Going into the 2024 season, expectations were high for the Virginia Tech football team with all the retention and Transfer Portal additions head coach Brent Pry had. However, things went south in Week 1 at Vanderbilt and snowballed from there.
The Hokies dropped a 34-27 overtime decision to the Commodores in Nashville, and that started a season that ended at 6-6 for the second consecutive season, with a win over Virginia on Thanksgiving Weekend in Blacksburg needed just to become bowl-eligible. Not what many, if any, Virginia Tech fans had envisioned when the season started.
There were a number of reasons why the season played out the way it did, and one of the bigger ones was because of injuries to key players such as quarterback Kyron Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten, each of whom missed time late in the season. However, another big reason as to why the season played out the way it did was because of the one-score losses they endured during the season, which Pry gave an explanation for on Thursday at the 2025 ACC Kickoff.
Brent Pry explains simple explanation for the Hokies one-score losses in 2024
Five of Virginia Tech's losses in the regular season were one-score setbacks, with the lone double-digit loss coming at the hands of Clemson at home in November, 24-14. One-score losses have been a thorn in Pry's side during his tenure in Blacksburg, and he explained his team's one-score losses last fall.
"We've talked about it (closing out games). Closing decisions throughout the game, being the team that is more mentally and physically tough to close it out,'' Pry said. "We were competitive week in and week out and continued to come up short."
Pry is 100% correct in that his team was competitive week in and week out, and if those one-score results had gone the other way, then they would have been looking at an 11-1 season and likely a berth in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Heck, even winning three of those five games is a 9-3 campaign with a different feel around the program.
Expectations are not as high going into 2025, but sometimes that's when teams like Virginia Tech rise to the occasion. Win a couple of one-score games early on and see what a difference it makes. A one-score win over South Carolina or Vanderbilt changes the narrative early in the season.