00:00Morning, Bill.
00:01Morning.
00:02It is good to be with you guys again.
00:03It's clearly football season.
00:05Good to have you.
00:05We're talking tech football on the Junkies.
00:07Yeah.
00:08It's been a while.
00:10So your thoughts on, you know, you can't put too much stock into a huge 70-point win over
00:15VMI.
00:16You know, they haven't played a team like VMI to start the year in many years.
00:20Just kind of looking at the openers, last year it was South Carolina, it was Vanderbilt
00:24the year before that, Old Dominion a couple years, North Carolina, NC State.
00:27So, all right, they took a step down and said, all right, let's get this big win, a lot of
00:33energy at Lane, but, you know, that's what good teams should do against a less talented
00:39team.
00:39They should destroy them, and that's what they did.
00:41But I think the story of this particular Hokie roster is how many different players there
00:46are, and obviously with Coach Franklin there, you're going to get that.
00:48Yeah, totally different team.
00:49We've got, what, 27 new players?
00:51Yeah.
00:51You know, the last time we played a Southern Conference team at home a few years ago, the
00:55Hokies played Furman, and they were losing at the half.
00:58So, yeah, you do what you're supposed to do against a team like that, and there was a
01:01lot of respect for VMI.
01:03I think we understood that they had a new coach and a lot of new players and whatnot,
01:07but, yeah, man, it was insane in there.
01:10I mean, the game was sold out.
01:11It was almost like, I felt like we were playing Miami in 2004 again.
01:14It looked crazy.
01:15It was crazy, and a lot of fun.
01:17But, you know, ODU this week, and then up in Maryland next week.
01:20So, each game, I think, gets a bit tougher as we go through this.
01:22Yeah, it starts to get real.
01:23And the Hokies, obviously, they really owe Old Dominion.
01:29That was a tough night last year.
01:30Wasn't it?
01:31Yeah.
01:31So, kind of give us your thoughts on that matchup coming up tomorrow.
01:35Well, you know, it's kind of this triangle between two or three schools, Penn State,
01:38Virginia Tech, and Old Dominion.
01:40Because I think everybody on both sidelines tomorrow at noon at Lane was with Franklin at
01:46Penn State, Ricky Ronnie, who was Franklin's offensive coordinator, is ODU's coach.
01:51And so, there's a lot of familiarity.
01:55Coach Franklin, he's the godfather of Ricky Ronnie's youngest kids.
02:00In fact, he told us this week in a meeting, he gifted a St. Bernard.
02:05The family dog to the Ronnie's was a gift from the Franklins.
02:08So, that shows you how close the families are.
02:11It's a big dog.
02:11Yeah, that's a big gift right there, Bill.
02:14It was a puppy at the time.
02:15Yeah.
02:16Probably he's 200 pounds now.
02:18Yeah, well, it's going to stop at 30 pounds.
02:20He promised.
02:21Yes.
02:21Yeah.
02:22No, but I mean, last year, they came in and boat raced the Hokies.
02:25I mean, ODU put up a really, you know, and Colton Joseph was their quarterback.
02:28He transferred to Wisconsin.
02:29He was really good.
02:30I mean, we knew that.
02:31So, it's a different ODU team as well.
02:34Sold out again tomorrow, too.
02:35I think the big thing here, more so than how the Hokies played, was just the atmosphere.
02:40I mean, it really felt like a major game.
02:42And it's been a while since we've had one of those in Blacksburg.
02:44And we're going to have the same thing here tomorrow.
02:47What's it felt like so far with the new regime, with Coach Franklin taking over?
02:53Well, you see better players on the field in practice.
02:55We saw that back in the spring.
02:57I mean, Ethan Gronkemeyer started seven games, the last seven games, at quarterback for Penn State last year.
03:01He won the last four.
03:02He's really good.
03:03You could see that.
03:04I think Luke Reynolds, who is Penn State's starting tight end, you can see why he's starting for the Hokies
03:09now.
03:09And some of our returning guys, like Jeffrey Overton from up in Woodbridge, man, he had a heck of a
03:16game again.
03:17And he's only played five college games, but you could see why he was so highly recruited.
03:21Yeah.
03:21So, Overton and Hawkins had big games, but it was VMI, all right?
03:24Yeah.
03:25Old Dominion, I think they beat, who did they beat last week?
03:30Norfolk State.
03:31Norfolk.
03:31They beat Mike Vick's team.
03:32Yeah.
03:32Didn't put up a ton of points, but they did beat.
03:34You know, they struggled offensively.
03:35I was watching that last night.
03:37They were very run heavy.
03:39They didn't throw the ball much last week.
03:42Their quarterback was the leading rusher in the game.
03:44Right.
03:44So, we'll see what type of attack they use here tomorrow.
03:49I mean, they've got a new offensive coordinator, who, by the way, was with Coach Franklin at
03:55Kansas State before he ended up going to Maryland way back then.
04:00So, that's what I'm saying.
04:01There's a lot of familiarities.
04:02But I do think that the Hokies certainly know that, I mean, Old Dominion has beaten Virginia
04:08Tech in football three times in the last 10 years.
04:11Yeah.
04:12So, they're not going to sneak up on these guys.
04:14Yeah.
04:14And Franklin was talking about that yesterday, I believe, when he was talking to the local
04:18media.
04:19And he said, look, and he obviously has a lot of respect for Ronnie and what he can
04:23do.
04:23But he said, look, Old Dominion, they've come in here and beat us before.
04:27They believe they can beat them.
04:29So, he said, we need to be prepared for that.
04:32And he said, the fans need to come out.
04:34This is a big game.
04:35You know, it's not a conference game, but it's still a big game against a team that's
04:39been pretty successful against them.
04:41But getting back to Grunkmeier, you know, Drones was a disappointment, in my opinion.
04:46Now, he was asked to do a lot of things that he probably couldn't do, and he didn't have
04:51the overall talent around him that Grunkmeier does now.
04:55But kind of give us your thoughts on Grunk versus what Drones did the last couple of years.
05:01Much better pocket passer, for sure.
05:05You know, he was highly recruited coming out of basically the Columbus area of Ohio.
05:11Went to Penn State.
05:12He looked really good.
05:14And I'll tell you what, and I don't want to say that the Hokies have, like, four arms
05:17in their quarterback room like the 92 Braves.
05:20I don't think we got Cy Young winners.
05:22But, like, Grunkmeier and Bryce Baker and Troy Hewn, I mean, when you watch these guys
05:27throw the ball in practice, like, they all might have started last year.
05:32So, I think that that, and that's nothing against Kyron.
05:34I think that he, you know, he made an NFL camp.
05:36He was with the Packers.
05:37But I just think they've really improved the QB room.
05:41And Grunkmeier is really poised.
05:43You know, he was voted a team captain.
05:44Coach Franklin let the guys pick that.
05:47And so, he's got those leadership skills.
05:49And, you know, it's a much different Virginia Tech team.
05:52I mean, not only did Coach Franklin bring a whole bunch of players from Penn State,
05:57he brought a bunch of good ones.
05:59And so, it's almost like, you know, an NFL team signing a bunch of free agents.
06:05You know, there are a lot of really talented players out there.
06:07But that's the way college football is these days.
06:09I mean, you can turn it quick if you get the right guys.
06:11Well, they've got the resources now, right?
06:12Bill, I don't need to warn you on this.
06:14This would happen to me if I was in your shoes.
06:16But you're a Hall of Fame broadcaster, not a dumb junkie.
06:20I would probably end up calling him Druckenmiller at one point.
06:24So, yeah, Jim Druckenmiller was our quarterback back in the 90s
06:29that led the Hokies to the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl
06:32and was a first-round pick of the Niners.
06:35But here we are a few years later, and I've got to get those two guys together.
06:40Drunk and Grunk.
06:41We need to get that.
06:42That might be a show.
06:43Maybe, you know, when you guys hang it up, we can get them on a show in D.C.
06:47The Drunk and Grunk Show.
06:48It's a good name.
06:49It works.
06:50We can't lose to ODU, and then it gets real the week after that
06:55because I've got two Terps.
06:57I'm staring at them five feet away.
06:59A week from today, we'll be right up there and driving up.
07:04I'm excited.
07:05You know, I really like the game between Virginia Tech and Maryland.
07:09I know when Coach Beamer, who his closest friend in the business was Coach Freetch,
07:12and he didn't like it.
07:14I always liked the game.
07:15I loved it in hoops.
07:16I wish we played more.
07:18But we're going to play the next couple of years this year, next week,
07:21up in College Park and then down here in Blacksburg following that up.
07:25I like it.
07:25I know our fans like it because, you know, we ask our fans, guys.
07:28We ask our fans to make that drive from Northern Virginia to Blacksburg all the time.
07:33And, you know, that's by far our biggest alumni base, Fairfax, Loudoun,
07:38Princeville, you know, those counties in Northern Virginia.
07:40And it's nice when we can go up and play where they don't have to drive four hours
07:45to see us play.
07:46Yeah, they'll be out in force, no doubt.
07:47Bill, I was talking to somebody at the University of Maryland yesterday.
07:50I said, can I get hooked up with some tickets?
07:52And he goes, bro, I got no more tickets left.
07:55Everybody, all the Hokie fans have bought them all.
07:57Wow.
07:58It's going to be like a home game for the Hokies.
08:00It's going to be a scene.
08:00Hey, you can actually buy tickets, Jason.
08:02Well, I was trying to avoid that.
08:04I was trying to avoid that.
08:06Thanks, Bill.
08:07Always love hearing your voice.
08:09Thanks, guys.
08:09Good to be with you all.
08:10Yep.
08:10All right.
08:10Thanks, Bill.
08:11Play-by-play voice for the Virginia Tech Hokies.
08:14Our college football talk on 106.7 The Fan is presented by Xfinity.
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08:23Next, we hit the skins.
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