Virginia Tech Football: 10 thoughts on the Hokies ahead of Virginia

Eleven games down, one to go for the Virginia Tech football team. At 5-6, Brent Pry’s team needs a victory in their season finale on the road against in-state rival Virginia. The Cavaliers are 3-8 but would love nothing more than to end the Hokies’ dream of taking the next step in their rebuild for the program. Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea predicted after their win over Duke last Saturday that they are in fact going to beat Virginia Tech.

After an up-and-down season, the 2023 campaign for the Hokies comes down to one game to extend the season, get some extra practice, and a bowl game in December. As Pry and his staff prepare for Virginia, here are some thoughts heading into the regular season final game.

Virginia Tech football,10 thoughts before facing Virginia

• Regardless of what happens in Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon, Pry deserves credit for rebounding his team following their 1-3 start in the non-conference. Losing to Purdue. could end up being a devasting loss as the Boilermakers are 3-8, going 2-7 since winning in Blacksburg. Not many people had the Hokies still with a chance of becoming bowl-eligible in Week 13, but they are. It feels like it would be a disappointing ending to the season if the Hokies come up short.
• Tyler Bowen has had some very good games this season, but Virginia Tech is going to need their offensive coordinator to come up with his best game yet in 2023 against Virginia. He has come up with great offensive designs that have worked out. They’ll need some new wrinkles this week.
• Kyron Drones has been getting better each week but against North Carolina State, he was impressive throwing the ball, especially in the second half. His legs make him a difficult QB to plan for, but his arm was on display in the second half against the Wolfpack with some very good passes.
• If there’s one area that Pry needs to focus on in the transfer portal, it’s with the offensive and defensive lines. NC State had the bigger and better lines Saturday and that was a big reason as to why the game went the way it did.
• I agree with Pry and Dorian Strong deserves All ACC Honors following the season. He has been the leader of the Hokies secondary and makes plays in each game. This one is a no-brainer for the conference.
• Two underrated Hokies who have had a good season are punter Peter Moore and placekicker John Love.
• What a good pickup Antwaun Powell-Ryland was in the transfer portal. He was good last season at the University of Florida, but he has taken his game to another level in Blacksburg. He has been a force all season long.
• What a loss the Hokies suffered when Ali Jennings went down against Purdue. He was so good in the opener against Old Dominion and makes you think where the offense could have gone this season if he had been healthy all year long. The losses to Purdue, Rutgers, or Marshall could have different outcomes in one or more if he was out there. Hopefully, he gets a red-shirt season and comes back next season with Drones.
• Regardless of what happens this weekend against the Cavaliers, two plays that may be overlooked but turned the tide in both wins were the fake punt against Wake Forest and the onside kick at Boston College. Gutsy calls and I loved them.
• Another huge loss happened before the season even started when tight end Nick Gallo went down with an injury. He was not only valuable in the passing game, but also run blocking.

The 2023 season for Virginia Tech comes down to Saturday against Virginia. The only thing they need to worry about this week is going 1-0 to extend their season another four weeks.