2025 Hokie Football Notebook: Hokies Win, but Transfer Decisions Loom Large

“If you wanna leave, leave!” 

Last week, after Brent Pry was let go after a 0-3 start, team captain Kelvin Gilliam got up during a team meeting, opened the door, and delivered that message. Gilliam said the Hokies needed to come together and unite behind Interim Head Coach Philip Montgomery. Montgomery was Gilliam's preferred choice over JC Price and Fontel Mines, who some fans wanted to see lead the team through the rest of the season. With almost a full season in front of them, and all of league play, Gilliam said Montgomery’s experience as a Head Coach is vital. 

Montgomery showed veteran leadership on Saturday, as he guided the Hokies to their first win of the season and called the plays for an offense that amassed over 400 yards. Sam Siefeks’ group also showed out as Wofford finished the game with negative rushing yards, and the Hokies brought Terriers’ QB Jayden Whitaker down four times and forced one interception. The Hokies also got some great production out of some young players, highlighted by freshman CB Jojo Crim, who got the start opposite Isaiah Brown-Murray. 

The most important on-field performance on Saturday was QB Kyron Drones. Drones went 27/32 through the air, and those incompletions were mostly drops. He threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns. Drones would add a pair of short scores on the ground. Overall, Drones played on time, hitting multiple receivers with anticipation and fitting balls into some tight windows. Drones also showed some nice processing, moving through reads and finding checkdowns for big gains. Montgomery was encouraged by how Kyron saw the field. He said Wofford’s defense did a good job keeping the roof on by playing deep coverage. That meant the shots the Hokies wanted to take weren’t there, forcing Drones to throw underneath. Those checkdowns led to a career day for P.J. Prioleau, who led the team in receiving yards. 

But for all the good things that happened on the field, the biggest storyline coming out of Lane Stadium is who wasn’t on the field. The Hokies had several players out on both sides of the ball. Some were due to injuries, like RB Terion Stewart and OL Johnny Garrett. Others were sitting out as they continue to weigh their option to enter the transfer portal that opened after Pry was fired. So far, only CB Dante Lovett has confirmed his exit from the team, but that number could grow now that some players have exhausted their four-game grace period to redshirt. Unsurprisingly, Montgomery was pretty vague on the guys sitting out, saying the team is having conversations with several players and is keeping those talks internal. This week should tell us a lot more about what the roster will look like for the remainder of 2025. 

So, as Virginia Tech fans breathe a short sigh of relief and celebrate a win against an overmatched Wofford team, it is right back into the fire. Between a potentially active week in the portal and coverage of a coaching search that grows more absurd by the hour, it could be a long seven days before Tech begins ACC play down in Raleigh.