Stop me if you have heard this before in 2024. The Virginia Tech football team started slow in a game and dug themselves into a deep hole. It happened a lot and of course, after a bye week and two weeks off, it happened again.
To the Hokies' credit, after digging themselves into an early 14-0 hole on touchdown passes of 86 and 77 yards, they were able to shift the momentum a little bit to take the lead at 17-14, but self-inflected mistakes and losing starting quarterback Collin Schlee to an injury on the final play of the first quarter was too much to overcome in another ACC loss. At 5-6, Virginia Tech must beat Virginia next Saturday at Lane Stadium to just become bowl-eligible.
Virginia Tech came out flat again and was beaten on big plays down the field by Maalik Murphy and Eli Pancol and the trio hooked up for three opening-half touchdowns. The Hokies got a big-play touchdown from Ali Jennings and an end-around touchdown from Ayden Greene to tie the game before a John Love field goal gave them a 17-14 lead. Murphy and Pancol then connected for their third touchdown and a 21-17 halftime lead.
Of course, the second half started the same way the first half did, with Duke scoring on their first possession, going 74 yards on seven plays in just over three minutes for a 28-17 lead. Virginia Tech cut the deficit to a one-score game in the fourth quarter on a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown run and Watson two-point conversion, but they were never able to get close enough to give Love a chance to tie it.
CHOO CHOO TUGBOAT TUTEN IS BACK 🚂#ThisIsHome | 📺 on @accnetwork | @bhayshul pic.twitter.com/5zVxm75ANO
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) November 24, 2024
It's hard to believe, but here we are, Virginia Tech, which had so much hype to begin the season, needs to beat Virginia at home next Saturday night just to become bowl-eligible. Who knows who will be healthy enough to play next week and who honestly will show up for the Hokies for the Commonwealth Cup, but one thing is for sure, the winner gets a bowl game and the loser has a long off-season. At this point, either result for Virginia Tech would not be surprising at this point.