Heading into the 2025 season, Virginia Tech knew it would have a tough time finding a single player capable of replacing the production of Bhayshul Tuten, a star runner who was the total package, with toughness, balance and his trademark breakaway speed.
Through five weeks, that’s shaping up to be true, though after Terion Stewart’s breakout game against NC State, when he rumbled for a career-high 174 yards, the Hokies are feeling a lot better about their by-committee approach.
Tech’s coming off one of its best rushing games in recent memory, piling up 229 yards on the ground and averaging an impressive 7.4 yards per carry in a 23-21 victory against NC State last weekend.
The numbers for the backs were even better. Stewart (174 yards on 15 carries) and Marcellous Hawkins (47 yards on four carries) both averaged better than 11 yards per tote, production that prompts an obvious question. Should they have gotten the ball more?
“If you’re not careful, you end up just turning around and handing it, handing it, handing it,” interim head coach and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery said. “And that’s great if you’re still making yards like that.
“But one of the reasons you continue to do that is because we’re staying balanced and they’re not being able to load the box and do the things like that. There’s some give-and-take into it.”
Running backs coach Elijah Brooks was diplomatic about the backs' usage.
“If running backs touch the ball 50 times a game,” he said, “we’ll want it 51. … As long as we’re winning, we’re good to go.”
For now, they’ll bask in the afterglow of a season-best rushing effort, Tech’s first time up over 200 yards this year.
Stewart’s return to full health after a preseason and September of nicks and bruises sure helped. The Bowling Green transfer added an aggressive element to the Hokies’ rushing attack, making life difficult for opposing defenses.
That’s in large part because of his unique size. Generously listed at 5 feet, 9 inches, Stewart appears to be all of 222 pounds, a short, stout runner who Brooks called a “fire hydrant.”
“I didn’t think you could get more condensed than Tuten until we got Terion,” he said. “So he’s definitely a hard tackle and he’s dense, he’s strong, he’s explosive, so he’s different, but I love it. …
“Guys don’t like to tackle him, and he wears on them, and then he can make you miss if you duck your head. So I think he is definitely deceptive when it comes to his agility and making guys miss.”
It showed in his performance. Stewart shucked his share of defenders and got plenty of what Brooks calls “dirty” yards, gaining 153 of his yards after breaking 11 tackles — just like you’d expect for a back with the nickname “Bully.” The senior put one NC State defender on his backside on one play, though he didn’t make the right read.
“It was one of those runs that was no, no, no, no, yes,” Brooks said. “That’s probably not where the ball’s supposed to go, but every once in a while, they just have to be creative and make a play.”
Stewart is not just a bruiser, though, fascinatingly deceptive with his runs, reading defenses and bouncing around after waiting patiently to find the hole.
“He’s unique with just his size and stature and the way he carries it,” Montgomery said. “He’s got really good vision and understands some things. Did a nice job last week of setting up some blocks.”
Along with Stewart, Hawkins has 244 yards and a 5.3-yard average and P.J. Prioleau leads the way with 11 receptions for 85 yards. (Hawkins also caught an 11-yard touchdown at NC State.)
It might not be a single back leading the charge like Tuten, but put together, it’s decent production.
“I think those guys have different skill sets and I think all of them are needed,” Brooks said. “So coming into each game, I never really know who is going to have the hot hand, but I trust that they’ll all go out and do a great job.”
Here are a few more notes and quotes from after Wednesday’s practice:
1. What’s the reason for the rush defense’s turnaround lately? Relentlessness.
The Hokies went from allowing 6.6 yards per rush and 512 rushing yards against Vanderbilt and Old Dominion to giving up next to nothing on the ground the last two weeks.
While one of those games was against an FCS team in Wofford, which the Hokies held to negative-1 rushing yards, the other felt more impressive. NC State had the ACC’s leading rusher in Hollywood Smothers, whom the Hokies… err, stifled Saturday, holding him to 67 yards and the Wolfpack to a net, after counting sacks, of just 59 yards.
“I really think these guys, they’re playing relentlessly,” Montgomery said. “If you look at our defensive front, it’s one of the strengths of our football team. Those guys take a lot of pride in that part of it. … And those guys are playing at a new level, I think, right now.”
2. The Hokies have their work cut out for them against Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne.
The Aylett, Virginia, native comes into the game as the ACC’s fourth-leading rusher for a tailback, piling up 366 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 7.96 yards per carry.
He’s had two 100-yard games, including a 118-yard effort last week against Georgia Tech, though he suffered what appeared to be an arm injury late in the game.
“He’s very, very talented,” Montgomery said. “In and out of cuts, has had a lot of explosive runs up to this point, and so we’ve got to do a good job of not only getting a lot of hats to the ball and making sure that we’re getting him on the ground.
“And when you’re in those situations where it’s a one-on-one type tackle, you’ve got to do a great job of really breaking down, bringing hips and getting him on the ground. We can’t let him get started. We’ve got to have a really good start to that, and we’ve got to get a lot of hats to him.”
3. One injured Hokies receiver is closer to getting back. Another isn’t.
Montgomery said Keylen “Brodie” Adams is doing “some good things this week,” saying he’s getting closer to a return.
The redshirt freshman has not played this year after being slow to return from surgery last winter. He had a portion in the spring where he shed a blue limited-contact jersey but missed much of August practice.
The former four-star prospect, who set the Virginia High School League record for career receiving touchdowns (66) and yards (4,400), had one catch last year, going for 14 yards in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
The news is less positive for fellow redshirt freshman wideout Chanz Wiggins, who’s also been absent all season. Montgomery said Wiggins is “a little bit further off.”
4. The Hokies unveiled new helmets for the Orange Effect game.
Virginia Tech is going with an all-orange VT logo and stripe combination for Saturday’s clash with Wake Forest that evokes a bit of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ “Creamsicle” throwbacks. It’s the first time the Hokies have gone with this colored decal setup.Class is in session ! Don’t forget to wear your uniform…. ??#ThisIsHome | #Homecoming pic.twitter.com/WOraTjIMl8
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) October 1, 2025