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

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — 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.

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.

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.

VMI: Hosts Bucknell on Saturday.

Virginia Tech: Hosts Old Dominion on Saturday.

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