The Foundation is Being Set (in Stone)

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? It feels good to feel good, and Saturday night felt good.

At 6-2, Tech has doubled its 2025 win total before Halloween and that’s cause for celebration. As the Hokies enter a much-needed week off two-thirds of the way through the season, let’s examine this program in year one of its “re-establishment.”

Statistically, it’s hard to argue with the turnaround. To wit:

In eight of the ten statistical categories above, the Hokies have improved dramatically. Beyond that, there are the monkeys-off-our back boxes we’ve been waiting to check. Eight games into this season, we’ve already addressed a number of them:

• First out-of-conference P4 win since 2017

• First four-game winning streak since 2017

• First time with three road wins in a season since 2018

• First win at Clemson since 2007

• One-score game success has turned (see Stat Action below)

Most of these players don’t know the historical significance of these milestones. But that’s not really the point. Building a program involves preparing for something, executing it on the field and experiencing success. Do that enough times, and confidence becomes expectation.

I mentioned resilience in this column just a couple of weeks ago. The more times this team shows game-over-game and intra-game resilience, the more they know they can do it in the future.

Think back to the last several seasons. How did you feel when Tech got the ball at its own 20, needing a touchdown? A quarterback power, a weak throw to the boundary and the inevitable third-and-long. We lacked confidence that we’d score and we were surprised when we did.

The unshakable Ethan Grunkemeyer (credit: Grant Pearrell)

Now? We expect this offense to move the ball. We’ve repeatedly seen, even in defeat, its ability to drive the ball down the field and score when needed. We saw it again on two long touchdown drives Saturday night. That breeds confidence.

Brent Pry’s defense held the line after an unsuccessful fake punt on Saturday, then put the game away with some last-minute pressure. That breeds confidence.

That’s how culture is built. When the behaviors that produce success become repeatable. When players expect to execute in critical moments. When adversity becomes something to respond to rather than something to fear. When winning stops feeling like a surprise.

That confidence is part of the program re-establishment. A foundation set in stone, you might say.

Beyond the statistical box-checking, though, I’m reminded of Coach Franklin’s response to what success looks like this year. To paraphrase, Franklin said he wanted to put a product on the field that Coach Beamer or Coach Foster would be proud of. I’d say he has.

The climb is never linear. There are always setbacks, and besides, this program is being built for the long run. But it appears that the Hokies are building something to be proud of and excited about.

What isn’t set in stone quite yet

There have been frustrations with offensive line play, leading to a stagnant running game and sacks in the passing game. Few teams have the depth to absorb injuries to three offensive linemen. And in the eleven minutes that Franklin was afforded to rebuild 15 years of moribund rosters, he apparently wasn’t able to create a ready-to-dominate two-deep at offensive line.

Y’all, I’m going to show him a little grace.

These guys will get better. Multiple freshmen have played on the offensive line this year, and the best thing about freshmen, they say, is that they become sophomores.

Similar struggles have been seen in the secondary, but a top-40 scoring defense after being 105th a season ago is still ample progress. I expect the talent level to rise next season through both development and acquisition.

Sure, the missed opportunities of two last-play losses sting, but margins are thinner than ever across college football, and every fan base in America (outside of undefeated Miami, Utah and UCLA) has at least one loss they’re stewing over.

There is a difference between having a foundation and a finished product. Eight games into the Franklin era, the former is becoming increasingly apparent. The latter remains a work in progress.

So what?

I’ll remind you what I wrote a couple of weeks ago. The consensus season-win total for the Hokies was 6.5. Tech now stands at six.

The next four games are only partially about how many Tech wins. They’re also about how convincingly the program demonstrates that its improvement is sustainable.

SMU, Stanford, Miami and Virginia will provide four more opportunities to demonstrate that the lessons learned over the first eight games are taking hold. A strong finish will move the conversation beyond “Are we on schedule?”

We’re not there yet. But it sure feels like we’re building toward something rather than trying to avoid falling further behind.

When’s the last time it felt like that?

Stat Action:

• Between the last time Tech was ranked (9/18/21 at West Virginia) and when Brent Pry was relieved of his head coaching duties, the Hokies were 2-15 in one-score games. That mark is 2-2 this year.

• The Hokies reached six wins on October 24. That’s the earliest Tech has become bowl eligible since a 59-7 win against North Carolina on October 21, 2017.

• Freshman Benjamin Eziuka was the highest-grading offensive lineman (PFF grade of 66.4 in 56 snaps) against Clemson Saturday night.

• The Hokies have entered the last 67 games unranked, the longest streak since the beginning of the Beamer era. Tech is likely a win at SMU away from breaking that streak.

• Lastly,

  Paul Petera
  @paulpetera

  Lost in the shuffle of last night’s win, a shout out to Nathan Totten, who averaged 51.7 yards on his three second half punts. #HiddenYardage