The 2024 college football season is getting closer and Virginia Tech’s season opener vs Vanderbilt is nearly a month away. The Hokies are getting ready for what should be an exciting 2024 campaign and they are seen as a team that could contend for a spot in the ACC Championship. One of the reasons for that is the play of quarterback Kyron Drones, who had a great second half of the season and is going to be one of the conference’s best quarterbacks in 2024. When naming each top 25 team’s most exciting player for the upcoming season, 247Sports analyst Carter Bahns listed Drones for Virginia Tech:

“College football fans ought to familiarize themselves with this name as Drones is one of the top breakout candidates for the 2024 season. The dual-threat weapon rushed for 818 yards last season and posted a 17-3 touchdown-interception ratio.”

Our own RJ Schafer previewed the quarterback position for the Hokies and thinks Drones is ready for a huge season:

“Drones lead the Hokies with his arm, as well as his legs. He finished the season with 2,085 yards passing, and 818 rushing yards. Drones was one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the ACC, and with a full season of production, he could touch on 4,000 yards in total. 

According to Brad Crawford of 247Sports, Drones will be the fifth-best quarterback heading into the 2024 season. Crawford only listed Haynes King (Georgia Tech), Grayson McCall (NC State), DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State), and Cam Ward (Miami) higher than Drones. 

Kyron Drones obviously isn’t perfect. There are two main points for progression for the QB1 heading into next season: ball-carrier vision and panic control. Drones was very solid in the run game last year, breaking off some big runs, but he also has issues. Drones will struggle to find open lanes at time, finding himself running into a tackle, or a crowd of offensive linemen. Drones has room to improve in the passing game too. Drones was extremely efficient when everything worked, his first Reed was open, you bet he’s making the pass. When nobody’s open? Different story. Drones sometimes panics in the pocket, which puts him in positions as a quarterback he should never be in. If Drones can work on his pocket presence in the offseason, he can contend with the top quarterbacks in the ACC.

Despite the standouts of the Virginia Tech offense, it’s no question that if Kyron Drones improves, the whole team will improve. With all of the players returning, this will likely be one of the best offenses in the ACC, led by a quarterback who can run the ball and pass, I’d be scared if I were an opposing ACC coach.”

RICHMOND — The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved William & Mary’s new School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics on Tuesday, the university announced.

The school brings together its applied science, computer science, data science and physics programs, it said. The school will be the sixth at W&M since its inception and the first in over 50 years. All will move into the new school in the fall of 2025.

According to William & Mary, the school aligns with its academic mission and expands the university’s ability to prepare students to thrive in a data-rich world. The university submitted the formal application to SCHEV, the state agency that governs new schools and new programs, earlier this spring.

“I appreciate SCHEV’s shared commitment to preparing broadly educated, forward-thinking citizens and professionals,” said President Katherine A. Rowe. “The jobs of tomorrow belong to those prepared to solve tomorrow’s problems. Machine learning, AI, computational modeling — these are essential modes of critical thinking and core to a liberal arts education in the 21st century.”

While the school and its new administrative structure were officially approved Tuesday, its foundations are already in place, the university said. The school, brought to life by an extensive feedback and consultation process, will coalesce four programs currently operating within the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. 

William & Mary’s Board of Visitors unanimously approved the new administrative structure in November of last year.

To be housed in the heart of campus with the completion of phase four of the Integrated Sciences Center in fall 2025, William & Mary said “the school will be a space where graduate and undergraduate students excel in a combination of disciplines and where research opportunities will be expanded, continuing to attract world-class faculty and external investments.”

“Innovation has been part of William & Mary since its inception, and this school will serve as the catalyst for countless new discoveries, partnerships and synergies,” said Provost Peggy Agouris. “The School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics is launching at a pivotal time within these dynamic fields, and I’m incredibly proud to continue our journey of interdisciplinary growth and excellence across our undergraduate and graduate program offerings. I am grateful to SCHEV Council members for their belief in our vision and to all involved who made this a reality.”

In establishing a standalone school, William & Mary will grant more visibility and autonomy to these high-performing academic areas; it will also provide a single point of contact for external collaboration, it said, adding the school will strengthen existing partnerships — for example, with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News — while facilitating cooperation with external parties promoting scientific and technological advancement.

The four academic areas in the new school are already experiencing strong growth in external investment (over $9 million in 2023) and student numbers, it explained. Master’s students from the new school’s constituent areas represented one-third of all Arts & Sciences master’s students, with this proportion rising to almost two-thirds when considering doctoral programs.

In the new structure, high-impact research in data-intensive fields will further converge with academic and professional career preparedness, meeting increased student and employer demand while achieving goals from the university’s Vision 2026 strategic plan, according to the university. 

Undergraduate candidates will not apply to the school directly. W&M second-year students in good standing will be able to enter the school as long as they meet criteria established by the school and the major, and will continue to have the opportunity to double major or minor in areas offered by other W&M programs, it said. Interdisciplinary collaborations between the school and the rest of the university will be expanded, combining “cutting-edge innovation with William & Mary’s distinctive strengths in the liberal arts and sciences.”

“We do our best work when we do it together,” Agouris said. “Aligning our computer science, data science, applied science and physics programs under one school will deepen the university’s impact on fields that are rapidly changing and increasingly important. Our students come here wanting to understand and change the world. Now more than ever, they will leave better equipped to do just that.”

A national search for the dean of computing, data sciences, and physics is underway, the university said.