Virginia Tech Football: Pry’s weird late-game decision makes no sense

Tied 17-17 at halftime Saturday night in their non-conference game with Purdue, Virginia Tech was feeling good after scoring the final 17 points of the opening half to tie the game. Quarterback Grant Wells finished the half strong and we had not yet seen Baylor transfer Kyron Drones, who coach Brent Pry said earlier in the week was going to play.

As the second half went along, it appeared that Wells was not himself, playing with a noticeable limp, but that did not stop Pry from keeping him in the game. On the Hokies’ final drive, Drones made an appearance but was unable to drive them the length of the field to tie the game. After the sophomore played the final drive and looked good in the beginning before the Purdue pressure got to him, but the question must be asked, why didn’t he play earlier in the half?

Pry did not go to multiple QBs like he said he wanted to

After Pry spoke about playing both QBs, the second-year coach waited until the final drive to play Drones. His first play was a 26-yard completion to Dae’Quan Wright, then after a penalty, the athletic Drones rushed for 13 yards to move the ball to the Boilermakers’ 42. After that, four straight incompletions turned the ball over on downs and Purdue ran out the clock to win by a touchdown, 24-17.

As the second half went along, it was clear that Wells was not 100%. He was limping and took multiple shots from the Purdue defense that was physical all game. Instead of changing things up in the fourth quarter before and after the Boilermakers took the lead, Pry stuck with Wells.

Drones is a duel-threat quarterback and brings different skills to the table than Wells. He’s more mobile, he can throw the ball and he’s tough to bring down in the open field. Waiting until the final drive of the game to put him was questionable. Factor in that it had been nearly eight hours since he threw a football in warmups, getting his feet under him would have made sense earlier than the last drive.

When a team loses, there are always going to be questions like why didn’t they do this and why didn’t they do that. In the end, doing what’s best for the team and going with what gives you the best opportunity to win is the way to go and with Wells clearly not himself, putting Drones into the game right after Purdue scored the game-winning touchdown midway through the fourth quarter was the decision to make.