Virginia Tech Football: Brent Pry Gives Same Depressing Quote After Loss at Syracuse

Virginia Tech fans are quickly losing patience with head football coach Brent Pry. With expectations high beginning of the season, the Hokies have not been the team many expected. The preseason hype was even coming in from national writers and analysts, but through nine games, the Hokies are sitting at 5-4.

What has been frustrating for Virginia Tech fans is how the Hokies have got to 5-4. They lost Week 1 at Vanderbilt in overtime, then lost at home to Rutgers in Week 4. The common theme in both of those losses? Slow starts led to early deficits and it ended up being too much to overcome. In Week 5 at Miami, the Hokies started fast and held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, only to lose on a pair of Hurricanes touchdown drives and an overturned touchdown on a Hail Mary pass. Honestly, it never should have come down to a review, to begin with, if Tech was able to close out the game.

Just when you thought rock bottom was done with the 2024 Hokies, Saturday happened. Winners of three straight going to Syracuse, the Hokies minus Kyron Drones and Bahyshul Tuten led the Orange, 21-3, midway through the third quarter only to allow 28 points before regulation ended to force overtime tied at 31. Syracuse tied the game with 29 seconds left, but Tech had one chance with three timeouts, but Pry decided to play for overtime. It didn't work out.

Yes, the Hokies had backup QB Collin Schlee under center, but they had all three timeouts and they have John Love, one of the better kickers in the country and in a dome no less. Starting at their 25-yard line, realistically they needed to get the ball 35 or so yards to give Love a chance at booting a game-winner. Instead, a handoff and short gain led the two teams to overtime. After the game, Pry explained his decision-making at the end of regulation.

"Hostile environment, backup QB, they've got the momentum, I didn't want to put the ball in jeopardy,'' Pry said.

Playing scared, even on the road, generally never ends with a good result and that was the case. Instead of trying to move the ball downfield and set up a field goal attempt, Pry opted for overtime after Syracuse scored on two plays on their drive, they forced a Schlee fumble to end the game.

Brent Pry gives same old depressing quote after Syracuse loss

After the game, Pry said that he needs to coach better. That has turned into the same old quote after losses this season.

"We made too. many mistakes, too many penalties to beat a good team on the road, said Pry. "I got to be better than that, coaches need to be better than that.''

He's right about the coaches needing to do better than that, but it is becoming a weekly excuse, if you will, after disappointing losses. Too many mistakes led up to the meltdown from poor clock management to questionable calls on both sides of the ball to sitting on the ball on the road to go to overtime and losing. Coaching scared hardly ever ends up in the win column and this is not the season, despite the injuries, to be coaching scared.