Chalked
up as an automatic victory in the offseason, this trip to Raleigh to face the
undefeated NC State Wolfpack turned out to be much more critical than previously
envisioned. A loss here would have further tarnished a Virginia Tech season that
had already gotten off to a rough start. Instead, the Hokies reached deep and
pulled out a comeback the likes of which they had never managed under Frank
Beamer, and now Virginia Tech has a very good chance of being 4-0 in the ACC
heading into November.
Tech got down 17-0 in this game, and usually, that is the kiss of death under
Frank Beamer. The Hokies had never come back from that big a deficit under
Beamer, and there was no reason to think they would in this game, either. The
Hokies aren't built to be a comeback team, and as we saw in the Boise State game
(and other games), the Virginia Tech coaching staff isn't very good at managing
close end-game situations, especially offensively.