The Briefing: Drones and Tuten injured, backups take front and center role, Hokies drop 38-31 overtime thriller
Syracuse, N.Y.- Losing your two biggest offensive juggernauts in quarterback Kyron Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten, was always going to hinder the Hokies in their attempt to string together four consecutive wins for the first time since 2017. However, despite holding a strong lead and looking in pole position to win at a daunting away ground, Virginia Tech blundered and instead fell to a resilient Syracuse squad on Saturday evening.
Up until the final minutes before kickoff, there were rumbles of whether star quarterback Kyron Drones was fit to play. It wasn't until news was broke of an injury to Drones that forced in Ijamsville, Maryland native Collin Schlee. Schlee transferred to Tech over the summer and had earned himself second string, knowing even in the summer displacing Drones was near impossible.
Yet Schlee, looked every bit ready to take on a fierce Syracuse environment, as he and the Hokies marched to an early 14-0 which would hold for the whole first quarter.
Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord who was on the receiving end of five interceptions last Thursday against Pittsburgh, was marshalling an offense that tacked on three costly first period penalties and looked as if they were still hungover from their 41-13 loss to the Panthers. Yet, a late first quarter drive opened up the second quarter for a Syracuse field goal which injected life into Fran Brown's side.
After a stubborn defensive stop by the Orange, it had appeared to shake off their early slumber; following their defensive prowess, Syracuse was on a drive that peaked at the Tech 39, where McCord lobbed his only interception on the night into the sprawling arms of Mansoor Delane, who neatly flipped momentum square into the Hokies favor.
Both sides would spend the remainder of second quarter stumbling over their own feet, until Virginia Tech had regained their balance with a drive that looked promising, until Schlee accidentally knelt down before completing what would have been a massive rush to open up a strong possibility of Tech kicker John Love taking the Tech lead to 10. With Schlee's knee down, the clock, which had previously been running due to the UCLA transfer not being ruled down, had not tacked back on the time lost during Schlee's phantom run, leaving just seven seconds on the clock, resulting in the Hokies hustling into the locker room 14-3 up.
"I was told there’d be 17 seconds on the clock. I look up and there’s seven. So we’re going back and forth. They said I’d get the timeout back. The scoreboard didn’t show that. And they’re on to the next play," quoted Pry during his obligatory postgame conference.
The Hokies ridded their second quarter woes, and were quick to be the first squad to hit the paydirt thanks to a dart from Schlee to wideout Ali Jennings to give Tech a 21-3 advantage.
Just when things looked firm in Tech's hands, Syracuse stomped back with back-to-back touchdowns, each touchdown drive with 40+ yard gains that brought Syracuse's deficit to just three.
When it rains, it pours, right? When the Hokies needed a long drive to stabilize their lead, backup running back Jeremiah Coney fumbled the rock, setting up Syracuse at the Hokie 39.
The Orange kept their foot to the pedal, and following a McCord 28-yard touchdown pass, Syracuse had ripped a once-prized lead away from the Hokies and were up 24-21 following a botched PAT.
When Tech needed it most, Schlee stepped back into the spotlight and commanded an over three-minute flawless fourth-quarter drive. The drive resulted in Malachi Thomas breezing into the endzone off a read option from "Pop" Watson to establish a Tech lead at 28-24 with 11:04 to go in the game. On this drive. Schlee appeared to have been shaken up and was replaced with Watson just before Thomas scored.
To make things better, a dominant three-and-out resulted in John Love adding another three points to give Tech a seven-point margin with just over five minutes to spare.
With five minutes to go, McCord and 'Cuse running back LeQuint Allen notched a 14-play drive that saw the two cause havoc both over the air and on the ground, as Allen eventually vaulted over his offensive line into the endzone, sending the game into overtime.
While the first four quarters may have lacked excitement at times, Syracuse was quick off the blocks and, in two plays, found the endzone, once again forcing the banged-up Schlee to respond.
While, for a moment, things looked in the right direction, with a pass interference call inching Tech closer to a possible second overtime, the imagination that once fueled the Hokies ran out. On a second and long, Schlee ultimately fumbled, and with that, the Hokies moved to 3-2 in ACC play, firmly moving Brent Pry's side into the middle of the ACC pack.
"That's kind of where we are. I've got to do better, we've got to play better. The really good teams get over the hump, learn how to win those close games. We've got to do a better job there." Stammered a disappointed Pry over his side's fourth one-score loss on the year.
Additional Links:
Virginia Tech Football: 5 Big Takeaways From Virginia Tech's loss vs Syracuse
