When James Franklin was fired at Penn State, one of the many knocks on him was that he wasn't able to win the big game. Nittany Lions fans seem to forget that he took them to the College Football Playoff not too long ago, but that will say they only beat SMU and Boise State. If Matt Campbell did that, they would build a statue for him outside Beaver Stadium.
Anyway, Franklin is at Virginia Tech now, and he is less than two months away from coaching his first game inside Lane Stadium on Sept. 5 against VMI. It will be interesting to see how the Hokies' 2026 season plays out in Franklin's first season in charge.
The schedule on the backend is very difficult in November with road games at SMU and Miami, with home games against Stanford and Virginia sandwiched in between. Speaking of the trip to South Florida to play Miami, that is one game where the Hurricanes could be looking to put the finishing touches on a perfect season if they can get by Notre Dame in South Bend a couple of weeks before. On3’s Crain & Cone college football podcast recently spoke about that game and David Cone dropped a subtle prediction on Virginia Tech in 2026 under Franklin.
On3's David Cone drops a subtle James Franklin prediction for the 2026 Virginia Tech season
Cone was ranking his Top 5 games that could be upsets this fall, and No. 3 was Virginia Tech at Miami on Nov. 21. The only way that it could be one is if Miami beats Notre Dame on the road, and they take the Hokies very, very lightly. However, Cone did have one small, subtle prediction that some might have missed during his explanation.
"(James Franklin) is going to beat someone who we're not thinking,'' Cone said. "They might go 5-7, but hey, a feather in the cap.''
Cone went on to admit that he's very high on Miami, and this was just merely something to watch for when the Hokies visit in November, but he did think that Franklin is going to beat someone nobody is expecting this season? Who could that be? It could be anyone on the schedule, but if he beats someone nobody expects, it'll have to be on the road, as they are likely to be favored, or a slight underdog in all of their home games. Welcome to the James Franklin era in Blacksburg.
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