Two truths and a lie about Virginia Tech football through their first six games

It’s hard to believe, but the Virginia Tech football team has reached the midway point of the 2024 season. At 3-3, they are not where fans expected them to be when they boarded a flight from California to head back to Blacksburg after beating Stanford, 31-7, on Saturday afternoon.

There have been a number of reasons as to why the Hokies are sitting at .500, but believe it or not, they still have a lot to play for. They get four of their final six games at Lane Stadium and their two road games, at Syracuse and Duke, are very interesting games. As we enter the bye week, here are two truths and a lie about Virginia Tech through six games.

Truth: Virginia Tech is a few plays from being 6-0

If there is one thing we learned about the Hokies through the first six games, it’s that they can lose to anyone and they can beat anyone. I know, that could be said about all teams, but Virginia Tech has proven that they can lose to Vanderbilt (albeit a better-looking loss now after they took down Alabama) and they can go on the road and beat (again, they were robbed by the officials) the ACC’s so-called best team in Miami.

Slow starts and the special team's mistakes are two big reasons as to why they were 3-3. If they started against Vanderbilt and Rutgers, they win those games. They played strong second halves in both games, but they dug themselves too deep of a hole to get out of. Against Miami, they led for nearly the entire second half, answered each punch the Hurricanes threw at them only to have a touchdown on the game’s final play overturned with no indisputable evidence. One stop in Nashville, one-stop against Rutgers, and taking three points at Miami instead of calling for a fake punt are a few plays they would like to have back and maybe the results will be different.

Truth: Bhayshul Tuten will be playing on Sundays in the future

The Virginia Tech offense goes as Kyron Drones and Bhayshul Tuten go. This season, Tuten has rushed for 605 yards, and nine touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards a carry. He has dynamic speed once he gets through the line and as we saw against Miami, he’s tough to wrap up and bring down, breaking a tackle and going 55 yards for a touchdown.

He has four 100-yard games this season and in the losses, the comebacks have started when offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen got the ball in his hands. Even more impressive than his running is his ability to block in protection and read defenses. All of that makes for a running back who will play on Sundays at the next level.

Lie: Virginia Tech doesn’t have much left to play for

At 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, you might think the Hokies don’t have a lot to play for, but that’s not correct. If they are able to run the table in the conference and get some help from some other teams, they still have a shot to be in Charlotte in early December in the ACC Championship Game. It’s not crazy to think.

Now saying it and going out and doing it are two different things, I get it, but they still have a chance until they don’t. It’s going to be difficult with home games against Boston College, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Virginia on top of their road games, but they are in a bad spot that not many people think they are over the final six games.