Virginia Tech Football Claims First Win of 2025 After Trouncing Wofford, 38-6

Virginia Tech football won its first contest of the 2025 campaign with a 38-6 drubbing of FCS Wofford.

Sep 20, 2025; Blacksburg, Va.; Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones (1) throws a pass during the first quarter. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech football claimed its first win of the season in a Saturday matinee, throttling the Wofford Terriers, 38-6. The victory snapped the Hokies' three-game losing streak.

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🦃 38
🐾 6#ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/zepWVYENpz

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) September 20, 2025

"Really liked our energy and our tempo and the things that we were doing [throughout the week]," said Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery. "And we wanted to roll that into this week. We talked about playing a complete game and playing four quarters, being stout on defense, when the thing's becoming more balanced on offense. I thought we did a lot of those things today.

"I thought our defense played tremendously well. I thought our defensive line was just wrecking, linebackers played downhill."

Coming into Saturday, Virginia Tech had lost seven of its last eight games dating back to last year’s matchup with Syracuse. The weight of that skid made the meeting with Wofford more than just a tune-up; it was a much-needed chance to reset. The Hokies answered with authority, overwhelming the Terriers in a 461-141 yardage advantage and controlling the game from start to finish. That kind of response was critical, not only to halt the losing trend but to restore belief within the roster.

As ACC play looms, the hope is that this performance serves as more than a one-off. Montgomery believes that the team can build off of today's blowout result, utilizing it as an opportunity to keep building and growing as a collective unit. If Tech can channel Saturday’s energy into consistency, the conference slate could bring a different story.

"This is just one week," Montgomery said. "We've got to continue to keep building. We've got to continue to keep growing. But it was good to have that happen for them. And they went out and earned it. They went out and did it and I couldn't be more proud."

Wide receiver Devin Alves also tallied his first touchdown, and his first catch, hauling in a 19-yard catch from signal-caller Kyron Drones. Alves converted from safety to wide receiver in the offseason.

At quarterback, Kyron Drones delivered the type of start Virginia Tech had been waiting for. The redshirt senior came out sharp, completing 11 of his first 13 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the opening half. His precision and poise in the pocket gave the Hokies immediate control, helping them storm out to a 21-3 advantage by halftime.

Beyond the numbers, it was the rhythm and confidence he brought to the offense that stood out: quick reads, accurate throws and an ability to spread the ball around that kept Wofford’s defense off balance. In total, 11 different Hokie receivers tallied at least one reception against the Terriers.

By the end of the day, Virginia Tech had piled up 28 first downs compared to the Terriers’ eight, a reflection of sustained drives that had often been missing in the Hokies' opening trio of contests.

Drones tallied his third career outing with 300 or more passing yards, finishing with 307 passing yards, a career-high 27 completions and a pair of scores through the air. It would have been a trio of scores had a third-quarter, third-down reception to Donavon Greene not been negated by Greene's left foot being just at the back line of the endzone.

With the contest, Drones vaulted to No. 8 all-time in Virginia Tech career passing yards, now up to 4,675 all-time yards with the Hokies. Through a quartet of contests, Drones has tallied 928 yards (232 yards/game).

"I thought he worked through the game plan really well," Montgomery said. "I mean, they're rotating and doing a bunch of stuff back there in the secondary. And so, you had to have your eyes in the right spot... So, he did a good job of being able to check the ball down, find his underneath stuff and stay ahead of the chains...

"For the most part, we did a good job of trying to stay out of third-and-longs but I thought Kyron played within the system, played within himself and took what they game him. Be needy, not greedy is what we're always talking about and i thought he did a good job of that today."

The ground game looked healthy, as well; tailback Marcellous Hawkins notched 79 yards; 36 of those yards came up an opening drive that stalled out due to a failed fourth-and-2. It was Hawkins' second occasion this season leading the team in rushing yards for a contest; the other two times, it was Drones.

"Hawkins' got a lot of juice, a lot of energy," Montgomery said. "He brings a lot to the table. I thought, especially early, he did a really nice job of using his vision, using his power, putting his foot in the ground, going and making plays. And again, he's one of those guys that we're gonna lean on.

"He's a guy that we got to have. And so, we've got a talented running back room. Those guys do a great job of playing off of each other. But he's a guy that can truly spark it."

On the other side, Wofford’s ground game never found its footing. The Terriers finished with a staggering minus-1 rushing yards over four quarters, undone by both Virginia Tech’s front seven and their own lack of push at the line of scrimmage.

Quarterback Jayden Whitaker absorbed four sacks, losing 26 yards in the process, which only deepened the offensive struggles. Outside of those hits, there was little relief from the backfield. Tailback Ihson Jackson-Anderson led Wofford with just 12 yards on seven carries, and no other ball carrier managed more than single digits.

Every attempt to find daylight was met by immediate penetration from the Hokies’ front seven, forcing Wofford into long-yardage situations that stalled drives before they had a chance to develop. Without a functional ground game to take pressure off Whitaker, the Terriers became predictable and Virginia Tech’s defense feasted. The lack of balance left Wofford unable to sustain momentum and turned most possessions into uphill battles against a defense that dictated the pace all afternoon.

The Terriers’ passing attack did not fare much better. Whitaker connected on 16 of 27 passes for 142 yards, struggling to push the ball downfield against Virginia Tech’s coverage and repeatedly being sacked by the Hokies' defensive linemen.

Wofford’s best opportunity came midway through the second quarter when its defense briefly flipped the script, forcing a Kyron Drones fumble that set the Terriers up at the Hokies’ 32-yard line. But that opportunity vanished quickly. On the ensuing drive, Whitaker tried to force a throw over the middle, only to have defensive lineman James Jennette get a hand on it. The deflection fell directly into the arms of defensive tackle Kemari Copeland, who secured his first career interception and ended Wofford’s best chance at cutting into the deficit. Instead of capitalizing, the Terriers once again left empty-handed, a theme that defined their offensive struggles all afternoon.

"That was a crazy play," Copeland said. "I was working to the boundary and I see a ball in the air. It happened so fast, but I was working to the boundary, see the ball in the air laying out for [and] I caught it."

Copeand was especially proud of the defense limiting Wofford into the negatives, stating that it was the standard that the defense held itself to. Copeland mentioned "playing vertically" and "getting on edges", mentioning that the team possessed an edge due to Pry's firing.

Running back P.J. Prioleau also turned in a standout performance, showcasing his versatility in the passing game. He hauled in seven receptions for 65 yards, often serving as a safety valve for Drones on checkdowns and quick outlet passes.

"P.J. is that guy, man," Hawkins said. "Seeing him do what he do in open field, I see it all the time in practice. It's new to y'all, not new to me, though."

Several players were not dressed out for the contest. Linebacker Caleb Woodson and safety Quentin Reddish were two of the main standouts not dressing for the contests; both are true juniors. Should they transfer out before the end of the season, each will possess two years of eligibility.

However, the focus moves onward to the Hokies' Week 5 contest against the N.C. State Wolfpack to open its ACC slate. That opportunity represents another opportunity for Montgomery's Hokies to continue "rewriting the story", a statement the interim head coach uttered on a quartet of occasions in his first press conference on Tuesday.

For the players, Copeland insisted that the message was "to keep the main thing the main thing" and to focus on the next opponent, the next battle. After all, Ayden Greene referred to it as war.

"There's 12, 13 Saturdays out of a year where we get to suit up and go to battle," Greene said.

Both Copeland and Greene agreed on one thing: neither of them were truly satisifed with their performances. In particular, Greene remarked that even if he had a 1,000-yard performance, he still would find ways to think that he could do better, saying that it was just "who I am."

For Greene, that extends to Tech's previous games, which he views as ones that slipped through the Hokies' fingers.

"We've been hungry," Greene said. "We've been itching for a win. We let South Carolina slip away, we let Vandy slip away, and then last week, you know, it was just very frustrating, very rough. So, I think we deserved that. I think we earned it. But that's just a starting point. You know, playing a team like Wofford, we're supposed to win that game, and we're supposed to make a statement, we're supposed to score a lot of points, no points. So I think, you think today's performance was, it was all right. I think we can be better. I think I can be better because, you know, I'm a winner. I want to win. I'll do anything to win. So just getting, getting the rest of the guys along with along board with that, it's gonna be crucial, which we've made tremendous steps with our leadership and with our soldiers."

Virginia Tech football will next travel to Raleigh to face N.C. State on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be available for viewing on the CW.