Hokies Stunned By Vanderbilt In 34-27 Overtime Loss

Carter Hill

Sports Director

August 31, 2024

Virginia Tech fell to Vanderbilt in front of a pro-Hokie crowd on Saturday night in Nashville. (Virginia Tech Athletics)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Riding a slew of offseason momentum that littered the Virginia Tech program for the past few months, the Hokies (0-1) saw a chunk of that come crashing down in a shocking 34-27 overtime loss to Vanderbilt (1-0) on Saturday afternoon at FirstBank Stadium. 

“It’s humbling,” Tech third-year head coach Brent Pry said. “And maybe we needed some of that. As much as we preach about ignoring the noise, and maybe we felt a little better about ourselves than we needed to. I don’t think that will be the case [next] week.”

Tech was punched in the mouth from the start.

The Commodores went down the field on their opening drive, churning 6:33 off the clock and capitalizing on a 43-yard Brock Taylor field goal to put Vandy up 3-0 early on.

It was then when the Hokies’ first offensive possession came to a screeching halt. After quickly scampering to midfield after converting a fourth-and-one on the previous play, Tech quarterback Kyron Drones had his pass tipped in the air and intercepted by Glenn Seabrooks III, subsequently putting the Commodores in position to strike once more. 

After Vandy countered with a fourth-and-one conversion of its own, ‘Dores quarterback Diego Pavia hit Quincy Skinner Jr. on a 14-yard pitch-and-catch to extend the lead to 10-0.

At that point, the Commodores had possessed the football for 10:42, having controlled the pace of the game and having pushed Virginia Tech around on the defensive side of the ball.

Following a Peter Moore punt, Vanderbilt proceeded to go right down the field again. An 11-play, 80-yard drive that took another 7:14 off the clock, capped off by a Sedrick Alexander seven-yard score ballooned the Vandy lead to 17-0 with 5:18 to play in the half.

All of a sudden, in a game in which Tech was poised to show off why it was going to be a legitimate threat, the Hokies were left shell-shocked, and needed an instant response. 

A John Love 40-yard field trimmed the deficit down to 17-3 at the halftime intermission, with Tech entering the locker room having been gashed up front, knocked around and scarce of opportunities with the clock continuing to tick down. 

To the Hokies’ credit, they came out of the gates firing in the third. 

In just six plays, Tech blazed down the field, with Bhayshul Tuten cutting the Vandy lead to 17-10 with a 24-yard surge to the end zone with 12:42 to play.

Then came the comedy of chaos. 

With the Commodores lining up for a 53-yard field goal on the ensuing drive, a delay of game penalty pushed Vandy back five yards. Fourth-year head coach Clark Lea then elected to punt, but an inconceivable numbers violation penalty gifted Vanderbilt the five yards back after two No. 0s lined up on the field – with both Ali Jennings and Keli Lawson standing on the gridiron. 

That then gave Taylor an opportunity to kick. One that he booted through a career-long 53 yards through the uprights to shift the momentum back to the Commodores – and giving them a 20-10 edge.

“The double number thing is always tough,” Pry said. “I put it on me. I should have called a timeout. Saw it right at the end and just didn’t get it done. It’s bad management by me.”

After exchanging three-and-outs on the next two drives, a Love 38-yarder then made it 20-13 with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter. 

That’s when the Hokies got their opportunity. After Drones hit Stephen Gosnell for a deep ball that went for 44 yards, Tech faced a 3rd-and-goal at the Vandy 11. 

Facing pressure and sensing a sack, Drones connected with Tuten in the flat for the score, tying the game at 20, and recapturing the momentum with 10:12 to go. 

Flash forward five minutes later, with the Hokies facing another 3rd-and-long, Drones then took control. 

A deep ball to a wide-open Ali Jennings willed Tech in front. With the Drones-to-Jennings strike going for 62 yards, and with the closest defender residing in Knoxville, the Hokies had grabbed a 27-20 advantage.

That’s when Pavia took over again. After being largely shut down in the second half of play, the Commodores went down the field in just six plays, with the New Mexico State transfer hitting Alexander for an eight-yard score, knotting the game up at 27. 

Tech’s offense then sputtered. The Hokies surrendered another three-and-out, with Drones going down, and after a 22-yard return on the ensuing punt, Vandy put itself in position to win the game. 

That’s when Taylor then had his chance. In his first game of his collegiate career, the Knoxville, Tenn., native pushed it right to keep the game tied, and sent the game to overtime for the first time for Virginia Tech since the North Carolina game (6OT) in 2019. 

Pavia then used his legs again. It just took four plays for him to dart into the end zone from four yards out, increasing the lead to 34-27. 

Tech then had to find the end zone to extend the game. With Drones kept on the sidelines after dealing with cramps, Pry then gave the keys to UCLA transfer Collin Schlee. 

After taking off for 14 yards to move the chains, Tuten then used his legs to gain two. Facing a 2nd-and-8, Drones then re-entered the game for a single play, he grabbed two more yards, before Schlee was sacked on a 3rd-and-4.

The game then rested on the shoulders of Tech’s backup signal-caller. With the game on the line on a 4th-and-11, Schlee dropped back, looked to the back of the end zone and the ball sailed through. 

Tech had dropped its season opener – and in incomprehensible fashion. 

At the end of the day, the Hokies didn’t look even close to a team that returned a nation’s best 85% of its overall production, 95% of its offensive playmakers and 77% of its defensive personnel. 

Virginia Tech was outmatched, beat at the line of scrimmage, at times felt broken offensively and seemed like it was still caught up in the offseason lull. 

Back to the drawing board.

“It’s tough,” Jennings said. “We heard all the hype all year. We’re the same team. Last year, we started off slow and rallied in the end. But we’re a better team, we’re older, better mindset. Can’t start off the game like that, started way too slow in all phases of the ball. 

“Tried to rally back in the end, but we just shot ourselves in the foot.”