For the third straight week, the Virginia Tech football team lost. After losing at home to Purdue, 24-17, on Sept. 9, they dropped their second consecutive on the road one week ago against Rutgers, 35-16. Saturday in Huntington, West Virginia, the Hokies lost, 24-17, to a Thundering Hurd team that beat them for the first time since 1940.
It’s still September, but you get the feeling that the Hokies are hitting rock bottom. At 1-3, they return home to Lane Stadium next week under the lights at 8 p.m. against the Pittsburgh Panthers. After just Week 4, Virginia Tech fans are frustrated with head coach Brent Pry in his second season and they are also turning on his assistant coaches.
In the past 6 years:
— Mike Young 2020 (@Hokies2022) September 23, 2023
- ODU clowned us twice
- UVA wins for the first time in 17 years
- Duke blows us out at home and beats us in Durham for the first time in decades
- Liberty
- Cuse at home first time in decades
- Rutgers first time in decades
- Marshall first time since WW2
Virginia Tech football is just a shell of what it used to be. Awful coaching. Awful play calling. Awful execution. #Hokies
— Jeremy Slayton (@rivercitydad) September 23, 2023
Virginia Tech’s fall from grace should be studied in schools.
— Grayson Wimbish (@G_Wimb) September 23, 2023
I am in so much pain I truly can’t explain
— Logan Ross (@LRossVT) September 23, 2023
Three most important coaches are the HC, OC and DC.
— Yung Hokie (@YungHokie) September 23, 2023
Whit Babcock hired all three with ZERO years of experience in their roles AND threw them HUGE contracts.
He put our cash cow program in the hands of guys who didn’t know what they were doing.
It all comes from the top
LAST YEAR IT WAS VERY EVIDENT PLAYERS WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH, NOW IT'S CLEAR RIGHT NOW COACHES AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH. IF YOUR PROGRAM HAS BOTH THESE PROBLEMS, THEN LEADERSHIP IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
— THE KEY PLAY (@thekeyplay) September 23, 2023
Yes, Virginia Tech is so far from the glory days of Frank Beamer, that you can’t even mention Beamer in the same breath as Pry. It is just year two of the Pry era in Blacksburg and he was not dealt a good hand when he took the job after the Justin Fuente era, which was a disaster.
Pry was hired to turn the program around and yes, it’s going to take time, but just how much time? Injuries have played a big part in the Hokies’ start this season, but against Marshall, the play-calling was questionable at best at times. They were not always putting quarterback Kyron Drones in a position to succeed.
On the defensive side, it doesn’t appear that they are getting better. Pry was a defensive coordinator at Penn State under James Franklin and the story from Week 1 against Old Dominion was the same old story against Marshall in Week 4, the inability to stop the run. Again, injuries on defense have popped up, but they continue to give up big plays and they are not able to stop the run consistently.
If this is rock bottom, then at this point, Virginia Tech fans hope things begin to turn around. If it doesn’t, the fan’s frustration with Pry and his staff is only going to get bigger and bigger as the 2023 season goes along.