Tyler Bowen didn't stregthen his case to keep his job
Last month, Pry made the decision ( or Whit Babcock did) to fire three assistant coaches including defensive coordinator Chris Marve and offensive line coach Ron Crook. Moves had to be made and it wasn't surprising to see both of them let go. You hate to see someone lose their job, but college football is a results job and the results for their units were not good enough.
On the flip side, offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen was safe, for now, but he didn't do anything to make the case that he should be back calling plays in 2025. Early in the game I get being conservative as it took four drives for the Hokies to pick up their 1st first down, but what transpired in the fourth quarter was just head-scratching, to say the least.
Facing a first-and-goal inside the Minnesota 5-yard line, the Hokies quickly went backward and faced a third-and-goal from outside the 10-yard line. What does Bowen call for? A reverse that had no chance whatsoever of being remotely successful. That set up a fourth down near the 20-yard line and Pop Watson ended up throwing an interception in a situation he never should have been in. Again, there was more confidence in Bowen as the year went along than in Marve in terms of calling a game and making adjustments, but that confidence was much more than in Marve, which says a lot.