Virginia Tech Football Coaching Malpractice Exposed Deeper By FCS School

Clock management, lack of adjustments, poor decisions, you name it, it has been an issue for the Virginia Tech football coaching staff in 2024. For a team coming into the season with off-the-charts expectations, they are left playing for their season next Saturday night when they host Virginia at Lane Stadium.

Both teams come into the game at 5-6 and need a win to continue their season, but for the Hokies, being in this spot is not surprising if you have been paying attention this fall. Virginia Tech is 0-5 in a one-score game with the latest setback on Saturday night at Duke. That loss was coming off a bye and the first game in two weeks since a 24-14 loss at home to Clemson on Nov. 9.

That loss had a common theme in the 2024 season. A questionable game plan and slow start all added up to a loss to the Tigers who were a hrting bunch missing some key players. The game plan offensively was a head-scratching one and it was exposed even more by The Citadel on Saturday.

The Citadel exposes Virginia Tech's lack of game plan against Clemson

When the Hokies hosted the Tigers, they handed the ball off four times in the entire game to a running back. That was Bhayshul Tuten who had all four carries for zero yards which led to the question, where was Jeremiah Coney? Clearly, Tuten was still hurt from an injury he suffered two weeks earlier at home against Georgia Tech late in the fourth quarter as Virginia Tech was running out the clock.

Saturday, The Citadel, an FCS school, lost 51-14 to Clemson, but it wasn't the final score that exposed coaching malpractice by Virginia Tech, it was what their offense did. They gashed the Tigers for 275 yards on the ground, which was a season-high for an FCS team. It was the second-largest amount of rushing yards allowed by Dabo Swinney's team after Stanford rushed for 236 yards on them earlier this year.

The incredible amount of success had by The Citadel exposes even more what a lack of game planning the Hokies staff had heading into the Clemson game. Two weeks ago they were missing some key players on defense, but offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen still refused to hand the ball off to his backs. Tuten was not healthy and it would have been a bad thing to give Coney a shot at some point? Apparently yes, it would have been according to what happened.

Now there is no telling if the Hokies would have even won that game, but it is just another case of coaching malpractice for Virginia Tech in 2024. That is one of the many reasons why they are where they are heading into the regular season final, again, needing to beat Virginia to become bowl-eligible. Coaching matters.