Virginia Tech Football: 3 takeaways from a statement win over Syracuse

Virginia Tech made the big plays, as opposed to giving them up

Coming into the game, if there had been one Achilles heel for the Hokies this season, it would have been allowing big plays and hurting themselves with penalties. That did happen against Syracuse and the Orange were on the other end of those plays and mistakes.

Defensively they recorded eight sacks and allowed one drive in the second half of the game with a 32-3 lead where Syracuse found the end zone. It seemed like a drive with a 29-point lead at home where the foot was taken off the pedal for a few minutes. After that, they returned to the dominating unit they had been. Heck, they even forced a safety, their second of the season.

One key offensively is that they were not playing behind the sticks much. A lot of that had to do with the running game, Drones making positive plays with his arm, but the biggest reason was the discipline they had with penalties. The offensive line opened some huge holes for Tuten, Thomas, and Drones. It’s funny what happens when a team plays disciplined football, right?

Now the Hokies look toward the end of their schedule, which has three of the final four games away from Lane Stadium. Next week they travel to Louisville, then Boston College the following week. A home game the weekend before Thanksgiving for the final game at Lane Stadium, before they close the season at Virginia. Two wins are needed to become bowl-eligible and it’s certainly doable.