner did not play in Saturday's game against Old Dominion, paving the way for junior Tommy Ricard to make his third career start. Franklin remarked that Virginia Tech had Altuner available for Week 2, though he wasn't 100%.

"We felt if we could hold him out last week, then we would have him for 100%. And we were able to do it," Franklin said. "There's a ton of value in getting Ricard that work, too... [Altuner] does a phenomenal job for us. He's a leader. He's a culture driver. ... I do think missing him was felt, so having our starting center and I'd make the argument [as] the captain of our offensive line], just in terms of what the offensive center has to do in terms of communication and getting everything started, I think it's significant."

Guard Montavious Cunningham is also available and is not suspended for the first half vs. Maryland for his altercation with an Old Dominion player in the second half of last week's game. Franklin remarked that "the guys that are our starters are the starters" save for the previous fluidity around the availability of Altuner and Cunningham.

No. 4 Franklin spoke of the challenge Maryland QB Malik Washington presents.

Maryland quarterback Malik Washington is 53-of-72 this year for 533 yards (7.4 yards per completion) and three touchdowns. The sophomore was 34-of-41 against UConn last Saturday for 347 yards and two scores.

"Super accurate," Franklin said of Washington. "18 straight completions last week. I know him well; we recruited the heck out of him. Know his family. He's an impressive kid. Makes a ton of plays, off-balance throws. He had a couple throws in the UConn game — [including] one where he jumped up, kind of flipped his body around and threw a dart inside. He's a problem, so it's going to be a challenge; there's no doubt about it."

No. 5: The wide receivers are also "impressive" in Franklin's eyes.

When Virginia Tech On SI asked Franklin who's caught his attention among Maryland's pass-catchers, he spotlighted three wideouts in particular: Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, Kaleb Webb and Chris Durr Jr.

Abdul-Rahim Gladding's caught 14 passes for 187 yards and two scores this season; he transferred from Old Dominion, where he caught 51 passes for 667 yards and six scores last season. The wide receiver caught three catches against the Hokies last season for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Webb's caught six catches for 69 yards; last year, he scored twice and amassed 318 yards off 22 receptions. Durr Jr. has 16 receptions for 147 yards this year; last season, he was at Wyoming, where he totaled 469 yards and four touchdowns on 45 catches.

#Hokies head coach James Franklin when I asked him who’s caught his eyes among Maryland’s pass-catchers — he spotlighted Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, Kaleb Webb, Chris Durr Jr. pic.twitter.com/jfQK1BMlF1
— Thomas Hughes (@thomashughes_05) September 16, 2026

"Those guys are impressive," said Franklin. "They make a bunch of plays. YAC [yards after catch] yards, I think, is going to be a major factor in this game. If I'm the head coach at Maryland, I'm telling the offense to get the ball out quickly. That's already what they do a ton of is perimeter screens. So tackling in space, I think, is going to be really important.

“And then we also have to be ready for the screen-and-gos off of those things, which can be challenging too. But I think we're going to see a lot of that. That's kind of how they operate anyway. Ball comes out quick a lot, so that's going to be a big part of this."

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