The long-awaited James Franklin era finally began on Saturday night in Blacksburg against VMI at Lane Stadium. All season long fans were wondering just how the Hokies were going to look against VMI, an FCS school that dropped it's season opener last week at Idaho State.
Franklin mentioned, since he was hired, that he has a chip on his shoulder, and there were a lot of others who are in the program this year who have a chip on their shoulder, including new defensive coordinator Brent Pry, who was fired nearly a year ago as head coach and agreed to come back as Franklin's DC in a bizarre move.
Virginia Tech wasted little time in proving that things are going to be different by jumping out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and 45-0 at halftime after a dominating opening 30 minutes. In fact, they accomplished something that hasn't been done since the Frank Beamer days.
Virginia Tech has first half offensive explosion
The 45 points hung by the Hokies on the Keydets in the opening half were the first time Virginia Tech has scored 45 points in a first half since the 2015 Independence Bowl against Tulsa, which, according to David Cunningham of Tech Sideline, was Frank Beamer's final game.
Virginia Tech scored touchdowns on its first four possessions from running back Marcellous Hawkins and Jeffrey Overton, Jr., and the special teams blocked two punts, which led to two touchdowns. The Hokies had 336 yards of total offense.
Maybe the most noticeable thing in the opening half was the energy level of the Hokies. Sure, it might seem like a lot, but it wasn't there last year, and it has been missing for a while. Again, it's VMI, but reaching levels in a couple of areas that haven't been reached in some time was a good start to the first half of the James Franklin era.
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