Hawkins, Overton carry Virginia Tech over VMI 73-3 in Franklin debut

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- — Marcellous Hawkins Jr. rushed for three touchdowns, and Jeffrey Overton Jr. rushed for 108 yards and two scores to lead Virginia Tech to a 73-3 victory over VMI on Saturday in the debut of Hokies’ head coach James Franklin. Franklin, who was fired last October by Penn State after 12 seasons and hired by Virginia Tech 36 days later, witnessed a dominating performance by the Hokies (1-0) in their opener. Virginia Tech’s offense scored on its first six possessions and punted just once during the game. The Hokies’ defense held VMI (0-2) to just 83 yards, and the special teams blocked two punts, recovering one for a touchdown. “There’s a ton of teams across the country that play opponents that people may say, ‘You’re supposed to do this,’ or ‘You’re supposed to do that,’ and they don’t,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, we did what we were supposed to do. We executed in all three phases. We did it for four quarters.” Hired to rebuild a once-proud Virginia Tech program that has suffered losing seasons in five of the past six years, Franklin brought in 27 transfers, including 12 who followed him from his previous stop. Arguably the most important of those, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, enjoyed a great Virginia Tech debut. Grunkemeyer, who started the final seven games for Penn State last season, completed 10 of his first 11 passes. He finished 17 of 20 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Led by Overton, who scored on runs of 50 and 23 yards, and Grunkemeyer, the Hokies finished with 619 total yards. “That’s probably the most talented football team that VMI has ever played,” VMI coach Ashley Ingram said. “It’s easy when you get beat like this to point the finger, but we all need to look internally and see what we can all do better. We’ve got a great group of guys. They’ll keep fighting and we’ll get better as the season progresses.” Key Takeaways VMI: The Keydets, picked to finish last in the Southern Conference, were simply overmatched in this one. First-year coach Ashley Ingram has a tough job ahead of him to get this group competitive. Virginia Tech: Franklin almost could not have scripted a better debut as the Hokies’ head coach. The Hokies’ 73 points were their most since scoring 77 against Akron in 1995. A Nod To The Past A few days before the Virginia Tech-VMI game, former legendary Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer left a message for Franklin, wishing him the best in his debut, and Franklin made sure to mention both Beamer and former longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who played a role in getting Franklin to Blacksburg. “I hope they watched the game today and said, ‘That’s how Virginia Tech football is supposed to look,’” Franklin said. Number To Note Virginia Tech’s defense finished with 18 tackles for a loss -- the most by the program since the school started organizing records in 1987. Franklin credited defensive coordinator Brent Pry after the game. Pry was fired as the head coach of the Hokies after three games last season, but in a somewhat unorthodox move, stayed in Blacksburg as Franklin’s defensive coordinator. The two worked together at both Vanderbilt and Penn State. “I think Coach Pry is the best defensive coordinator in college football. We’re fortunate to have him here,” Franklin said. “We are fortunate to keep Coach Pry in this role, and to be honest, I think he’s back doing what he loves.” Up next VMI: Hosts Bucknell on Saturday. Virginia Tech: Hosts Old Dominion on Saturday. Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.