Way-Too-Early Virginia Tech Football Preview and Prediction: Week 1 vs. South Carolina

Virginia Tech on SI writers Thomas Hughes and Kaden Reinhard team up to break down key storylines ahead of the Hokies’ opening-week matchup with South Carolina and share their predictions.

Oct 17, 2024. Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones (1) throws a pass during the third quarter against Boston College. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech football embarks on its 2025 campaign in Atlanta, Ga. in a clash with South Carolina, who was ranked No. 13 in ESPN’s “2025 Post-Spring Way-Too-Early” rankings.

South Carolina is coming off a 2024 season where it made strides towards the end of the year, finishing the regular season with a six-game winning streak after a 3-3 start. The Gamecocks are led by Shane Beamer, son of the Hokies’ legendary former head coach Frank Beamer. Shane Beamer served as Virginia Tech’s running backs coach from 2011 to 2015.

With two months and change to go before the game, here’s how each team stacks up against one another on both sides of the ball and who we think will win the Aflac Kickoff in Atlanta.

Virginia Tech Offense vs. South Carolina Defense:

Last year, the Hokies' offense produced an often turbulent ride week-to-week, struggling to generate a consistent output amid lackluster play from the quarterback position.

In the offseason, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry looked for a new offensive coordinator in an attempt to combat the problem. Pry brought in former Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery, offering a more spread-out approach that sets up exciting trick plays commonly found under the Montgomery offense.

Behind center, Kyron Drones returns for his redshirt senior season after taking the field for nine games in a shortened 2024 campaign while battling minor leg injuries throughout the season. Nonetheless, Drones still surpassed 1,500 yards with a 60.7% completion percentage while recording a touchdown-to-interception ratio just shy of 2:1.

With the departure of NFL-bound players Bhayshul Tuten and Jaylin Lane, Drones needs to be ready to fire the ball to a new corps of Hokie receivers this fall. The group will almost certainly be headlined by junior Ayden Greene, who’s spent his time honing his skills behind the likes of Lane and fellow wideout Ali Jennings.

Suiting up alongside Greene will be a group of newcomers to the Tech program, bringing in two headline transfers — Donavon Greene from Wake Forest should slot into the WR2 role nicely, and Cameron Seldon from Tennessee will fit well into a slot receiver role after getting limited snaps in the backfield for the Volunteers. 

For Seldon, coming to Blacksburg as a receiver should give him more playing time, with the Hokies’ tailback room currently in a toss-up for RB1. Seldon also offers a solid safety net if the Tech running backs coach, Elijah Brooks, runs low on available tailbacks or needs a solid option for motioning into the backfield or running an option play. 

The biggest hole the Hokies will need to fill for the opener is at tailback. Losing Tuten to the draft leaves a big void in the offense, which the Hokies hope to plug with transfers Terion Stewart (Bowling Green) and Braydon Bennett (Coastal Carolina).

The new theme around the country has been dual-threat running back rooms – utilizing quick subs to keep the backs fresh and agile to attack dwindling defenses down the stretch. In the bowl game against Minnesota, Tyler Mason and Jeremiah Coney split most of the reps in the backfield, leaving room for one of the young program talents to earn playing time alongside the incoming veteran transfers. 

However, no matter how you spin it, any offense will have a tough time moving the ball against a defense fronted by Jalon Kilgore and edge rusher Dylan Stewart.

In the offseason, Beamer snagged Brandon Cisse from NC State to pair alongside Kilgore at nickel. Cisse should emerge as South Carolina's CB2 for the upcoming campaign behind Judge Collier, who started every game for the Gamecocks last year.

Tech can look to attack a depleted defensive front from South Carolina, who lost four defensive linemen last season, headlined by T.J. Sanders being selected 41st overall by the Buffalo Bills and Tonka Hemingway, two rounds later, to the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Both the Hokies' offense and the Gamecocks' defense will field an assortment of inexperienced program faces alongside unproven potential stars, prepping for a showdown that hasn’t happened since the 1991 season. Fittingly, a Beamer will coach for one of the teams in this showdown, as well.

Nov 9, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) looks to pass the ball against the Clemson Tigers during the second quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech Defense vs. South Carolina Offense:

LaNorris Sellers has quickly become a hot commodity in college football, as his name has been floated around in the preseason Heisman conversation. ESPN ranked Sellers No. 7 in its “100 Days to College Football” article.

Sellers, a redshirt sophomore, accumulated 2,534 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns. On the ground, he gained 674 rushing yards on 166 carries to pair with 7 rushing touchdowns. Those rushing numbers would be impressive enough for a starting running back, let alone a QB1 playing in the SEC.

And as a redshirt freshman in 2024, Sellers sported a QBR of 69.8, good for 40th in the country. Given that Sellers has only a single year of experience under his belt, it’s reasonable to expect a sizable jump for Year 2, possibly around the No. 25-30 range.

Where the Hokies could have an advantage is in the run game. Raheim Sanders graduated after last season; his 881 rushing yards and 316 receiving yards are a boost that the Gamecocks will surely miss. In his stead, South Carolina will run with two seventh-year running backs, Oscar Adaway III and Rahsul Faison. Adaway III was the team’s second-string tailback behind Sanders last season, while Faison comes to Columbia from Utah State.

South Carolina’s receiving core will likely be led this year by Nyck Harbor and Mazeo Bennett Jr.  Harbor 376 yards and 3 touchdowns. Bennett Jr. accumulated 316 yards and three receiving touchdowns. Those numbers would place him fifth on last year’s Virginia Tech squad, ranking by receiving yards.

For the Hokies to stay competitive, the defense will need to punch above its weight against a dynamic Gamecock offense.

The Hokies’ defense is largely unproven, gashed by departures to the NFL. Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Aeneas Peebles are Hokies no more, whisked away to the pros by the Ravens and Eagles, respectively. In their stead lies a group of transfers and inexperienced players with precious few snaps.

On the linebacker front, things are slightly more consistent, with Caleb Woodson and Kaleb Spencer highlighting those returning to the fold. However, with Sam Siefkes replacing Chris Marve as defensive coordinator, it’s harder to know how those two and the rest of the linebacker corps will fare in an entirely new system.

It’s not necessarily a bad picture, but rather, a murky one. Siefkes joining the fold means that no one knows what the true game plan will be come August. The only things that can be discerned at this point is Siefkes’ work in the NFL and Tech’s 2025 spring game, which was intentionally vanilla as most spring games are.

Not much is known about how Siefkes will approach the collegiate ranks — for better or for worse. Siefkes’ last collegiate role was as a linebackers coach for Wofford from 2018 to 2020. But Pry has faith.

"What they do at the Arizona Cardinals was situational football,” Pry said to the media on January 28. “I hadn't been around, hadn't seen that. Not everybody's doing it. Not at that level, even. Very impressive. How specific and thorough they are with situational football, which was a weakness for us."

What works in Siefkes’ favor is his adaptability, something Pry spotlighted the day that he officially welcomed Siefkes to the program. That situational awareness will be sorely needed against a team that was knocking on the door of the top-15 by the end of last year’s regular season.

Conclusion

Both sides of the Hokies’ squad are currently in a period of limbo. After the season, Tech lost a good deal of firepower to the draft and transfer portal, and the jury is still out on both how the transfer portal will shake out for the Hokies, as well as how their coordinator changes will play out.

That leaves unproven spots littered throughout the Hokies' starting lineup for young talent and newly acquired transfer pieces to make an impact and earn a starting role in week one. Just as the double-edged sword offers, the Gamecocks can just as quickly pounce and take over a game if the Hokies enter unprepared.

There are three main points that the Hokies’ chances of victory lie upon: the effectiveness of Sam Siefkes’ new defensive schemes, whether Ayden Greene and Co. can step up as the new batch of receivers and whether Kyron Drones can live up to the hype he procured after 2023.

On the Gamecocks’ end, they find themselves with something to prove, as well. Their tailback and wideout rooms will both see new faces emerge as the new focal points.

In the end, we both believe that the Gamecocks will have both more offensive playmakers and better quarterback play, leading to an opening-week loss for the Hokies. Virginia Tech’s clash with the Gamecocks is slated for Aug. 31 at 3 p.m.; the game will be available for viewing on ESPN.

Thomas’ Prediction: South Carolina 31, Virginia Tech 21

Kaden’s Prediction: South Carolina 30, Virginia Tech 18