Virginia Tech came into Saturday's game against Miami as a huge underdog. The Hokies were going to need to a play a perfect game and get a couple of breaks along the way. Unfortunately, even when Virginia Tech makes a big play that could shift momentum, the ACC officials just take it away from them.
With the Hokies facing a 3rd and 11 in the third quarter, quarterback Kyron Drones was flushed out of the pocket by a blitzing Miami safety and threw a desperation pass to the sideline while being tackled. The pass was somehow completed to Ayden Greene for an apparent first down, but the whistle blew thinking that Drones was already down.
But Drones wasn't down and an inadvertent whistle immediately killed the play. After interim coach Philip Montgomery rightfully reamed out the officials for their premature actions, the replay showed that the whistle had blown and by rule, the down would have to be replayed.
Inadvertent whistle so VT will replay the down pic.twitter.com/ibfng89GgM
— Grant Speaks (@GrantSpeaks1) November 22, 2025
It was a tremendous individual effort from Drones to make the throw and Greene to come back for the catch, but it was all for nothing.
"That's a bad call, that's a really bad call, especially with a quarterback as big and strong as Kyron Drones, who was clearly trying to fight off the defender and keep the play alive," ESPN color commentator Louis Riddick said.
After replay confirmed the whistle had been blown, the 3rd down was replayed and this time Drones was sacked by another blitzing Miami safety and the Hokies had to punt.
Man @ACCFootball y'all need to fire the head referee for the @HokiesFB today. He tried to screw us over against Cal, and now he has screwed us over against Miami. Whoever blew the early whistle needs to be fired too.
— Chris Correll (@ChrisCorrell1) November 22, 2025
During the quarter switch over, Montgomery was interviewed and tried to look past the play.
"That's a huge call and a huge play right there, but we've faced adversity all year long. This team is resilient, we've got an opportunity right here with 15 more minutes, we've got to go play," Montgomery said.
Recruits flock to Blacksburg, see tough Hokies effort
Virginia Tech lost to Miami, 34-17, but the Hokies played hard, and the atmosphere was strong. That should play well with the legion of recruits that were in town to watch the program that James Franklin will be taking over.
Franklin, who was fired from Penn State last month, had several of the prospects that he had committed to the Nittany Lions in Blacksburg on official and unofficial visits. With the early signing period two weeks away, Virginia Tech could see a major surge in its recruiting class.