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BLACKSBURG — How many offensive linemen does Matt Moore want to get into the rotation in Virginia Tech’s season opener against VMI? In an ideal world, he’d get the seven reserves who are battling for spots in the two-deep into Saturday night’s game and continue the assessment of each position battle. There’s nothing ideal about the Hokies’ first opponent of the 2026 season. The Keydets are running the triple-option offense under Ashley Ingram, and that scheme has the ability to take chunks of time off the clock when drives are sustained. Moore wants to play more than his five starters when the 7:30 p.m. contest kicks off. How many players get on the field depends on the number of possessions the Hokies get against the Keydets. “I think it just depends on the game and how many possessions we get. These guys are going to grind the clock in this option offense,” Moore said after Wednesday’s practice. “Just see how many possessions we get and see how we come out and see how we play. It’s still a group that hasn’t played together a ton as all five. Just excited about getting these guys out and letting them work and watching them play.” People are also reading… Moore’s priority before focusing on getting as many linemen into the game is building cohesiveness with his starting unit. Left guard Layth Ghannam, center Kyle Altuner and right tackle Aidan Lynch are the only starters who made at least 10 starts last season, and they were in the same starting lineup in each of the last seven games. A knee injury forced right guard Montavious Cunningham to miss the final seven games of the season, and he started in between Altuner and Lynch twice before being shut down for the season. “It’s Layth and Altuner who have the most snaps with Lynch coming in as the guy who finished the season when Montavious got hurt. It’s still, it’s just different when you get out there with the lights on,” Moore said. “They’ve got to communicate and they’ve got to talk and they’ve got to make sure they’re all seeing the same thing. So far, it’s been really good. We’ve really been stressed by our defense. We’ve got some really good pass rushers, and it’s really put stress on us to see how we’re going to do.” Justin Terry is making his first career start at left tackle after beating out Oklahoma transfer Logan Howland for the starting role. Terry appeared in 11 games at Ohio State last season, and most of those appearances were on special teams. “Justin is a very physical player. Really athletic,” Moore said. “Again, he’s a guy that’s played 50 snaps maybe in a college football game. So he’s never been the starter and never played a full season, so there’s going to be growing pains. But really excited about where he can go from where he is right now.” VMI (0-1) struggled in its Week 0 loss at Idaho State. The Keydets were held scoreless until the fourth quarter in their 38-10 setback, and sustaining drives was a reason for the struggles in running the triple option for the first time under Ingram. VMI had 16 drives at Idaho State. Twelve of those drives lasted less than three minutes. Eleven drives were four plays or less. “That’s why these teams and that’s why these offenses are so difficult to prepare for. And then not only that, we’re playing them in Week 2, where from what I understand and what I think, they’re going to make significant progress from what they did last week,” Hokies coach James Franklin said. “So they’ve had last week to kind of iron out some of the issues and also decide who and what their identity is going to be.” The Keydets will find out what the Hokies’ offensive identity is on Tech’s first drive. Offensive coordinator Ty Howle is entering his first season as the play caller, and Franklin has stressed Howle’s goal is to establish a balanced attack. Moore wanted to make sure the offensive line was equally as good pass blocking as it is run blocking this season. The Hokies had struggles protecting the quarterback last season, but a new offensive scheme should help. “It’s definitely a different scheme from that standpoint, especially as far as the quarterback getting the ball out of his hands,” Moore said. “Coach (Danny) O’Brien does a great job with our quarterbacks. He talks about timing all the time. One, two, three, ball out. We’re trying to get the ball out of our hands. In this day and time, you can’t sit back there for four seconds and just go through all five reads. It’s definitely improved and we’ve been very persistent on working on making that improve.” Howland is expected to rotate in at tackle. Brody Meadows is the third guard projected to rotate in during the game. Both linemen have significant experience. Players like Lucas Austin and Benjamin Eziuka are the ones who would benefit from the rotation expanding and getting game reps. “I feel like those guys have been doing a heck of a job. Having some returning starters with game experience is definitely as a quarterback is just a calming feeling because they’ve done it,” quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer said. “Just the progress we’ve made as an entire offense. Those guys have been doing a heck of a job, and just the progress that they’ve made and we’ve made as an offense. I’m really excited to get in there Saturday night.”