Virginia Tech Football: Brent Pry makes gutsy call to save Hokies season

With his team clinging to a 17-10 lead in the third quarter, Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry had an assistant coach get into his headset. What was the topic of discussion? Well, it was a risky fake punt call, something he was talked into.

The second-year head coach was talked into it and it was the last thing that Wake Forest was looking for. In a game that was a must-win for the Hokies if they had any chance to compete to become Bowl-eligible following their bye week, it had to be called and executed and it was.

Brent Pry made a decision that may have saved  the Hokies’ season

Facing a 4th-and-6 at midfield with just under six minutes remaining, Pry called for the fake punt and it was executed to perfection. Punter Peter Moore acted like the ball was snapped over his head, while the snap went directly to Cole Nelson who went 18 yards to the Wake Forest 32-yard line.

https://twitter.com/HokiesFB/status/1713314861847892075

On a momentum and game-changing play like that, ideally, Virginia Tech would like to have turned the fake punt into seven points, but they had to settle for a 26-yard John Love field goal and a 20-10 lead late in the third.

It felt like the Hokies might come to regret not finding the end zone there, but their defense was good all game long, so it didn’t hurt that they had to settle for three. In a different situation, settling for three might feel like a loss.

If there was one thing that Pry found out as the game went on, it’s that his team had earned the opportunity to allow him to decide to call the fake punt and execute it. He called it, and they executed it and it ended up being demoralizing to Wake Forest in a game that the Hokies needed more than the Demon Deacons.