VMI's entire passing game against Idaho State last Saturday produced 11 yards on nine attempts. The Keydets ran it 52 times for 229.
Head coach Ashley Ingram spent 16 years at Navy before going 16-6 in two seasons at Division II Carson-Newman, where his triple option finished fourth nationally in rushing at 265.8 yards per game. He brought it to Lexington in January and installed it on a roster that went 1-11 and 0-8 in the Southern Conference last fall under Danny Rocco, who is now Virginia Tech 's senior defensive analyst for offense.
Idaho State won 38-10. VMI still held the ball for over half the game.
"I'm proud of the way we kept battling and kept fighting," Ingram said afterward. "This is the first step in a long, long process."
Here is who to watch on VMI's offense this Saturday.
Wilson came off the bench and led the team in rushing anyway, taking seven carries for 62 yards and scoring VMI's only touchdown on a 31-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter.
Wilson made his first career start at Georgia Tech 's Bobby Dodd Stadium as a redshirt freshman in 2024, a season in which he played eight games, started five and completed 53 of 109 passes for 424 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for 135 in VMI's 21-17 win over Furman that year.
His only attempt against Idaho State lost two yards. What he did do was gain more on the ground in seven carries than VMI's starting quarterback, JoJo Crump, managed in nine.
The most explosive thing VMI did all night came from a true freshman. Simon took five carries for 49 net yards, including a 46-yard burst in the fourth quarter that put VMI in the redzone.
Simon is 5-foot-10, 200 pounds out of Ascension Catholic in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. If Brent Pry's linebackers get lazy with pitch responsibility, he's the one who makes them pay.
Boehling is VMI's workhorse back and its most important returning piece of production. He carried 17 times for 40 net yards against Idaho State, averaging just 2.4 yards per carry as the Keydets struggled to find anything inside. A year ago, Boehling ran 128 times for 534 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games.
He's 6-foot, 235 pounds. Everything in this offense starts with whether a defensive tackle can beat him to the dive.
Virginia Tech football 's game against the Keydets tomorrow is a 7:30 p.m. ET kick that'll be carried on the ACC Network. Ethan Grunkemeyer will start the game for the Hokies , head coach James Franklin announced Monday.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginiatech as Three Players to Watch on VMI's Offense vs. Virginia Tech .
