virginia tech's offense lifeless in 28-7 loss to pitt

Carter Hill

Staff Writer

October 16, 2021

BLACKSBURG — All the way back in July, Virginia Tech fans were told that the team could potentially have the best offense that head coach Justin Fuente has had during his time in Blacksburg.

Instead, the Hokies have been lackluster, non-rhythmic, and a limited product that has continued to struggle for the majority of the season.

Fuente, standing in front of the podium scratching his head and swallowing his pride following Tech’s (3-3, 1-1 ACC) 28-7 loss to Pittsburgh (5-1, 2-0 ACC), is taking all of the blame.

“It’s my responsibility and my job to get us to play as good as we can play, whatever that level is...really at no time today did we hit it,” said Fuente. “That’s not play-calling, that’s not defensive scheme, that’s not special teams, that’s not players, that’s the head coach. I let them down, and I’m disappointed and mad at myself. I failed our football team.”

The loss was statistically the worst game offensively in the Justin Fuente era, so what’s the fix?

“We have to find a way to practice better leading up to competition,” Fuente said. “So I don’t know, right now I don’t have the answer. It’s my job to try and find so that we can play as well as we possibly can.”

The Hokies only put up a mere 224 yards offensively. And if it weren’t for a few last second carries by true freshman Malachi Thomas, Tech wouldn’t have even crossed the 200 yard mark.

Fuente sensed the lifelessness surrounding the team at halftime, already trailing 21-0, and having just witnessed one of the worst halves offensively in recent Virginia Tech football history.

Thirty-four plays, 74 yards, just four first downs. That was it.

“I reverted back to what I was probably like ten years ago as a head coach,” the sixth-year head coach said about his halftime speech. Maybe we need more of that, I don’t know, I’m going to have to figure that out.”

When asked if he “raised hell” in the locker room, a quick “yes” was all Fuente needed to say.

“He was just trying to get dudes fired up,” said safety Tae Daley.

Clemson transfer Jordan Williams echoed the same.

“He came in there and he was a coach, I wouldn’t say it was a different side to him, he came in there, told us what we needed to do to execute and win the game.”

Tech did get into the endzone in the second half, but the game had already been lost. The Hokies were never truly in Saturday afternoon’s game and it showed when a wave of maroon and white emerged from the locker room to see droves of fans heading for the exits.

Quarterback Braxton Burmeister did what he could to keep his team in the game going 11-for-32 with 134 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. But still some question marks regarding the redshirt junior’s health, and the lack of an offensive identity plagued the Oregon transfer all day.

Defensively, Virginia Tech held its own all afternoon long. It kept the Panthers under 40 points for the first time all season long, and made potential Heisman contending quarterback Kenny Pickett uncomfortable at times, but to no avail.

Pittsburgh was never truly threatened, and the pressure was never on Pickett and head coach Pat Narduzzi’s offense to have to put up points on the board.

That being said, the Panthers still recorded 411 yards of total offense. With Pickett throwing for 203 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding another on the ground.

The run game for Pittsburgh also was effective for the majority of the evening as well. Israel Abanikanda went over 100 rushing yards for the first time this season, tallying 140 in the backfield while slowly and surely moving the offense down the field.

The win moves the Panthers into a prime position to take home the 2021 ACC Coastal Division crown, as Narduzzi’s team will take control of their own destiny back up to the Steel City for a date with Clemson next Saturday at Heinz Field.

For the Hokies, the question is, “where do they go from here?”

“We just got to come back out tomorrow and get ready to work”, Williams pointed out. “We just got to get back to the basics and get that feel for each other again. We got a lot of ball left, I feel like we got a lot ahead of us.”

“Our season is far from over.”

Fuente agreed.

“We’ve lost two games on one play, basically, and then we got our butts kicked,” he said. “There’s a lot of football in front of us, I feel good about our group.”