It was another tough Saturday to be a Virginia Tech Hokie fan. It was a tale of two halves with the defense playing lights out in the first, and not so much in the second half. The Hokies continued to struggle after halftime, and Clemson took full advantage putting up 14 points.
Is it a lack of adjustments? Is it a lack of motivation? At this point in the season, it has been a glaring issue. The Hokies were admittedly playing with a bad hand. The injuries to Bhayshul Tuten and Kyron Drones can not be underestimated. Tuten looked like he aggravated a leg injury and finished with 0 yards on 4 carries. Drones never looked comfortable and was spelled by Collin Schlee in the second half.
The Hokies’ rushing attack was dismal. Schlee led the Hokies with a paltry 28 yards. Drones finished the day with 11 attempts for only 13 yards. The Hokies lost the rushing yardage battle 167-40.
Heading into halftime the Hokies had a seven point advantage. If you were a Virginia Tech fan, you felt pretty dang good about the defensive performance. You felt great about the special teams which accounted for Virginia Tech’s only points in the first half.
For whatever reason, the Hokies can’t seem to get out of the locker room in the second half. Andy Bitter from Tech Sideline had a really good nugget when he asked Brent Pry about the bad third quarter performance, noting that it’s the only quarter Tech has a negative point deficiency. The bye week can’t come soon enough for the Hokies for a chance to get healthy and get ready for Duke two weeks before Virginia comes to town in three weeks for the regular season final and who knows, at this rate, it could the season final.