Despite Controversial Ending, Virginia Tech Still Can’t Get Out Of Its Own Way

Raza Umerani

Editor-in-Chief

September 27, 2024

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Virginia Tech’s Hail Mary being controversially stripped away by No. 7 Miami thanks to an overturned touchdown to end the game is the story of Friday night’s 38-34 thriller at Hard Rock Stadium.

It was an unforgettable ending to a cinematic football game that reignited the fire of a rivalry that had dimmed in recent years. And regardless of whether or not you agree with the officiating, it’s the only thing that anyone will talk about tonight, tomorrow and in years to come in both Blacksburg and South Florida.

But there’s much more to this equation. And once you find those missing variables that have disappeared due to the dramatic climax, you get a clear expression: the Hokies (2-3, 0-1 ACC) should have never been in that position in the first place.

The game may have peaked with Da’Quan Felton’s miracle in Miami that never was, but the contest was decided on two sequences that felt like they transpired years before the Hurricanes’ (5-0, 1-0) wild win went final.

Exhibit A: the end of the first half.

After Tech quarterback Kyron Drones took a bad sack on third down to push the Hokies nearly out of field goal range, head coach Brent Pry immediately called a timeout with 25 seconds left in the second quarter before attempting a 57-yard field goal rather than bleeding the clock down for the kick to be the final play of the half. 

Even though Love boomed the ball through the uprights with plenty of room to spare to make it 24-14 — getting away with a second numbers violation of the season as both Love and defensive end Cole Nelson lined up in No. 17 jerseys — it left too much time for the Canes.

That compounded when Tech opted to squib the ensuing kickoff, setting Miami up near midfield after a great return that almost went back to the house. It took just a couple of plays for its offense to put kicker Andres Borregales in position to make it a one-score game again. He did just that with an impressive 56-yard boot.

The Hokies could have been up two scores on the road at the No. 7 team in the country. Instead, it remained a one-score game, and momentum was fairly even going into the locker room. 

“I'd like to have that back,” Pry said. “I'd bleed the clock down. I was upset about the sack. I'd want to bleed that down and kick it. That's on me.”

Exhibit B: the missed opportunity of the year.

About ten minutes of gametime later, Tech received the gift it needed to deliver an early knockout blow in the form of a Kaleb Spencer interception of Canes quarterback Cam Ward, which the former Miami linebacker returned for 77 yards inside the redzone. 

Three plays later, the drive stalled, and Tech would have to settle for three to make it a 30-17 game.

Only it didn’t.

Pry and his staff tried to catch Miami off guard with a fake field goal, but when punter/holder Peter Moore flipped the ball to backup tight end Harrison Saint Germain, the Canes were not fooled. Malik Bryant stuffed the play well short of the sticks, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Eight plays later, Ward scrambled up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown to cut Tech’s lead to 27-24.

“We didn't come down here just to play it close,” Pry said. “I wanted to be aggressive with playcalls and give us an opportunity to win the game. We've practiced that for weeks, and it's looked really good in practice. They gave us the look we wanted. We could have called it off if they didn't give us the look. … They had a guy just get really good penetration on the snap, and that's what kind of derailed it.”

A pair of scoring swings caused by head-scratching coaching decisions caused what could have been a comfortable Tech lead to instead be a game that remained tight until the end.

And maybe the Hokies deserved to win the game in the end. Not just because Felton probably caught the football on the final play which should have been upheld as a touchdown. Rather, because they played their best game of the year.

Tech displayed everything that it had seemingly lacked in the first month of the season. It started fast, forcing a turnover on the third play of the game, then scoring a touchdown on the sixth. In that vein, it won the turnover battle, forcing three turnovers out of the Heisman frontrunner while committing just one. It ran the ball extremely effectively as Bhayshul Tuten ran for 100+ yards for the fourth game in a row with a Hokie career-high 141. And despite the earlier gaffes, it put itself in a position to win the game at the end, which it did.

Until it didn’t.

But perhaps that’s what happens when you make costly coaching mistakes when you’re trying to win your fourth ever game on the road against a top-10 opponent. The mistakes catch up to you and hold you back from achieving the apex of your coaching career. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but a trend that’s too drastic to ignore, and one that has cost Tech each of the three games it has lost in 2024.

“​​The way the game ended, I hope they got that call right,” Pry said. “To take that, to overturn it and take it from our kids, our coaches, our fans. I hope they got it right.”

For the sake of integrity, I hope they got it right too. But they wouldn’t have needed to if the Hokies got over their self-inflicted hump. And until they do, it remains to be seen whether or not they can win any close games in 2024, no matter how dramatic the ending.