Virginia Tech Can't Let One Loss Turn Into Two
Through the first four games, Virginia Tech was one of the most disappointing teams in the country. The Hokies came into the year returning the most starters in the power four and a favorable schedule. There was even some talk of the Hokies being one of the playoff dark horse teams.
But then all of that went out the door in the loss to Vanderbilt. Even in the wins against Marshall and Old Dominion, the Hokies were unimpressive, getting off to slow starts, not being able to move the ball consistently, and getting outcoached quite frankly.
For most of the game against Miami though, the Virginia Tech team we were supposed to get at the beginning of the year was the one we got. The running game was carving up a strong Miami defense, Kyron Drones was making plays through the air and on the ground, and the defense was forcing turnovers and getting pressure on the quarterback. Were their mistakes? Sure, but even if you were high on Virginia Tech coming into the year, you knew it was a flawed team, but they had talent and it finally showed on Friday night.
The game ended the way it ended though and no amount of arguing is going to change that. What the Hokies have to try and do now is to take the good things they did against Miami and improve upon them while not letting the end of the game decision by the officials linger and affect them when they travel to Stanford next Saturday. This team could still have a nice season, even though the margin for error has shrunk pretty drastically over the first five weeks. They are favored against Stanford next week, then they have a much needed bye week before they take on Boston College and Georgia Tech at home. The game against Clemson will be tough, but Duke and Virginia are also winnable games. 8-4 is still on the table if they can play like they did on Friday night.
There is a reason this team is 3-2 though and part of that is inconsistency. The ending of the Miami could be a galvanizing moment for the team for the rest of the year or they could have it affect them the rest of the season and put a bowl game in jeopardy. That is the No.1 thing to watch with this team going forward the rest of the way.
Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell