There are numerous reasons why the Hokies find themselves at 5-4 after beginning the season with high expectations—and many of those reasons are troubling. To call Virginia Tech’s 2024 football season a letdown so far would be an understatement. With a 5-4 record after nine games, despite significant preseason hype, a high rate of player retention, and new transfer portal additions, this isn’t where most people expected the team to be heading into this weekend’s matchup against Clemson.
What’s particularly frustrating for Hokies fans isn’t just the 5-4 record (although that stings), but how they ended up here. In each of their four losses, the team held the lead in the final two minutes, except for the Rutgers game in Week 3, which was tied. In each case, the opposing team managed to score in the last two minutes or in overtime to claim victory. With the season on the verge of slipping away, here are three pressing issues that have brought Virginia Tech to this point after nine weeks.
Poor clock management
This season has been far from a lesson in clock management for Brent Pry and his coaching staff. Frustrations reached a peak with fans on Saturday against Syracuse when, with 29 seconds remaining in a tied game, three timeouts, and possession at their own 25-yard line, the Hokies opted not to make a push. With kicker John Love, who has a powerful leg and could potentially win the game, the team had an opportunity.
Rather than trying to gain roughly 35 yards to set up a field goal for Love, Pry chose to run out the clock and take the game into overtime. With no weather concerns inside the dome and plenty of time left, a few quick plays could have put them in range with three timeouts. Poor clock management also cost them an attempt at three points before halftime. Unfortunately, Saturday wasn’t the only instance this season where clock management decisions have been, at best, questionable.
Fourth quarter meltdowns
Consider this: if games ended after 58 minutes, Virginia Tech would have an impressive record of 8-0-1. All four of their losses have occurred in the final two minutes or overtime. This trend began in Week 1 at Vanderbilt and continued in Week 4 against Rutgers.
The situation didn’t improve from there. The following week, Virginia Tech had a double-digit lead in the second half against Miami, only to see the Hurricanes score the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes remaining. On their next drive, poor clock management and a failed Hail Mary pass led to another defeat. They should have never found themselves in that position. Then on Saturday at Syracuse, after taking a seven-point lead with 30 seconds left, the Hokies were unable to secure the win. It’s hard to overlook Pry’s dismal record of 1-11 in one-score games over his two-plus seasons.
Inexcusable mistakes and decision making
A recurring and inexcusable issue this season has been the presence of multiple players wearing the same number on the field during plays. This was evident against Vanderbilt when a delay of game penalty took the Commodores out of field goal range in the third quarter, but the Hokies were penalized for having two players wearing number 0. After regaining those five yards, Vanderbilt successfully kicked a field goal, costing Virginia Tech three crucial points. A similar situation occurred at Miami during a field goal attempt by Love, but this time the officials didn’t call it. Love accepted responsibility after the loss to Vanderbilt.
Late in the third quarter against Miami, with the Hokies leading 27-17, Kaleb Spencer intercepted Cam Ward and returned the ball deep into Hurricanes territory. On fourth down, Pry opted for a fake field goal that Miami successfully defended. If they had settled for a chip-shot field goal there, they would have only needed another field goal from Love on their final drive to secure the win. With a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter, taking the points and extending the lead would have been the prudent choice.
In tight games this season, it seems that everything that could possibly go wrong for Virginia Tech has done so, with each loss bringing a new set of problems.
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