Leading 23-21 with less than two minutes to go and facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 40, interim Virginia Tech football coach Philip Montgomery had a decision to make against North Carolina State. Go for it and seal the road upset, or punt the ball away and trust your defense to keep the Wolfpack out of field goal range.
Despite pressure from quarterback Kyron Drones, Montgomery punted the ball, and NC State took over at their 18-yard line with 1:25 left. In the end, the decision turned out to be the right one, as Sam Siefkes' defense got a stop on fourth down when Christian Ellis broke up a pass intended for Justin Jolly from Wolfpack QB CJ Bailey 42 seconds left. Game, set, match.
Virginia Tech's defense had been playing well all night, and Montgomery explained why he chose what he did.
Philip Montogomery explains fourth-quarter decision against NC State
At 1-3 and needing a major lift, it would not have been surprising to see Montgomery go for it. QB sneak with your big and rugged signal caller should have picked up the first down. Instead, after some discussions, he punted the ball and left it up to his defense to seal the game. They did.
"We went for one on the minus 40-something in the course of the game,'' said Montgomery. "Yeah, we talked about it at the end of it. It was (that) we got to make the right decision at the right time. I felt like, in that particular moment, with all the other variables, I thought it was the right decision. We trusted our defense, we trusted all three phases, and it was a three-phase win for us. So, obviously, it worked out well."
After the win Saturday night, Drones lobbied for Montgomery to go for it and said that the two were going to have a conversation on Sunday. Of course, he was joking.
Kyron Drones on lobbying #Hokies Philip Montgomery to go for it on that fourth down:
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) September 28, 2025
"Oh, we're going to have a talk tomorrow. I said, 'Let's end the game' like eight times. I'm going to let him celebrate this win tonight. We're definitely going to have a talk tomorrow." #Hokies
Punting the ball and trusting his defense turned out to be the right decision for Montgomery, but you could understand why he would have gone for it if he did. It worked, and it has instilled confidence in his football team, something that didn't seem possible just two weeks ago.