Brent Pry explains how play of Kyron Drones has impacted Virginia Tech's QB plans
Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry may soon have a decision to make regarding whether Kyron Drones or Grant Wells will be the team’s starting quarterback for the second half of the season. Wells started the year as the team’s signal caller but went down injured in Week 2 versus Purdue.
Drones has replaced him to mixed results. He struggled in his first two starts before exploding with a big game this past weekend against a struggling Pitt team.
When asked about the potential question at the quarterback position at his Tuesday press conference, Pry evaded answering like a quarterback evading the pass rush.
“We don’t have to answer that question,” Pry said. “We got to see what kind of week Grant has. He’s got to get well. But obviously I’m super excited and so is the staff about the game that Kyron played and the progress he made from the previous week to this week. I’m anxious to go see him play again and play well. We got to put a great plan together for him and he’s got to execute it.”
Drones was 12 of 19 for 228 yards and three passing touchdowns in the 38-21 win over the Panthers. He also ran the ball 21 times, gaining 85 yards but also losing 45 for a net yardage of 41 yards. He also rushed in two touchdowns.
On the season, Drones has thrown for 618 yards and rushed for 205 yards. He has four passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns.
The dual-threat quarterback transferred in from Baylor this past offseason but lost the starting job out of camp to Wells.
Wells was the starting quarterback for the Hokies in 2022, starting 11 games for the team. He was previous at Marshall, where he was the starting quarterback for two seasons. Over the first two games of the season, he was 33 of 62 for 494 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions.
Virginia Tech is facing the ACC’s highest-ranked team this week in Florida State, and head coach Mike Norvell has his team getting ready to go against the dynamic Drones.
“The quarterback is a tough runner,” Norvell said. “I mean he’s not one of those guys that’s just looking to get a few yards. If he gets an opportunity, he’s going to try to run over you. You see that toughness, you saw that put on display.”