Virginia Tech Football: The Hokies Aren't Living Up to The Hype This Season

The Hokies have not lived up to the offseason expectations so far.

Sep 21, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights defensive back Robert Longerbeam (7) celebrates after making an interception during the fourth quarter against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Before this season started, the Virginia Tech Hokies were picked by many to be a surprise College Football Playoff team. So far, after a 2-2 start, many things that were in question from last season are beginning to come into play now, but before we dive into the team's concerns, let's revisit some of college football's expert's predictions before the season.

Here is what Pat McAfee had to say about the Hokies before the season: "For the ACC, it's the old faithful and you mentioned Florida State, Clemson, NC State's ranked in the top twenty-five. Look out for Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech returns twenty starters. Okay, twenty starters. Five offensive linemen, all return. Quarterbacks, Drones, and run options are guys who are able to move the rock, and if you get into Blacksburg in a big game, that's a tough place to play. I think the ACC is going to show up this year in a massive way."

So far this season, we haven't seen nearly the consistency needed from Virginia Tech to back up anything that McAfee had to say about them a month ago. As of right now, the Hokies are converting 40% on 3rd down going 25-61 through the first 4 games which goes against Pat's claim of being able to move the rock, and the offensive line has been a no-show at times, giving up 9 sacks through the first 4 games of the season. Quarterback Kyron Drones hasn't been efective at throwing the ball either, passing for 191.3 yards a game on a 59.8% pass completion percentage, with 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.

Now let's dive into what Josh Pate had to say about Virginia Tech before the season:

"Here’s a what-if for you, what if a former sleeping giant, or I guess a current sleeping giant in college football awakens this year? [Whom] would that be? I think Virginia Tech counts. Now kids — kids, some of you in my college-age audience are laughing right now, but you shouldn’t be. You don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know about Virginia Tech, the National Championship contender, but Virginia Tech used to be a National Championship contender. You don’t know about an entire generation — including me, who grew up, not Virginia Tech fans, but when we knew there was going to be a Thursday night game in Blacksburg, or even a Saturday night game in Blacksburg, didn’t matter who you rooted for, you would make sure to tune in. You’d make sure to tune in ten minutes before the game starts, because you get to see ‘Enter Sandman’ and you get to see this incredible spectacle, up in the mountains, the hills of Virginia, it’s awesome. We haven’t seen that as a national spectacle for a while. What if they wake up? They’ve got a shot this year. They’ve got a shot, they’ve got a workable schedule, they’ve got a team that’s totally in touch with their identity, [and] they could have a high-level run game with Kyron Drones at quarterback— contributing to that. I was up there this spring, and sat down with Brent Pry, he’s really excited up there… There’s a game, [that’s] a long way away, so I’m not saying let’s talk about it now, but there’s a game in early November, where if they navigate the early portion of their schedule, even if they have one loss, they can afford to drop one. But if they’re a one loss or better team in early November, that’s when Clemson comes to town. November 9th. [When] Clemson comes to town, if we have a one loss or better Virginia Tech on that day or night, you will see Lane Stadium like some of us remember it being, maybe a generation ago. “

Based on the last part, the Hokies already lost two games this season and both losses have come against SEC and Big Ten teams. So now that we are getting to ranked in conference ACC play, we have to wonder how are the Hokies going to fair against these teams, right? For starters, the Hokies play Miami next Saturday and they are ranked No.8 in the country and are still undefeated. This will be an uphill battle for the Hokies to climb and win., especially with Heisman candidate Cam Ward at the helm throwing 11 touchdowns in his first 4 games this season, and this is coming off a week where the Hokies allowed 269 yards passing in a game against Rutgers, a team who is known more for its run game than passing game.

Let's put this into perspective, Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis averages 215 yards passing a game and went over that by nearly 55 yards, and now this week the Hokies are going against Cam Ward who is averaging 345 yards a game passing. One has to wonder what's going to happen this week and going forward on both sides of the ball.

It can be unwise to make claims about teams so early in the year, but for a team that returned so much and received a lot of love this offseason, Virginia Tech has fallen short of expectations.