Virginia Tech football: 5 takeaways from Hokies’ crushing loss to Syracuse

The Virginia Tech Hokies entered Saturday’s game poised for a major matchup at Lane Stadium against Clemson in Blacksburg next week. But before they could focus on that, they had to take care of business against Syracuse. The Hokies faced a tough road test at the renowned JMA Wireless Dome, and they would be without starting quarterback Kyron Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten.

Even with Drones and Tuten, Syracuse posed a challenge; without them, Tech’s odds of winning seemed slim. However, backup quarterback Collin Schlee had other ideas. Schlee helped guide the Hokies to a 14-3 lead at halftime and extended it to 21-3 late in the third quarter before things took a turn for the worse.

A single defensive misstep opened the door for Syracuse, who then scored 21 unanswered points to seize a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter. Schlee responded, but Tech’s defense — among other issues — faltered late, leading to a 38-31 overtime loss to the Orange. It was a tough day for head coach Brent Pry.

Here are five takeaways from Syracuse’s overtime victory over Virginia Tech.

Don’t blame the backups

Looking at Virginia Tech’s box score from Saturday, you’d feel optimistic seeing Schlee complete 16 of 24 passes for 206 yards with a touchdown, plus rushing for 47 yards and another touchdown.

Then, you notice Malachi Thomas contributed 73 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Jeremiah Coney added an impressive 96 yards on just nine attempts. Given that the Hokies were missing Drones and Tuten, this level of production is remarkable, especially considering Syracuse’s strong run defense. Tech managed to rush for a total of 242 yards.

With Schlee at the helm, the offense totaled 455 yards. You couldn’t have asked for a stronger showing from these three stand-ins on Saturday. They truly deserved a win.

 

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End of the first half was a preview of things to come

What exactly happened at the end of the first half? The Hokies were leading 14-3, and cornerback Mansoor Delane had just forced a fumble, giving them the ball at their 36-yard line with 1:03 left and multiple timeouts. So, how did Virginia Tech handle this opportunity?

Initially, they seemed content to run out the clock. But then Jeremiah Coney sparked some life with two rushes for 33 yards, advancing Tech to the Syracuse 49. At that point, Coach Pry seemed to have a realization: “Maybe we can score.” It’s baffling, considering the Hokies had been moving the ball well all half, and with one of the nation’s top kickers, the goal should’ve been to put points on the board from the start.

Then came the chaos. On the next play, Schlee grabbed a low snap and sprinted deep into Syracuse territory with less than 10 seconds remaining, prompting a timeout. But replays revealed his knee had touched the ground as he caught the snap, costing them five yards. The call was correct, but it also raised questions about the timeout.

Pry said officials assured him they’d restore the timeout but didn’t. And he let it go? He was also told there’d be 17 seconds left, but only seven showed up on the clock after the timeout. Neither the time nor the timeout was restored.

This is unacceptable from Pry. Yes, ACC officiating can be a headache, but as a coach, you have to stand up for your team. Where’s the fire? Do you think someone like Nick Saban would let that slide?

The end of the second quarter was a mess. The officiating hurt Tech on two key plays, and then this mismanagement from Pry added to the frustration. Instead of staying passive, Pry should’ve shown some intensity — because this situation warranted it.

Brent Pry is now 1-12 in one-score games

Good coaches find ways to win these types of games. Even if a talent gap was an issue in Pry’s first year, that’s no longer the case in year three. This is a skilled roster, yet the Hokies repeated the same errors seen in the season opener at Vanderbilt. They let that game slip, and the same happened here. Just like the opener, Pry’s mistakes were glaring. In close games, coaching decisions can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. For Virginia Tech, those decisions have too often tipped the scale toward the loss column.

With each defeat, fans lose a little more faith in the program’s direction. It’s hard to imagine much enthusiasm for Pry after this game. His inability to handle basic game-management tasks raises questions about his growth as a coach. How is he still making rookie mistakes in year three? Expecting Virginia Tech fans to be satisfied with a 5-4 record against this schedule is simply unreasonable.

Defensive coordinator Chris Marve is the weak coordinator

 

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You have to give credit to Marve for his first-half efforts. The Hokies forced two turnovers and held Syracuse to just three points before halftime. But unfortunately, football is a 60-minute game. In the second half and overtime, Syracuse put up 35 points.

How does this keep happening? In Blacksburg, offensive coordinators tend to get the brunt of the blame. Whether it’s been Bryan Stinespring, Brad Cornelsen, or now Tyler Bowen, fans don’t always focus on the defense. But Marve’s struggles continue to show he’s outmatched, which is especially concerning given Pry’s defensive background. If Pry can’t step in to assist Marve — or worse, if they’re both struggling to find solutions — that’s an even bigger red flag.

And the talent can’t be blamed here. The Hokies returned almost their entire defense and added an All-ACC defensive tackle to fill the shoes of Norell Pollard and Mario Kendricks. While Mansoor Delane’s gamble led to Syracuse’s first touchdown, he otherwise played a strong game and forced two turnovers. Delane wasn’t the issue.

Under Marve, the defense has shown little improvement. Fundamental issues persist, and too often, the Hokies have fallen apart defensively at key moments. Run defense is another glaring weakness, and on Saturday, all of these shortcomings were on full display.

Meanwhile, Bowen continues to shoulder more criticism, despite being the more capable coordinator. He’s shown creativity and generally has a good feel for the game, despite lacking talent in some areas — particularly the offensive line.

That final drive in regulation was appalling

There are plenty of ways to break down this game, but if you watched, you already saw it unfold. First, with Syracuse driving to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, why not use one or two timeouts? Using them would’ve given Schlee and the offense a chance to score afterward. They only needed a field goal to win once Syracuse scored a touchdown.

But Pry held onto them. Fine — that meant the Hokies had three timeouts with 29 seconds left, needing around 40 yards for a manageable field goal attempt by John Love. In college football, 29 seconds and three timeouts is an eternity.

So, what did Pry decide to do? He told Bowen to play for overtime. And his post-game explanation? Disappointing, to say the least.

This choice might make sense if Schlee had struggled all day. But he hadn’t — he’d been moving the ball effectively, leading the offense to nearly 500 total yards. Why not at least try for a few short completions, knowing the clock stops on first downs and they had timeouts in hand?

This was coaching malpractice. Pry’s decision signaled to his players, “I don’t believe in you.” Decisions like this can lead players to lose confidence and start looking out for themselves. I’m not saying that’s the case with this team, but it’s a poor message from Pry. Why play for overtime with three timeouts? Or better yet, why not use one of them while Syracuse was still driving?

So many questions, so few answers. Afterward, fans got the same “We played hard but made too many mistakes” response. Yes, Coach, the team played hard — but you let them down, repeatedly.

Brent Pry is a good man who’s made some positive contributions in Blacksburg. But if he can’t win games, none of that matters. Each week, he’s showing that this role may be more than he and some of his staff can handle.

We’ll be diving deeper into this game and Pry’s performance as the week goes on.

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