When it came down to decision day for quarterback Malik Washington back in 2024, it was down to Maryland, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, and Central Florida. The Hokies were very much in on him, but former head coach Brent Pry and his staff ended up losing out to Maryland.
Washington came in and made a big impact last season as a freshman, and back in December, he announced that he was coming back in 2026 for the Terrapins. While that's good news for Maryland, it could be bad news for first-year head coach James Franklin and Virginia Tech.
The Hokies will play their first true road game in 2026 under Franklin when they head to Maryland for a night game on Sept. 19. Cody Nagel of CBS Sports listed the top returning signal-callers that are tough to tackle. Just as luck would have it, he's the top-ranked player that's tough to bring down. That's just lovely.
Virginia Tech defense will have its hands full with Maryland QB Malik Washington
There was a reason why Washington was so sought-after during his recruitment. Virginia Tech would have loved to have landed him, but now they will have their hands full in Week 3 rather than having him on their roster.
"While many freshmen need time to adjust to the speed of Power Four defenses, Washington looked comfortable from the start, consistently finding ways to escape pressure and extend plays,'' wrote Nagel. "He finished last season with a 93.8% sack avoidance rate, the second-best mark among the qualified quarterbacks in this study, and ranked among the top five in four of the five elusiveness metrics measured.''
Sure, Washington might not even be on Virginia Tech's roster if he had committed to them following the coaching change. He might have left in the portal, but he is going to make what is an underrated tough game for the Hokies that much tougher. Scrambling quarterbacks have been an issue in the past for Virginia Tech teams. Maybe that changes under Franklin and new defensive coordinator Brent Pry.
Virginia Tech gets two home games against VMI and Old Dominion to work out the kinks in the new system, but things will ramp up after that, beginning with Washington and Maryland. It'll be interesting to see how the Hokies game plan for him.
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