If you just glanced at the box score from Saturday night, you’d think James Franklin was ready to throw a party. His Virginia Tech squad matched the school’s largest margin of victory since a 73–0 blowout against Catholic from over a century ago in 1922. They also had the most points on the board by a Hokie team since 1995.

But in classic James Franklin fashion, there wasn’t a smile in sight as he sat down for the post-game presser. Virginia Tech’s new head coach refused to let the century-old record-matching performance hide the sloppy mistakes that Virginia Tech displayed in the game. 

“When I kind of look back, those are the things I’m disappointed with in the penalties, specifically the pre-snap penalties and the post-whistle penalties,” James Franklin said about the mistakes his team committed in the post-game presser. “We’ve got to get those things cleaned up because that was really the only time we struggled was when we hurt ourselves. We’ve got to do a better job of protecting the football.”

“We tell the guys all the time: you show softness or weakness anywhere, then the next opponent for the next three weeks is going to attack that same weakness. So you don’t want to put anything soft on tape… we’re going to have to be prepared and ready for things that we didn’t do well, because Old Dominion is going to be all over this tape just like we’re going to be all over theirs,”

Despite a 70-point blowout, Virginia Tech recorded 11 penalties and 2 turnovers in the game. James Franklin made it clear that these executional errors matter more than the positives his team showcased on the field.

The Hokies’ 11 penalties resulted in a total loss of 93 yards. In fact, VMI’s offense could not gain positive yardage early on. But they only managed to pick up their only 1st-quarter 1st down because Virginia Tech jumped offsides on consecutive plays. 

James Franklin also talked about post-whistle flags. Sophomore returner Tyseer Denmark broke loose for a punt-return TD, but the play got wiped out by a holding flag on safety Jordan Bass. Freshman Davion Brown on Special Teams muffed the ball on a 2nd-half punt that led to a turnover in possession, handing VMI a short-field position. This resulted in an easy field goal.

Had there been no sloppy turnover, Virginia Tech could have started the season with a shutout. The other turnover had happened late in the 2nd quarter. And this meant that despite winning the game, the Hokies lost the turnover battle 0-2. 

Virginia Tech is set to play Old Dominion in Week 2 before they travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins who started their season with a 62-0 dismantling of Hampton. Within the conference, the Hokies don’t have a tough schedule early on. However, late October and November games are going to James Franklin’s real test, as Virginia Tech will face Clemson, SMU and Miami.

James Franklin, however, wasn’t mad about all the penalty calls made by the officials. While he rightly asked for clean mental execution and accountability, he posed questions about one specific post-whistle call, calling it “un-American”. 

In the 3rd quarter, RB Marcellous Hawkins ran in his 3rd TD and celebrated by high-fiving uniformed Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets members. However, the officials hit Hawkins with a with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. 

“We got a penalty for high-fiving one of our members of the corps… I don’t know why we can’t high-five somebody in the military. It seems somewhat un-American to me,” James Franklin told the reporters.

Virginia Tech is one of only six Senior Military Colleges nationwide. The Corps of Cadets is a big part of the Lane Stadium culture.