Virginia Tech Football's Painful Loss to Miami May Provide Dividends

The Virginia Tech Hokies suffered one of the toughest beats in all of college football on Saturday night. Leaving Hard Rock Stadium around midnight, I was dejected and did not really want to chat about the game. The Hurricane fans were very proud of their effort, and let me know about it. They wanted to rub it in my face, and I just wanted an Uber. I won’t indulge the conspiracy theories that have been floated, but it was one of the weirder games I’ve ever attended. Normally, when Virginia Tech suffers a defeat I get pretty down. Not this time. Sure, I felt “jobbed”, but in my heart of hearts, I felt the past was incomplete. I also felt there wasn’t “irrefutable video evidence” that should supersede the call on the field.

"We may have lost the battle, but completely won the war."

- Roy Hatfield

After a good night’s sleep, I looked at the stats from the game. We were behind on the most important categories. We lost the passing battle and time of possession. We let Cam Ward possibly create his Heisman Trophy submission tape. We did several completely stupid things, but we also fought. We fought to the end. We played complimentary football.

We weren’t spooked on the biggest stage so far in 2024. We “got off the bus”, and damn near beat the #7 team in the nation. While the ‘Canes are getting ready to be College Gameday sweethearts, the Hokies are left with a head-scratching decision from the rulers in Charlotte. The Hokies have a ton of intel from this game, not so much about Miami, but themselves.

The Hokies have an absolute stud in Bhayshul Tuten. The Hokies have a dynamic QB1 with Kyron Drones. The Hokies for the first time in 3 years have ones that can run with the best’s ones. Before the unrealistic fan base wants to pull the chute on a Brent Pry 3 year project, watch this game. I understand the season hasn’t unfolded like the Hokies wanted, but the effort was there. While the result kicked us in the plums, the absolute will of these players was downright inspiring.