The Virginia Tech defense beat the offense 50-21 in the program’s 2025 spring game on Saturday in Lane Stadium.
“I thought we got really good work in,” Hokies head coach Brent Pry said of his overall spring practice takeaways. “There are still things we have to clean up, obviously, which I don’t know if I’ve ever come out of a spring where we didn’t, but we had a fair amount of new learning on both sides of the ball. I thought we made pretty good headway there. We found some guys that developed, that turned the corner, that we weren’t sure if they could help us or not in the fall, and it looks like they can. …
“I thought the competition piece was really good at practice. I thought the guys competed. We didn’t have to prod them to do that, so that’s a good sign as well. I think the coaches, the new staff, understanding how we do things, how we operate, day in and day out, that’s not an easy transition, and I thought we did a nice job as well.”
The defense took advantage of a scoring system heavily weighted in its favor for the spring game — with touchdowns, takeaways, fourth-down stops, three-and-outs, sacks and tackles all earning points — and got up big early behind two 11-point swings.
Second-string quarterback Kelden Ryan, a true freshman who enrolled early, fumbled a snap in the first quarter, which linebacker George Ballance picked up and took 22 yards to the house. (He garnered 11 points — seven for a touchdown and four for a takeaway.)
On the following drive, cornerback Dante Lovett wrestled a pass away from wideout Chanz Wiggins and returned it 38 yards for the score. Combine that with three tackles for loss — two from Aycen Stevens and one by James Jennette, who had three total tackles apiece — along with forcing two three-and-outs and two fourth-down stops and the defense led 37-7 at halftime.
“He’s one of those shifty guys that this new structure we’re putting in, making him a true edge rusher and stuff, is going to be great for him,” Tech defensive tackle Kelvin Gilliam said of Jennette, whose nickname is Frozone, like The Incredibles character. “… Having him on the edge, his quickness, his length, his durability to go out there and make plays, I think it’s going to be a great fit for him in this new structure we have.”
The offense’s lone first-half score came early off a trick play. Redshirt freshman quarterback Davi Belfort found wide receiver Ayden Greene on a lateral, and the lefty caught the defense by surprise and hit fellow wideout Cam Seldon for a 57-yard bomb.
Belfort, Ryan and A.J. Brand (Fr.) were the only available quarterbacks after starter Kyron Drones (r-Sr.) was ruled out for the remainder of the spring due to a minor medical procedure and Pop Watson (r-So.) did not participate due to a “soft-tissue” deal.
“Kyron had his procedure on Wednesday, went well,” Pry said. “Pop has a soft-tissue injury. He did it on Tuesday. We were hoping he’d be able to go today, it just wasn’t well enough. If it had been a true game, he would have dressed out and have given it a real shot, but I didn’t want to set him back, just didn’t make sense.”
That trio of young signal-callers finished a combined 11-of-23 for 130 yards with two total touchdowns. Belfort connected with Greene in the corner of the end zone in the second half for an 11-yard strike, the offense’s second score, while Brand followed that up with a 12-yard rushing touchdown.
“If you’re at anywhere else probably in the country, your freshman quarterbacks are probably going to get maybe five to eight plays in the spring game and then they’re out,” Tech offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery said. “For these guys, I think it’s going to be a great learning experience for him. You’ve got a little bit of cold weather, a little bit of wind, first time in the stadium, all the jitters of all of that going on. I think they started trying to settle down a little bit later and get in the flow of the game.”
Meanwhile, the Hokies’ offense moved the ball on the ground pretty well. They averaged 4.7 yards per carry, led by Braydon Bennett’s 74 yards on 11 totes (6.7 average). The Coastal Carolina transfer had a long of 17 yards.
Despite quarterbacks being limited, Ryan scooted for 43 yards at the end of the first half, the second-longest play from scrimmage all afternoon. Marcellous Hawkins, a D-II transfer from Central Missouri, had 45 yards on 14 carries. Redshirt freshman Tyler Mason, who hails from nearby Mount Airy, N.C., racked up 42 yards on eight rushes.
“I thought we ran the ball well today,” Pry said. “I thought the offensive line did a good job, I thought the backs hit it. We’ve got to run lower, we’ve got to put our pads down. I thought Hawkins did it one time on a short-yardage situation, we’ve got to do more of that. Bennett runs up and then he finds a way to kind of snake through there and gain positive yards. And I think all three of those quarterbacks that played can run, so it was a good day running the ball.”
Of the 11 completed passes, only two players had multiple receptions — Seldon with three (for 65 yards) and Wiggins with two (for 15).
There were a handful of defensive standouts. Kaleb Spencer led the way with a team-high seven tackles while redshirt junior defensive tackle Kemari Copeland, who is coming off an injury, and true freshman cornerback Jojo Crim added four apiece. Crim also picked off a pass from Brand on the final play of the game.
Another Mount Airy product, redshirt freshman defensive end Deric Dandy, had one of three sacks. The other two went to true freshmen defensive ends Sherrod Henderson (Rocky Point, N.C.) and Zeke Chinwike (Virginia Beach).
Stevens and Dandy each finished with a team-high two tackles for loss. James Djonkam (Sr.), Jennette (r-Sr.) and Knahlij Harrell (Fr.) had one each. As a team, the Hokies’ defense had 10 TFLs — which were worth one point each in this specific scoring system.
Gilliam said a message this year on the defensive side of the ball is, “Don’t make excuses, make plays,” and the unit did exactly that Saturday.
“Those young guys are motivated,” Gilliam said. “There’s been no issues or anything with them because those guys want the same success I want. Those guys, day in and day out, come in there ready to work, ready to make plays, so it was really exciting to see them go out there today.”
Other spring game absences included running back Jeremiah Coney, linebacker Jordan Bass, cornerback Joshua Clarke, safety Quentin Reddish and defensive end Ben Bell, who had his arm in a sling but will be cleared for the summer, according to Pry. Tight end Benji Gosnell was also absent as one of his 12 siblings was getting married this weekend.
Spring Awards
Virginia Tech also announced its spring award winners at halftime of the spring game. Here’s a breakdown:
- Most Improved: WR Takye Heath, DE James Jennette, RG Montavious Cunningham (ST)
- Most Valuable Player: WR Ayden Greene, DT Kemari Copeland, TE Ja’Ricous Hairston (ST)
- President’s Leadership: DT Kelvin Gilliam, TE Benji Gosnell
- Frank Beamer Ultimate Teammate: RB Jeremiah Coney, LB Will Johnson
- Tech Tough (S&C): LB Caleb Woodson
Stats: Click Here