Going into the Duke's Mayo Bowl, the Virginia Tech football team knew they were up against with a tough Minnesota squad across the field, but what made it even more tougher was the number of opt-outs they had. Between that and all the inexpeienced players they suited up, the Gophers proved to be too touch of a challenge.
After jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Hokies fell behind 21-10 at halftime and never got their footing in the second half in a 24-10 loss to finish the season 6-7. Minnesota, which finished 8-5 got head coach P.J. Fleck a mayo bath while Brent Pry avoided it. With that said, here is the final Virginia Tech football report card for the 2024 season.
Virginia Tech football report card against Minnesota
It's worth repeating, Hokies fans travel, whether it's California to a bowl game in January, Virginia Tech fans show out. Making it easier is playing the game in Charlotte and it's as close to a home-field advantage as there could be.
I mean, I'm not sure what you were expecting with all the opt-outs. In defense of Brent Pry, he picked up an unsportsmanlike penalty going after an official for two non-pass interference calls on back-to-back plays, and then he allowed the offense to drive down for a 60-yard John Love field goal to end the first half. Even with Bud Foster as eyes in the sky with a headset for the defense, that wasn't enough from Minnesota getting pretty much what they wanted on offense as the game went along.
As mentioned above, Love kicked a 60-yard field goal, which was a Duke's Mayo Bowl record, and Peter Moore was once again a big part of the game with six punts, including a 68-yarder that got a great roll. Both were All-ACC this season and the nation saw why. Thomas Williams had a couple of nice kick returns for the Hokies as well.