Virginia Tech 35-26 Maryland (Sep 19, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Virginia Tech · Maryland

Virginia Tech3-035

Maryland2-126Final

Sat, Sep 19 · SECU Stadium, College Park, Md. · Crowd 46,185

Virginia Tech beat Maryland 35-26.

We had Maryland favored. Virginia Tech won.

Next: Virginia Tech beat Boston College 21-14, Sat Sep 26

Next: Maryland lost to UCLA 54-3, Sat Sep 26

Top comment in the game thread

That’s literally the funniest way for this travesty of a 20 minutes could’ve ended.

Q2 14:51 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Sep 19

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Virginia Tech a 46% chance, and the closing betting line (Virginia Tech was a 2.5-point favorite) put it at 58%.

Favored the whole way: Virginia Tech never fell below 50%.

Maryland never had better than a 50% chance.

FinalVirginia Tech 35-26 MarylandVirginia Tech wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

The two plays that swung it

1Q1 8:15Grunkemeyer 14-yd TD pass to Reynolds, Virginia Tech goes ahead 7-0Virginia Tech 61% → 71% (+10)
2Q2 9:14Grunkemeyer 49-yd TD pass to Overton, Virginia Tech leads 20-7Virginia Tech 74% → 63% (−11)

The two plays that swung it

1Q1 8:15Grunkemeyer 14-yd TD pass to Reynolds, Virginia Tech goes ahead 7-0Maryland 39% → 29% (−10)
2Q2 9:14Grunkemeyer 49-yd TD pass to Overton, Virginia Tech leads 20-7Maryland 26% → 37% (+11)

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q2 14:51Grunkemeyer runs for a touchdown, making Virginia Tech fans celebrate wildlyQuoted at the top of the page.I’m gonna say it… VANILLA VICKr/CFB game thread
Q2 2:42Fans mock broadcast commentators for praising Maryland's secondary as Washington passes to FlemingClose to muting the broadcast at this point. The word "nice" has become meaningless at this point. It's just a sound now.r/CFB game threadWhy run? The secondary is traffic conesr/CFB game thread
Q4 5:34Maryland fans rip coach Locksley for failing two-point conversions instead of kicking extra pointsThe fact locksley went for 2 the first time is such a fireable offenser/CFB game threadWe have a kicker who’s only job is to do kickoffs, and he can’t do itr/CFB game thread

Virginia Tech’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Virginia Tech -2.5), at 50% for Virginia Tech (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Maryland or Virginia Tech flair (413 and 1,801); both sides share one scale, regulation only.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Virginia Tech’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Virginia Tech scored on 5 of its 9 drives; Maryland on 4 of its 9.

Virginia Tech’s drives are teal, Maryland’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

From Maryland’s side

Maryland’s best moment: Grunkemeyer 49-yd TD pass to Overton, Virginia Tech leads 20-7 (Q2 9:14). It lifted Maryland’s win chance by 11 points.

How Maryland fans took it: “Obvious first down. These refs so bad.” r/CFB game thread

“Maryland’s tackling is shockingly bad”

A Maryland fan

How fans reacted

Quiet

Fans saved their loudest stretch for the fourth quarter.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was quiet; the crowd was steady.

Two crowds, one game

The words each side’s fans used far more than the other side, from the game thread.

Maryland fans

locksley“Maybe if the crowd boos locksley loud enough he will quit. Although I don’t think he’s as honorable as mark turgeon was to walk away.”

tackling“Halftime adjustment idea... NEW GAMEPLAN: Play Defense AND..this cool thing called tackling”

bounds“He was never down in bounds. How do they not review that and stop the clock?”

fired“The best thing that could happen to this game is Locks getting fired at halftime”

Both sets of fans kept coming back to: now, need, ball, back.

What it cost

Virginia Tech’s chance to make the playoff rose from 3% to 4%.

Make the playoff

Virginia Tech · won3% → ▲4%

Maryland · lost6% → ▲7%

Win the conference

Virginia Tech · won2% → ▲3%

Maryland · lost3% → ▲5%

Before the game (September 18, 2026) → after this result, in our model.

Box score

Virginia Tech 35, Maryland 26

Virginia Tech covered −2.5 by 6.5. The total, 61, went over 53.5.

Team totals	Virginia Tech	Maryland
Total yards	445	423
Passing	31 of 39, 314 yds	30 of 43, 359 yds
Rushing	36 for 131 yds	21 for 64 yds
First downs	25	23
Third down	10 of 16	7 of 12
Fourth down	2 of 2	0 of 1
Turnovers	0	0
Penalties	9 for 76 yds	8 for 64 yds
Time of possession	36:39	23:21

Virginia Tech leaders

Passing Ethan Grunkemeyer 31 of 39, 314 yds, 3 TD
Rushing Marcellous Hawkins 16 for 75 yds; Jeffrey Overton Jr. 12 for 49 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Luke Reynolds 12 for 107 yds, 1 TD; Jeffrey Overton Jr. 3 for 63 yds, 1 TD

Maryland leaders

Passing Malik Washington 30 of 43, 359 yds, 3 TD
Rushing Harry Dalton III 6 for 26 yds; Iverson Howard 11 for 22 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Chris Durr Jr. 12 for 109 yds, 2 TD; Kaleb Webb 5 for 98 yds

No rain through the game

76° at kickoff · no rain recorded

September game-day temperatures at SECU Stadium

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 14:54 left7:41 p.m.

Virginia Tech 0, Maryland 0 · Maryland 50% to win

no rain · 76°

Grunkemeyer 5-yd pass to Brown

Where this weather comes from

Measured at College Park airport, 1.5 miles away, and Washington/national airport, 11 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last two games

Virginia Tech · 2-0

Rated 51st in our preseason ratings, 43rd now.

Two straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.

W 44-21 vs Old Dominion #68 of 668

won by 23 as a 17.5-point favorite

W 73-3 vs VMI #266 of 668

won by 70 as a 54.5-point favorite

Last two games

Maryland · 2-0

Rated 76th in our preseason ratings, 65th now, up 11 spots.

Two straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.

W 38-14 @ UConn #116 of 668

won by 24 as an 11.5-point favorite

W 62-0 vs Hampton #265 of 668

won by 62 as a 45.5-point favorite

Week by week

Maryland

Wk 1Wvs Hampton62-0
Wk 2Wat UConn38-14

Virginia Tech

Wk 1Wvs VMI73-3
Wk 2Wvs Old Dominion44-21

Power rating by week

Virginia Tech is rated 3.1 points ahead as of week 2. Our power rating by week; higher is better.

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Maryland’s success rate against Virginia Tech, 63 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Maryland’s success rate against Virginia Tech’s defense
Maryland offense, 20th percentile · Virginia Tech defense, 83rd
Maryland’s explosive plays against Virginia Tech’s defense
Maryland offense, 55th percentile · Virginia Tech defense, 7th
Virginia Tech’s passing EPA against Maryland’s defense
Virginia Tech offense, 84th percentile · Maryland defense, 43rd

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

Virginia TechMaryland

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Maryland leads the series 17-15

32 meetings since 1919 · Maryland has won the last 2

2021 · neutral siteMaryland 54-10
2013Maryland 27-24
2009Virginia Tech 36-9
2008Virginia Tech 23-13
2005Virginia Tech 28-9

Each line is Maryland’s chance to win through that meeting. Older meetings have no play by play, so no line.

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Virginia Tech fans are in a better mood than Maryland fans (76th vs 20th among FBS fanbases), even with Maryland favored.

Virginia Tech favored by 2.5 · Total 53.5

How games like this usually go

Virginia Tech by 2.5, and it went to form

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 252 games since 2025 with a favorite of under 3.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 1 point toward Virginia Tech.

The books’ cut: 4.1%, the margin built into the odds

Weather at kickoff

Warm and dry. Feels like 76° at kickoff.

Virginia Tech at Maryland · Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026 · SECU Stadium, College Park

76°feels like at kickoff
Dryno rain at kickoff
100weather score, Ideal
Tiedfor the best of the day's 8 kickoff times

At kickoff, Sept. 19, 2026.

Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.

Kickoff times that Saturday

Games in this time zone used 8 kickoff times that day, local time (kickoffs within 30 minutes of each other count as one). This game, ringed, was tied for the best of the day's eight kickoff times. At SECU Stadium that day, a 3:30 pm kickoff would have scored 88, against 100 at 7:30 pm.

noon: 92, Comfortable
1 pm: 91, Comfortable
2 pm: 89, Mixed
3:30 pm: 88, Mixed
4 pm: 90, Comfortable
6 pm: 98, Comfortable
7:30 pm: 100, Ideal (this game)
7:45 pm: 100, Ideal

Weather score at each kickoff time.

Tap a dot to read that kickoff time.

At kickoff, Sept. 19, 2026. Wind is not drawn here; gusts are in each score.

Home field

Maryland is worth +2.9 points (±5.1) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 28th percentile.

43% at home, 32% on the road against FBS opponents (20-27 home, 13-28 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -0.7 at home vs. away over 94 games — inside the ±7.6 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

Night kickoff — historically worth about half a point more to the home side against the number, and not much more than that. The visitors travel about 225 miles to get here.

Virginia Tech beats Maryland 35-26