Flag On The Play: Hokies Penalize Themselves In 33-10 Loss To West Virginia

By Carter Hill

Staff Writer

September 22, 2022

BLACKSBURG — With the clock ticking down towards the latter half of the third quarter, Virginia Tech was in prime position to steal an opportunity away from a driving West Virginia offense.

Poisoned by penalties already throughout the duration of the evening, the Hokies all of a sudden had an opportunity to throw all that by the wayside. A stop on a 4th-and-six at the Tech 40, with the maroon and orange trailing 16-10, would’ve given the offense a chance to strike. And surprisingly, the Mountaineers’ head coach, Neil Brown, was willing to take the risk.

Sending the offense back onto the field, starting quarterback JT Daniels began the play but had soon run out of options. Scrambling to his right while being pursued by Dax Hollifield, the Georgia transfer zipped one towards the far side of the gridiron in hopes of a reception.

Subsequently falling incomplete, it seemed as if the Hokies had gotten the stop they oh-so needed. And although initially achieved, head referee Scott Campbell was forced to deliver a crushing blow.

A late hit by the chasing Hollifield kept the drive alive for West Virginia. It was Tech’s 12th penalty of the contest. And a costly one, at that.

Three plays later, another initial stop, this time on 3rd-and-14. But an illegal hands to the face call on Norell Pollard bailed out the Mountaineers once more.

Two snaps later, running back Justin Johnson punched it in from six yards out, perfectly epitomizing Virginia Tech’s (2-2, 1-0 ACC) night in a stomach-twisting 33-10 loss to West Virginia (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) inside Lane Stadium.

“We just didn’t play complimentary football, and we’re at a point right now as a team [where] we have to do that,” Tech head coach Brent Pry told reporters after the loss. “We can’t leave too much to overcome in any phase. We either weren’t making them earn it or we were shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit.”

The aforementioned penalties are the first thing that comes to mind. Tech amassed a whopping 15 total fouls over the course of the night — tying the second-highest mark in program history — that added up to a hideous 132 yards.

“I think we pressed and just kind of got out of sorts,” Pry added when being asked what caused so many flags throughout the night. “We feel like we have to do things above and beyond. We have to stay in the framework and play with fundamentals and techniques and be mindful of what we’re doing.

“Sometimes, I look out there and it’s like a panic. Like we’re not playing together…We have to coach them through that.”

Additionally, the maroon and orange found little success on the ground. Garnering just 35 total rushing yards certainly won’t be enough unless there’s a high-flying passing attack. And for all parties involved, that’s something that’s easily recognizable.

“That was a good team; you can’t beat them one-dimensional,” Tech quarterback Grant Wells, who finished the day 16-for-35 with 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception, said. “The run game opens up the pass game. When you’re one-dimensional it just becomes easy to defend.”

Pry shared the same level of deflation.

“I’m disappointed, but I’m also surprised,” Pry said about the lack of a competitive run game. “I really thought we’d be able to run the ball a little bit better. We changed up the plan a little bit and spread it out a little bit more to run it tonight.

“But we got to be able to run the football, it makes it so much more difficult to play defense. I think we have a passing game that can work pretty well for us…but we have to complement it with the run game.”

It was the passing game early on that gave Virginia Tech a spark on the offensive side of the ball.

A 28-yard connection from Wells to Kaleb Smith that resulted in a touchdown gave the Hokies an early 7-3 lead. And, despite the Mountaineers keeping it close with multiple Casey Legg field goals, the real fireworks didn’t take place for West Virginia’s offense until the end of the first half.

A Daniels to Sam James pitch-and-catch 24-yard strike for a touchdown to make it 13-7 with 11 seconds left in the half swung all the momentum back in favor of the Mountaineers.

And although Tech would have its chances later on, giving up that score before the intermission was just another back-breaker the Hokies surrendered. One that also included Pry’s team previously driving before being forced to punt with 1:13 remaining in the half.

“It was definitely a change of momentum for sure,” Smith said. “When our offense had the ball I thought we were rolling. We felt confident in our two-minute ability to go down there and get us some points. You never want to give the ball back to them with that kind of time.”

The Bumpass, Va. native hauled in five receptions for 70 yards on Thursday night, including the touchdown that made things look strong early on for Tech.

“I didn’t call a very good two-minute situation,” Pry admitted about the conclusion of the half. “But we got to make plays and get off the field. That was critical. That was a critical drive…a game-changing series.”

West Virginia wouldn’t look back from there. Two more Legg field goals sandwiched around a Justin Johnson six-yard touchdown run and a Jacolby Spells interception that went back for six sealed the deal for the Mountaineers in Blacksburg.

And with Brown’s team dominating the time of possession, outgaining the Hokies 421-228 and recording 32 first downs to Tech’s 14, it’s no wonder the Black Diamond Trophy will now reside in Morgantown for the foreseeable future.

Combine those three factors with all the miscues that occurred all night long for the maroon and orange, and it was a recipe that would soon spell certain doom for Virginia Tech on its home field.

“I told the guys in the locker room that this is where we’re at as a team right now,” Pry said. “You don’t fix certain things…just in a couple weeks. It’s an overall mindset and the manner in which you play, what you’re investing in and what you believe in snap after snap.

“It’s still a work in progress in that area. The most important thing to me is that we learn from each and every one of these situations and that we grow to become a more mature football team.”