Rutgers Loss to UCLA Should Make Virginia Tech Football Fans Feel Even Worse

Going into the season, the Virginia Tech football team had what was thought of as a favorable schedule in the non-conference. They dropped their opener at Vanderbilt in overtime before beating Marshall and Old Dominion. They hosted Rutgers before ACC play began and one year after getting run over in Piscataway, N.J., they were looking for revenge in Blacksburg.

It didn't happen. Instead, mistakes, turnovers, and stalled drives allowed Rutgers to build a lead before the Hokies rallied to tie the game at 23-23 with under five minutes left. Then the Scarlet Knights got a big play downfield and after a go-ahead field goal, they picked off Kyron Drones on Virginia Tech's final drive, leading to a 26-23 Tech loss.

At the time, Rutgers improved to 3-0 and seemed to be heading in the direction that the preseason hype had them, until the last three weeks. They lost at Nebraska, but the last two losses have been a blowout at home by Wisconsin and then Saturday, a 1-5 UCLA team made the cross-country flight and beat the Scarlet Knights, 35-32, to drop them to 4-3.

Virginia Tech fans should be frustrated with Rutgers loss

Of course, since that loss to Rutgers, both teams are heading in opposite directions. The Scarlet Knights have three dropped out of four and the Hokies have won two out of three and should be winners of three straight. At the time it felt like a loss that the Hokies were going to regret and it's turning into that.

To Brent Pry's credit, his assistant coach's credit, and the player's credit, they have responded to that loss and the Miami loss with urgency and put together two strong performances against Stanford and Boston College. If they put together that effort against Rutgers, well, they likely win that game. Virginia Tech fans are feeling good after the last two wins, but oh what could have been with a victory over Rutgers and their last three games should frustrate Hokies fans more than they let that one get away.