While a quarterback controversy may be part of Virginia Tech’s future, that’s not the case this weekend.
That’s probably for the best, with a trip to No. 5 Florida State on Saturday’s itinerary.
With preseason No. 1 quarterback Grant Wells still recovering from a leg injury, Kyron Drones gets his fourth straight starting assignment against the Seminoles. For the past two weeks, there was no doubt Drones was going to be the starter, which has benefited the quarterback and the rest of the offense at practice.
“It’s grown tremendously — both my comfort level and my confidence,” said Drones, who joined the Hokies last spring after transferring from Baylor. “As I get better every week, I feel like everyone gets better with the amount of reps they get. I know that helps me. … I’m a person who learns when I’m in the process.”
Drones’ play has also improved as he’s taken more in-game snaps. His biggest jump happened last week, when he led the Hokies to a 38-21 home win over Pittsburgh in their ACC opener.
Drones only threw the ball 19 times (after attempting an average of 34 passes in his first two starts), but completed 12 of those for 228 yards and three touchdowns. To make matters even more difficult for the Panthers, Drones also rushed for 41 yards and two more scores.
“When you watch (Drones), you really like what he was able to do,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said Monday in his weekly press conference. “He’s a big kid, … and he’s got the right mindset on how to (run their offense).”
Ever since Drones set foot in Blacksburg, Hokies coach Brent Pry and offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen have expressed a great amount of enthusiasm about having the redshirt sophomore from the suburban Houston area in the program.
Although Wells had started all 11 games for Virginia Tech in 2022 and 34 straight starts overall dating back to his time at Marshall, Pry did not name Wells the 2023 opening-day starter until the final days of fall camp.
Pry and Bowen said prior to the season opener that they still wanted Drones to be part of the offensive game plan despite Wells’ designation as the starter. However, Drones saw very little action before Wells was injured late in Week 2 against Purdue.
Once it became clear that Wells would need some time to heal from his leg injury, the focus became on readjusting the offensive game plan to suit Drones’ style. It was not always a smooth transition in losses to Rutgers and Marshall.
In his first start, against Rutgers, Drones’ first offensive possession ended after a botched handoff led to a turnover, and Virginia Tech was playing from behind the rest of the game.
The next week at Marshall, Drones led the Hokies to a touchdown on their first drive, but penalties and turnovers again proved to be costly and the Herd handed Virginia Tech its third straight loss.
“Taking that loss last week (against Marshall was tough), but I knew we just had to keep going with this being our first conference game,” Drones said after the Pitt game. “We wanted this week to start (the conference) 1-0, and I just kept gaining more confidence and was getting better all week in practice.”
Against Pittsburgh, Drones and the rest of the Hokies’ offense managed to avoid many of the problems that had hampered them in the previous two games.
On the ground, the Hokies have gone from rushing for 11 total yards against Purdue to 128 at Rutgers to 184 at Marshall to 199 against Pitt. Drones threw for more than 200 yards for the first time for Virginia Tech despite throwing just half as many passes as he had averaged in his first two starts.
“You never know until a guy gets into a game, but we had seen him do these things in practice,” Bowen said. “I’m super-proud of him.
“The energy he brings, the leadership he brings and how the guys rally around him because of the way he plays, that’s something you really see when you get him on the field on Saturdays.”
The Hokies expect a loud and hostile environment will be awaiting their arrival at Doak Campbell Stadium against the Seminoles (4-0). The offense has been practicing to constant — and loud — Seminoles war chants all week to simulate what they will be facing Saturday.
“I know I’m tired of hearing it,” Pry said after practice Wednesday. “But I think it helps. I didn’t know our sound system here could be that loud.”
Drones said the most hostile crowd he has faced was probably when he played for Baylor last year at West Virginia (the Bears lost that game 43-40). He expects it to be louder in Tallahassee, and he’s sure the Seminoles will be motivated when they enter their stadium to all that noise.
Drones said he certainly was when he came out last weekend for his first home start as “Enter Sandman” blasted and the Hokies’ fans screamed prior to the Pittsburgh game.
“I looked around when I ran out, and did a whole 360,” Drones said “Everyone was going crazy during ‘Enter Sandman.’ I know (how great) the first home game against ODU was like. But this one was just better to me just because I was starting.”
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