Three Biggest Storylines Ahead of Virginia Tech vs. Maryland

Virginia Tech hasn't beaten a non-conference Power Four opponent since 2017. Maryland has won 20 straight non-conference games, the longest active streak in the FBS.

Both teams are 2-0, and neither has played anyone worth measuring against. The Hokies beat VMI 73-3 and Old Dominion 44-21 at home. Maryland shut out Hampton 62-0 and won at UConn 38-14. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at SECU Stadium on FOX or FS1, the first regular-season meeting between the two since 2013.

Here are the three biggest storylines ahead of the game.

1. Franklin goes back to College Park.

James Franklin coached at Maryland twice, as a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2000-04 and as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator from 2008-10. The Terrapins named him head coach in waiting to Ralph Friedgen in February 2009. An athletic director change muddied the plan, and Franklin left for Vanderbilt before it ever paid off.

He and Maryland head coach Mike Locksley worked on the same staff from 2000 to 2002. Franklin held a 9-2 record against Maryland at Penn State, with six wins by 30 points or more. Locksley, who was hired in 2019, has one win against Franklin in six games.

In the most recent meeting between the two head coaches, the game ended with a heated postgame confrontation after then-Penn State wide receiver Tyseer Denmark, now at Virginia Tech, caught a touchdown pass as time expired in a 44-7 blowout victory.

Maryland's Mike Locksley was not happy with Penn State's James Franklin after taking a 44-7 loss at Beaver Stadium. pic.twitter.com/NGl8TrO43k
— Mark Brennan (@MarkXBrennan) December 1, 2024

2. Can Marcellous Hawkins and Jeffrey Overton Jr. bounce back?

Jeffrey Overton Jr. took his first handoff of the season 50 yards to the end zone and nobody touched him. He finished the VMI game with 104 yards on nine carries and two scores. Marcellous Hawkins Jr. added 69 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns. Twenty-one touches between them, 173 yards, five trips to the end zone.

A week later, Old Dominion took all of it away. The two backs combined for 25 carries and 90 yards. Overton had 14 carries for 47 yards and never broke one longer than eight. Hawkins had 11 for 43, and 20 came on a single first-quarter touchdown run. Virginia Tech ran it 42 times for 89 yards, 2.1 a carry, against a defense that had given up 126 rushing yards to Norfolk State the week before.

Old Dominion sold out to stop the run and dared Ethan Grunkemeyer to beat them, which he did. Maryland won't have to sell out. The Terrapins have allowed 77 rushing yards on 62 carries and no rushing touchdowns, a full reversal for a unit that surrendered 175.6 a game last season. Center Kyle Altuner missed Saturday with an injury, and right guard Montavious Cunningham faces a first-half suspension after being ejected for throwing a punch against Old Dominion.

3. How does Virginia Tech's defense do against Malik Washington?

Nobody in the country has more sacks or tackles for loss than Virginia Tech. The Hokies have 12 sacks and 32 tackles for loss in two games, 18 of them in the VMI opener alone, the most in a Virginia Tech game since at least 1987. Against Old Dominion, the Hokies were able to sack Quinn Henicle seven times and force four fumbles.

Washington is a different test. The sophomore has completed 53 of 72 passes for 533 yards and three touchdowns, and he went 34 of 41 for 347 yards at UConn with 18 straight completions in the second half. Maryland gave up one sack that afternoon. He has a pair of transfer wide receivers that he has quickly developed chemistry with. Old Dominion transfer Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding has 14 catches for 187 yards, and Chris Durr Jr. has 16 for 147.

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