Pry's young Tech team shows promise For Future despite Blowout loss to No. 13 Louisville

Jack Brizendine

Editor-in-Chief

November 6, 2023

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A little over a month ago, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry’s team was 1-3, reeling off of a disappointing 24-17 loss at Marshall.

Then, the Hokies got hot.

With an expected blip against the ACC’s top team No. 5 Florida State, Tech cruised by Pitt (38-21), Wake Forest (30-13) and Syracuse (38-10) to even its record to 4-4 heading into November.

Suddenly, the Tech team that was seemingly left for dead a month earlier found itself sitting in third place in the ACC and in control of its own destiny with four games remaining on its schedule.

On Saturday in Louisville, all of the Hokies’ momentum came to a stifling halt — a humbling 34-3 road loss to a team that some could point to as an example of the caliber team Tech should be at this point in Pry’s tenure. Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm has catapulted his alma mater to the top of the ACC and inside the top 15 of the rankings in his first season in charge.

“Obviously very disappointed, not just in the score, but I think we’re a better football team than that,” Pry said to reporters after the loss. “I thought [for] the majority of the day, they played with the temperament that we need to play with. We played with effort. They just played harder and more determined and more confident.”

In a beatdown that took fewer than three hours (2:45) of real time, Tech could never seem to get out of its own way.

Three of VT’s first five drives on offense began with a play that went for negative yards — a sack, a penalty and a blown up screen pass. The slow start offensively from Tech allowed Louisville to quickly build a three-score lead without much resistance.

The slow start hampered the Hokies and forced them to play from behind the entire game, leading to their fourth loss on the road this season. Pry’s team is 0-4 in away games this season and 1-9 since he took over in Blacksburg.

“We’re still a team that’s learning and growing and part of that is learning how to win on the road,” Pry said.

“I think it’s more about us just playing to our potential — playing smart, playing tough [and] playing physical. We didn’t do that today.”

Tech’s road struggles are an indicator of the team’s youth and room to improve — with the team’s most recent clobbering against Louisville acting as the most egregious reminder.

However demoralizing Saturday’s loss seemed to the naked eye, there’s reason to believe the team is trending in the right direction. The simple fact that Tech remained in contention for a spot in the ACC title game entering November is the biggest piece of evidence.

But that’s not what the team wants, ultimately.

Pry and his team want to be the favorites to win ACC championships each year, not sneaking into the conversation late in the season.

Building the program to that level will take time and there will be growing pains throughout the process, but internally the Hokies know the lessons learned now will pay off later.

“The experience,” redshirt senior cornerback Derrick Canteen said on what positives to take away from the loss. “With the game of football, every game is an experience. Obviously, we have a bad taste in our mouth, so just take that experience and take that taste and add fuel to me, my teammates [and] the coaching staff. Just add fuel into our preparation into our next game. We have another away game, so just keep that taste in your mouth and do everything to get it out.”

Gaining experience will be a point of emphasis for Pry’s squad as it enters the final stretch of the season hoping to collect two more wins and earn a chance to compete in a bowl game — an invaluable experience for young teams.

In order to do that, the Hokies must win two of their final three games against Boston College, NC State and Virginia, respectively.

A bowl game berth would help expedite the development of Tech’s young team, while simultaneously providing tangible evidence that the program is headed in the right direction. 

And with a postseason game still firmly within reach, the Hokies are hungry to prove that they’re still getting better.

“[Getting to a bowl game] is a huge goal; going to a bowl and just playing at the highest level,” Canteen said. “We were promised 12 [games], [but] we want to play in as many games as possible and do what we can to have a great season.”