What We Learned From Virginia Tech's 21-14 Comeback Win at Boston College

Virginia Tech won its first three games by an average of 34 points. Saturday's win came by seven, and only after the Hokies spent the early part of the fourth quarter down eight.

Virginia Tech beat Boston College 21-14 behind 209 rushing yards from Jeffrey Overton Jr., moving to 4-0 for the first time since 2017.

Here's what we learned about the Hokies.

This team can close

Through three weeks, Virginia Tech hadn't needed a fourth quarter. Its closest game, a 35-26 win at Maryland, still finished as a two-score game.

Saturday, it needed every minute. Boston College went up 14-6 early in the fourth, and Tech answered with 15 points. Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown to receiver Marlion Jackson in the right corner of the end zone. Overton ran in the two-point conversion to tie it, then went 76 yards on the first play of the next drive.

Grunkemeyer's line won't jump off the page. He was 22 of 35 for 147 yards, a week after throwing for 314 and three touchdowns at Maryland. Franklin said the staff still trusted him to throw in gusts that reached 40 mph. When the comeback needed a touchdown throw, he delivered.

The backfield has a new order

Overton opened the season behind Marcellous Hawkins on the depth chart. The redshirt freshman from Woodbridge ran 25 times for 209 yards Saturday, the most by a Virginia Tech running back since Bhayshul Tuten's program-record 266 against Boston College in 2024. Most of it came late: 69 yards through three quarters, then 140 on nine fourth-quarter carries.

Franklin said he'd always known Overton could make people miss. What he hadn't known was whether Overton could finish a long run. Overton has gone from 185 pounds to 207 since Franklin arrived, and Franklin argued the extra weight hasn't cost him any speed.

Hawkins is still a strong option. He led the Hokies with 749 rushing yards last season at 6.3 yards per carry. Saturday's third-quarter fumble, which gave Boston College the ball at the Tech 22, doesn't change that. He still deserves a real share of the work.

The depth chart was tested

Virginia Tech went to Chestnut Hill without receiver Ayden Greene and two starting offensive linemen. Justin Terry, an Ohio State transfer, suffered a leg injury in the first half at Maryland. Right guard Montavious Cunningham was injured in practice during the week and ruled out before kickoff.

The replacements had little experience. Sophomore Michael Troutman III, who had not appeared in a game before Saturday, started at right guard. Redshirt senior Brody Meadows, another reserve pressed into the lineup, left midway through the second quarter, and Tech had to patch the line again. Overton still ran for 209 yards behind it.

Greene's absence opened the door for Jackson, who finished with three catches for 41 yards and the touchdown that set up the tying two-point conversion. Franklin praised how confidently he caught the ball in the wet and called his day a lesson for the whole locker room about staying ready.

The defense got its own test with 6:45 left, when linebacker Kaleb Spencer, a senior captain, was ejected for targeting. The unit held anyway. McKenzie ran three more times and threw four passes, all incomplete. On that same drive, Isaiah Brown-Murray's 3-yard tackle for loss helped force the punt that set up Overton's 76-yarder.

Pitt visits Lane Stadium on Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, leaving the Hokies a six-day turnaround after playing in a nor'easter.

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