Five Notes From Virginia Tech Head Coach James Franklin's Sept. 7 Press Conference

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech football held its weekly press conference Monday afternoon ahead of its Week 2 game against Old Dominion, a squad that thrashed the Hokies 45-26 last year at Lane Stadium. Ahead of the clash, here's the five important notes to glean from head coach James Franklin's presser: No. 1: The backup quarterback job remains unfilled. Bryce Baker manned the QB2 spot for Virginia Tech's opener against VMI, completing 10 of his 12 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown in a dominant 73-3 victory. That included a 40-yard touchdown toss to wideout Chanz Wiggins that marked the wide receiver's first catch and touchdown. "Bryce went in and did some really nice things," Franklin said. "It's funny we hadn't hit that part of the progression [in the naked bootleg play where Baker threw a touchdown to Wiggins], and it had been open a couple times. It's really not part of our true read; it's more of an alert. Once he went through his first progression, his second progression, his third progression, he had time, looked down the field; it was open, and [he] took it." Still, Virginia Tech is not prepared to name a permanent backup quarterback behind Grunkemeyer, who went 17-of-20 for 224 yards and exited with the Hokies up 52-0 over VMI. "I thought {Baker] did a nice job, but it's not like we're ready to crown him as the No. 2 quarterback... that will continue to be a competition," Franklin said of the backup job, which Kelden Ryan and Troy Huhn are also fighting for. "All three of those guys, again, we feel like the competition is close enough that it will continue, and we'll see how that plays out this week, as well." No. 2: Virginia Tech's focus appears to be on the future rather than the past. Last year, Virginia Tech lost to Old Dominion 45-26. The defeat dropped that year's team to 0-3 and was the precursor to then-head coach Brent Pry's firing a day later. "We'll watch last year's tape and be aware of it, but no, I don't think we're going to need to offer things like that as fuel," Franklin said. "The reality is they already have our attention. 2-2 over the last four years, and the last time we played them was not just a loss, but a convincing loss. ... I don't think we're going to have to do any bulletin-board material, any of those types of things." Left guard Layth Ghannam concurred with the assessment, saying that the focus, rather, is on trying to go 12-0. "We want to come out here winning every game on our schedule, so that's enough motivation to be able to open up. ... we don't need old games that'll motivate us," he said. No. 3: The sting of last year aside, Franklin thinks highly of the Old Dominion defense. Franklin lauded defense coordinator Blake Seiler for a group that he labeled "fast and physical." "They make their mind up; they are triggering, downhill and running the ball," Franklin said. "... On defense, if you can get all 11 guys running to the ball with the right mentality, you can be a pretty good defense just with that kind of main core ingredient." Old Dominion also works with a unique not-often-seen scheme: a three-down front that features a third safety. For Ffranklin's team, the added factor is how to account for the third safety in the run game and that specific fit. "They do a really good job there, and obviously, it's going to be a factor in coverage as well," Franklin said. "But they do a nice job of presenting; they do a lot of different things. offensively, you have to be prepared... Coach Seiler does a really good job of keeping it simple for them."a No. 4: What are Virginia Tech's goals for future non-conference matchups? The bottom line, Franklin said, is that each scheduling decision should be strategic with the Hokies' best interest in mind. In his eyes, budget should be a factor but not the sole determinant of which games end up on the schedule. "It's hard to predict, also, when you're making these schedules, how teams are going to be five, six, seven, eight years out." Franklin does believe, though, that its non-conference schedule should allow for as many home games as possible and that he doesn't think Virginia Tech "should ever have a six-game home schedule." For him, seven home games serves the team better from the standpoints of competitive advantage, home field, budget, how it helps the community, etc., etc. "In those years where you're going to have less conference home games, you've got to have more non-conference home games to make sure that you're able to get seven [at home]," Franklin said. No. 5: A.J. Brand has flashed, though Franklin still thinks he's raw. The wide receiver switched from quarterback in the spring, a byproduct of him slotting in as the likely QB5 at the time. Brand functioned as a Wildcat quarterabck on a pair of plays in Saturday's opener against VMI, punching in a 1-yard run for his first touchdown at Virginia Tech. "He's still raw as a receiver, but he's got some God-given talents and abilities that you can't necessarily teach. When he's got the ball in his hands, he can make hings happen. He did it against our defense all spring and a little bit in summer camp, as well. But he's still kind of an inexperienced wide receiver and learning some of those movements, techniques and fundamentals. ... I think he's got a very, very bright future." Honorable Mention: The offensive line produced a solid first outing, one Franklin sees as a building block. Virginia Tech's offensive line allowed one negative play Saturday against VMI, while allowing its rushing attack to flow for 6.7 yards per carry. "It's a good building block, right?" Franklin said when the topic was mentioned. "It's a good first step, opportunity to create an identity, opportunity to build confidence." Franklin also mentioned that the amount of players Virginia Tech cycled through as well helped to create depth and maintain a healthy locker room, but also to figure out things from a scheme standpoint. Saturday was a solid step in that direction. "It was a good first step for us from a protection standpoint, from a run game standpoint," Franklin said. [Editor's note: The topic of 9/11, which is this Friday, was brought up during the press conference. Franklin mentioned that he had a teammate at East Stroudsburg Martin, Michael Wortley, who was in the towers that day and died, and recalled taking his Penn State team to the 9/11 Memorial while in New York for the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl. I opted to leave his comments out of the notes out of respect for the moment and because I didn't feel it was appropriate to condense them into a takeaway.] Add us as a preferred source on Google