Brent Pry takes accountability for Virginia Tech football's loss to Miami

Leading 21-14 late in the second quarter, the Virginia Tech football team was driving for more points right before halftime. It was an opportunity for the Hokies to score right before halftime and they were getting the ball to start the second half. A chance for a huge double-score on Miami on the road. It was all set up for Brent Pry's team.

It was a golden opportunity that Virginia Tech couldn't complete without a major gaffe.

After the Hokies lost yardage with under 30 seconds left knocked them on the fringe of field goal range to force a fourth down, Pry quickly and inexplicably called a timeout with 25 seconds left. Miami had one timeout left and it was highly unlikely that Mario Cristobal was going to call a time-out and force Virginia Tech to make a decision. Punt or try for a long field goal. Instead, Pry did it for him.

The Hokies lined up for a 57-yard field goal and John Love stepped onto the field and drilled the long kick for a 24-14 lead. With 20 seconds left, you would have thought that Virginia Tech would take a 10-point lead into halftime and get the ball to start the second half. Not so fast.

Miami got a huge return on the ensuing kickoff and ended up near midfield with 15 seconds left. A pass interference penalty with five seconds left moved the No. 7 Hurricanes into field goal range and their kicker, Andres Borregales, lined up and booted a 56-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-17 at halftime. After the game, Pry seemed to take accountability for the questionable clock management at the end of the half in what turned into a 38-34 loss.

"I'd like to have that back,'' Pry said. "I'd like to bleed the clock down."

That was not a good sequence of clock management for the Hokies. If you're going to kick the field goal, let the clock run down as Cristobal was not going to stop it. He would have likely used his last timeout to freeze Love. Instead, Pry reacted quickly and left time on the clock and Miami added a big three points before the break. Another week, more questionable clock management.