With just over five minutes on the pregame clock before the Virginia Tech football team burst out of the tunnel for the 2026 spring game, an accident occurred.
The third of the three Team Fastrax Professional Skydiving members, Pasha Palanker, crashed into the videoboard in Lane Stadium.
Guy parachuting into Virginia Tech Spring game is stuck on the scoreboard after rough collision. #oops pic.twitter.com/2smQ30FAxN
— JIMMY (@yakubbsmonster) April 18, 2026
Palanker slammed into the ‘Virginia Tech’ lettering at the top of the videoboard, breaking the lettering on the ‘E’ and ‘C’ in ‘Tech.’ Moreover, his parachute got caught on the ‘H’ and wrapped around it, leaving Palanker hanging in the air.
It followed the first skydiver coming in hot on Worsham Field, and the second missing the stadium and landing on the practice field. Had Palanker’s parachute not gotten caught, he likely would’ve fallen a long way down to Callaghan-Sheridan Way, the service road that runs between Lane Stadium and the practice field.
The incident occurred right around 3 p.m. ET, just as the spring game was about to get underway, and the Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department reacted quickly. By 3:20 p.m., the Blacksburg 12 Ladder was raised — the taller, 100-foot ladder, after an attempt to use the shorter, 75-foot one — and it reached him about three minutes later.
Virginia Tech announced Palanker was secure and stable. Andy Bitter walked outside the stadium and witnessed Palanker walking away afterwards, with his left arm in a sling.
“One of three parachutists was blown off course and got stuck on our stadium scoreboard,” Virginia Tech announced in a statement. “We are grateful to report the skydiver was safely secured and is currently stable. … Our primary focus was their well-being. … He was checked by medical on site and was released. No serious injuries. …
“We extend our sincere appreciation to the first responders, event staff and medical personnel for their swift, coordinated and professional response.
Palanker is a retired U.S. Army Special Operations Master Sergeant who served 17 years. He is a two-time Purple Heart recipient and was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for confronting and stopping a suicide bomber, which saved the lives of 17 fellow soldiers.
Once EMTs got out of the videoboard, Enter Sandman was played and the spring game officially kicked off around 4:02 p.m. ET.
“Happy that the skydiver is OK,” Hokies head coach James Franklin said after the game. “… I want to thank all the first responders for how they handled it, too. For us in the locker room, it was an opportunity to … practice something like that that may come up, whether it’s weather or whatever it was.”
Final: White Team 30, Maroon Team 21
Despite having what appeared to be the majority of the Hokies’ starters, the Maroon team lost to the White team on Saturday in Lane Stadium in the 90 minutes that followed the skydiving accident.
“We got a lot of work to do between now and training camp, but very, very pleased with our 15 days,” Franklin said. “Very pleased with what we were able to get done today, and very appreciative of the fans and the type of support we got for our program.”
Maroon struck first, as quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer started 5-for-5 with four passes of 10-plus yards on the opening drive — three of which went to tight end Luke Reynolds, a fellow Penn State transfer. Grunkemeyer capped off the drive with a 14-yard strike to wideout Que’Sean Brown.
The second quarter featured three field goals. Will Love converted two for the White team from 48 and 44 yards out — the first of which came after the game’s lone turnover, an interception from Grunkemeyer via walk-on cornerback Josh Jones on a pass intended for Takye Heath.
Will Love’s older brother, John Love, knocked through a 27-yarder for the Maroon team in between. At intermission, Maroon led 10-6.
The halftime period featured a punting competition, which saw the Maroon team’s Nathan Totten rack up two points and Will Love notch one for the White team.
The Maroon team didn’t muster much in the second half, though. It went three-and-out twice with true freshman Troy Huhn at quarterback, who finished the day 5-for-8 for 64 yards. That team had an opportunity for a 52-yard field goal from Cole Byrd, but he missed it wide right.
On the other side, the White team struck quickly with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kelden Ryan to wideout Chanz Wiggins, which took the lead at 14-12.
On its next possession, Bryce Baker led an eight-play, 60-yard drive that culminated in a 2-yard pass to wide receiver Cam Sparks, the final touchdown.
The game ended with a field goal competition, which saw both teams make three of their four attempts and add nine points to their total. The Love brothers were both 2-for-2, while Byrd and Aidan Daugherty each went 1-for-2.
Grunkemeyer finished the day 13-for-17 for 136 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Baker was 15-for-27 for 140 yards and a score. Ryan completed nine of his 14 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. and Baker led the way on the ground with 32 yards apiece.
Defensively, linebacker Antwone Santiago and cornerbacks Joshua Clarke and Amauri Polydor tied for the game-high in tackles with seven. Santiago and Polydor each had half of a tackle for loss.
In between the first and second quarters, Franklin spoke to the crowd and said, “We’re going to shock the world together.”
“There’s an excitement right now, and we want to keep that excitement going,” Franklin said afterwards, expounding on his statement. “We have been fortunate to be a part of two turnarounds in two different conferences, and we plan on doing that again. And this place knows what it looks like. They’ve done it before. That’s what this whole re-established is about.
“For us to go where we want to go, it’s going to take the players, the coaches, that’s going to take the community, that’s going to take the fans, that’s going to take the lettermen. … But we’ve got a chance to do something really special here. We’re not going to hide from that, and we’re going to need everybody to understand and buy into that for us to go where we want to go.”
Other Notes
• Defensive lineman Zeke Chinwike (left knee) and cornerback Jaquez White (right knee) both left the spring game with injuries.
Chinwike, a 6-foot-5, 258-pound redshirt freshman defensive lineman from Virginia Beach, did not record any stats. White, who transferred in from Troy as an all-conference selection, had one pass breakup. If healthy, he is projected to be a starting cornerback for the Hokies.
“That was deflating on our sideline,” Hokies defensive coordinator Brent Pry said of White’s injury. “He’s had a really good spring. He’s a kid that reminds me of some of the defensive backs that have played here over the years. Can play corner, he can safety; can play the field; can play in the boundary.
“He’s tough, he tackles, that’s how he got hurt there. He covers. So, hopefully the news is good, something he can bounce back from quickly.”
• In all, Virginia Tech’s tight ends hauled in 17 catches for 205 yards between Reynolds, Benji Gosnell, Ja’Ricous Hairston, Harrison Saint Germain and Brody Jones. They accounted for 40 percent of the receptions and 48 percent of the total receiving yards in the game.
“We like our tight ends,” Franklin said. “We’re going to feed them. We’ve got to get our wide receivers more involved on a more consistent basis.”
• Between the two defenses, the Hokies racked up 10 sacks.
Defensive end Jason Abbey and defensive tackle Eric Mensah led the way for the White team with 1.5 sacks apiece. George Ballance and Daniel Jennings each added one for that squad, while Kaleb Spencer, Grant Karczewski and Mylachi Williams each notched one for the Maroon team. Safety Jordan Bass added half a sack, too.
The quarterbacks were not live, with Franklin blowing the whistle and determining when they were down. Huhn accounted for six of the 10 sacks.
“For our defense, obviously, you love 10 sacks,” Franklin said. “For our offense, we’ve got to get that cleaned up. Also, there’s times where I blow the whistle that may not have been a sack, and there may have been a few that would’ve ended up a sack that I didn’t call a sack, so it’s hard to interpret that until we go completely live and get into the season.
“But yeah, we’re going to need to be disruptive up front with our defensive line, not only on first and second down with tackles for losses, but getting them into obvious passing downs. And then be able to put fear in people — fear in offensive tackles, fear in O-line coaches and fear in offensive coordinators that we’ve got guys that can come off the edge, not just from blitzing.”