The 2026 Virginia Tech Football season is upon us as James Franklin gets set to make his debut leading the Hokies. With the season finally upon us, it's time for us to make our predictions for how the Hokies will do this fall.
Tim Thomas
Prediction: 8-4 (4-4 ACC)
The primary range feels like 6-9 wins for the Hokies this as this is a solid team that James Franklin has for his first season, but the Hokies also have arguably the toughest ACC schedule out there.
It's hard to envision VT winning 10+ games in year 1 of James Franklin's tenure given the tricky trio of road games that the Hokies have at Miami, SMU, and Clemson. If VT does win 10+ games, the Hokies might be giving Franklin an early extension to make sure they don't lose him if a top 10 brand in the sport has an opening.
Games against VMI, ODU, Maryland, Boston College, and Stanford all fall into should-win games even though Maryland and BC are road games, but both teams are bottom tier Power 4 outfits this season.
That makes this season about four games: Pittsburgh, California, Georgia Tech, Virginia.
Having three of these four games against similar weight class teams at home certainly helps the Hokies' chances. The game against Cal is a tricky one but it does help that the Hokies get an extra day with the Pitt game being on a Friday night. UVA looks like the best of these four given the strong offensive line they have, though Beau Pribula and the Cavaliers' passing attack remains largely untested.
The Hokies have the skill talent on offense to be a dangerous team this season while also having a defensive back group that continues to look stronger with the addition of South Carolina transfer DB DQ Smith. VT also has a solid starting defensive tackle pair but there are questions at offensive line, DE, and LB that likely will dictate the ceiling of this team.
Ultimately, my prediction comes back to how James Franklin has a reputation for winning the games he's supposed to, minus the UCLA and Northwestern losses that led to his demise last season. I also have a hard time envisioning Franklin going below .500 in the ACC. Add in the fact that this is a young team that should improve and will benefit from having most of their toss-up games at home and I think VT finishes 8-4 in what would be a very good year 1 for Franklin.
Adam Firebaugh
Since James Franklin arrived in Blacksburg last fall, Hokies fans have rightfully been excited for what feels like epochal change coming to the football program at last. It's been a decade since there was any semblance of real hope in Lane Stadium.
Although there is plenty to be excited about this fall, I'm taking a more cautious approach. Still, I believe this season will be a stark improvement on last year and will set up tis program for real success in the future. Here are my predictions:
1. Virginia Tech will go 7-5 (3-5 ACC) this fall.
- Wins: VMI, Old Dominion, Maryland, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Virginia
- Losses: Pitt, Cal, Clemson, SMU, Miami
The room for error in James Franklin's first season is fairly slim, given the difficulty of the Hokies' schedule. Could I see Tech picking up a win against either Pitt or Cal to improve to 8-4? Sure, but they'll almost certainly drop at least one of the two, if not both. There are just too many question marks up and down the roster to allow me to comfortably pick a better record than 7-5. That spread at first may not at first glance seem impressive given the amount of hype surrounding this program, but we have to remember that this team was 3-9 just a year ago. I think any rational Hokies fan will gladly take a >100% increase in win totals in Franklin's first year on the sideline. If the schedule wasn't so tough—the Hokies play the five of the league's top six teams in the preseason poll, three of them on the road—I'd feel better about Tech's chances to go on a run. But the back half of the slate that features road trips to Cal, Clemson, SMU, and Miami just doesn't bode well for a team in the first year of a regime change.
2. Marcellous Hawkins and Jeff Overton Jr. will each rush for 700+ yards.
I'm fairly confident with this one, assuming they can stay healthy, which is no sure thing. Overton missed the first eight games last year with a knee injury, and Hawkins missed most of the spring recovering from his own ailment.
Both return after having stellar campaigns in 2025. Hawkins logged 749 yards and a score, averaging an eye-popping 6.3 yards per carry, while Overton burst onto the scene late with 146 yards on 25 total carries in the final four contests, and scored a touchdown of his own against a national title defense in Miami. The duo accumulated these totals behind a less than cohesive offensive front that cycled through bodies on an almost week-to-week basis. Additionally, Kyron Drones had 644 yards on 170 carries in 2025. Now, with a much less mobile Ethan Grunkemeyer starting at quarterback, Hawkins and Overton will have that many more chances to tote the rock. Add in a revamped offensive line that has much more depth and experience to work with and the odds of the Hokies having two feature backs become much more favorable.
3. The offense will finish in the top third of the ACC, while the defense lags behind to a bottom-half finish in the league.
Just looking at who the Hokies will likely rely on to make plays on both sides of the ball, it feels as though the offense is much better equipped to have a big year.
In addition to improving the quarterback position with Grunkemeyer and returning both leading running backs from last season, the offensive line should be better, at least on paper, after building depth in the offseason via the transfer portal. Duke transfer Que'Sean Brown is a certified playmaker on the outside, and former Louisiana Tech Bulldog Marlion Jackson appears poised for a breakout season to act as a third receiver option with Brown and Ayden Greene.
This calculus hasn't even taken into account that arguably the deepest room on the roster is the tight ends, who are headlined by Penn State transfer Luke Reynolds and supported by veterans like Benji Gosnell and Harrison Saint Germain, with Ja'Ricous Hairston providing another solid option.
On defense, more questions remain unanswered, starting up front with defensive tackle depth behind preseason All-ACC star Kemari Copeland, especially if emmett Laws' absence is long-term. The linebackers haven't had a bona fide second line emerge just yet, and the safeties room, despite receiving much needed help in the form of former South Carolina captain DQ Smith this week, remains a spot for concern. The presumed starting cornerbacks, Jaquez White and Joshua Clarke, should have solid seasons, but both are coming off injuries and could be banged up coming down the stretch when they're needed most.
That's not to say that this defense couldn't surprise people. There's real talent in places, but the lack of depth and relative uncertainty of surrounding rotations at other positions gives me pause.
Josh Poslusny
Prediction: 8-4 (4-4 ACC)
- Wins: VMI, Old Dominion, Maryland, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Virginia
- Losses: Cal, Clemson, SMU, Miami
I think the Hokies will be able to get off to a rather hot start in five games where vegas will — most likely — have the Hokies as a favorite. Making a cross-country trip after five consecutive weeks, I expect Cal to get the first stumble that the Hokies will face in the Franklin era.
Though, I do think the Hokies will turn this back around in Lane Stadium, beating a Georgia Tech team that lost a significant amount of talent both on the field and sidelines this offseason. Following that, the schedule really gets tough for the Hokies.
Clemson is always a tough place to play, and SMU has yet to drop a conference game in their home field, so I expect a pair of losses there before the Hokies bounce back in a big way against a bottom-feeding Stanford team.
The Hokies then trek down south to Miami, who I expect to be one of the top teams in the country this season, and I don't see them walking out of Hard Rock Stadium as winners.
They finish the season up with Virginia at home, and so much of this team will be looking to get revenge on a heartbreaking loss to finish the 2025 season, allowing the Hokies to finish 8-4, finding bowl eligibility for the first time since 2024 and setting a foundation for the James Franklin era.
