The Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Old Dominion Monarchs 44-21 on Saturday to improve to 2-0. The game wasn’t as close as the score indicated, but it gave head coach James Franklin plenty of ammunition to motivate his team ahead of this week’s game at Maryland.
The Hokies go on the road for the first time in the Franklin era, facing a team that he knows quite well. Franklin was Penn State’s head coach from 2014-25. During that time, Franklin’s Nittany Lions went 9-2 against the Terrapins, with
six of those wins coming by 30 or more points. Maryland’s only two wins in that era came in 2014 and 2020. In the past four meetings, Penn State won 31-14, 30-0, 51-15, and 44-7. In 2017, PSU defeated Maryland 66-3, and in 2019, shut out the Terps 59-0.
After that 44-7 win in 2024, Franklin drew the ire of Maryland coach Mike Locksley. Locksley angrily confronted Franklin as the coaches shook hands.
Here’s the video:
Locksley was reportedly mad at Franklin over Penn State throwing a touchdown pass on the final play. Interestingly enough, the quarterback on that final play, Beau Pribula, is now the starter at the University of Virginia. The receiver, Tyseer Denmark, is now a Hokie.
Anyway, Locksley didn’t appreciate it, even if it was young backups getting a chance to play.
“It was bulls–, is what it was,” Locksley said about the final play, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. “I respect the game. I’ve got a lot of respect for James, his program. I think it was bulls—.”
Franklin’s response?
“Your 1s [starters] are in the game, you were trying to score, we’re trying to score,” Franklin responded. “On top of that, you’re playing Cover 0. Play Cover 2. And on top of that, there’s also a change in college football. We are trying to play as long as we can, make the playoffs, and be seeded as high as possible, and scoring as many points and a point differential matters. All that matters. If you don’t get that, it’s really not my problem.”
Franklin noted his “3s and 4s” (third and fourth-stringers) were in the game, and Locksley’s starters still couldn’t stop them.
That was the last time the two teams played, so it will be interesting to see if they’ve put that incident behind them.
Beyond his disagreement with Locksley, Franklin has a more personal history with the University of Maryland. He was the wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator from 2000-05. When Ralph Friedgen took over in 2001, he retained Franklin. He was one of only two assistants he retained. The other? Locksley. Franklin and Locksley would be on Maryland’s coaching staff for three seasons together.
Franklin left Maryland in 2005 for the Green Bay Packers, then moved to Kansas State in 2006. In 2008, he returned to College Park, this time as Friedgen’s offensive coordinator, assistant head coach, and head coach-in-waiting. However, a change in athletic directors put the head-coach-in-waiting title in doubt, and Franklin instead took the head coaching position at Vanderbilt.
On Monday, Franklin reflected positively on his time at Maryland.
While I’m not sure about the current state of Franklin’s relationship with Locksley, Maryland games have always been personal for him. That head-coach-in-waiting deal apparently didn’t sit right with Franklin. He’s made them pay ever since.
Just look at those scores.
You can bet Saturday’s game will be personal for Franklin, too.
