It was another loss in the city of Pittsburgh for Virginia Tech. (Ivan Morozov)
It’s not that the 45-29 loss by Virginia Tech at the hands of Pitt was a surprise. David, Will and I all picked the Hokies to lose big, and a whopping 85% of 1,234 voters in our game preview poll had the Panthers winning by double digits. The ending was not a surprise. However, the route taken to reach that end wasn’t one that most of us saw coming.
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A story I would like to hear more about is what happened to Peter Moore? He was very off. His first two punts were fantastic, pinning Pitt inside the 5 both times. But then after the blocked PAT he missed every punt. Did he get hurt? He seemed to have trouble catching the snap, holding for Ross, and his punts only went 30 or so yards (I acknowledge one of them was tipped).
It really set us behind early when we would punt short and allowed Pitt to work with a short field.
Was it just an off day or is he fighting some sort of injury? When we rely on our defense so much we really set them up for failure when we send them out already on our own side of the field.
Smirnoff
A big surprise for me is that Chamari Connor seems invisible this season. I wonder if it’s a scheme thing or just that he is not suited for the position that he is playing because of his coverage skills. I was expecting to be treated to him regularly coming up and making bone crushing hits like he has in the past
robby68
Chris. Two things continue to disappoint me as I watch us proceed through the season; a lack of physical toughness and too many penalties. I understand that the physical toughness issue is a part of building the culture, but again, we continue to not tackle well at all. To me, that becomes a toughness issue. The penalties, in my mind, are a discipline issue. The procedural penalties and the personal foul penalties continue to be troublesome and add up to a lack of discipline. We are currently last in the league in committed penalties.
gemrooty
Agreed, incremental progress is our hope. Wells’ improvement may hinge when the game “slows down” for him, and that is different for each player. His touch will improve immediately if/when that happens.
yukoncornelius
At this point in the season I believe that we can clearly see that we lack the overall talent to be a good team. The team attitude of toughness and perseverance will be Coach Pry's biggest challenge. I think he can recruit the talent but can he "keep" the team and stay on the path of creating a culture of toughness and in turn winning. I think he has the charisma to do that - unlike Coach Fuente. In spite of the coaching staff being new they have got to get better also and we need to see the same improvement game to game there as we need to see with the players. I expected this season would be one of transition and difficulties. I believe that the players and staff can get better and if they show that progress then we can have hope for the future.
VBHokieman
It was great seeing a glimpse of what the run game can look like with Thomas and King being the primary backs. Look forward to seeing that unit progress. Wells to me locks on one target and he's gonna just throw it as hard as he can to get it in there. Not much touch and that has been evident all season. Sure hope he can progress as well in the aspect of surveying the field and looking guys off. Still just not really feeling like he is going to be the guy to take us to the next level and I honestly think we need some portal help in that regard.
SkierGirl1
Their passing game needs a better design. I tracked 28 passes between the yard numbers and sidelines and 8 passes down the middle of the field. The passing game needs to attack the middle more to give receivers room to run. This will open the offense up.
fosterD1
I think Pry realized shortly after taking over that he had two issues that needed to be addressed, and over time, corrected: a lack of talent on both sides of the ball (primarily offense) and a lack of toughness. Improving recruiting won’t happen immediately (as in this season) but getting his guys to play a tougher style of football is something he could implement now. I think this season is very much like an audition for these current players. Pry is rotating in a ton of guys each week and I think he’s wanting to see who has what it takes to be contributors next year and for years to come.. I think he’s known since day one that he doesn’t have the horses to compete at a high level in 2022.
HokienGeorjaw
We seem to be a first half team, right now. Not enough depth to keep pace for the entire game. We just look gassed by the end of the 3rd Qtr.
SCHokie80
Great article to put matters truly into perspective. With perhaps a win over ODU and some better overall play with fewer penalties, we very well could be 4-2, but we're not. Curious, you mentioned we have 7 games; is this assuming we go bowling?
Will Stewart
Just a mistake, fixed in editing.
TECH337
Chris,
Minor point - I believe that we have 6 games left. Unless you are considering the possibility of a bowl game then I appreciate the optimism.
Will Stewart
I just clarified it to say "six regular-season games". Thanks.
jmc61397
So do we know for sure that Pry is still calling the defense? I heard multiple times from both the TV commentators and Roth and Burnop calling it Chris Marve’s defense. Also heard from both commentators about Glenn being up in the booth with Bowen so I definitely want to see this continue to happen, but do you think this will have any effect on Wells where he won’t have his positional coach on the sideline with him? He played better on Saturday than some of the other the games where Glenn was on the sideline but I’d love to hear what anyone else thinks.
Efigalaxie
I really do believe this season boils down to new coaches, new schemes, and overall talent level. Looking at the incoming freshman class for 2023 and the true freshman class inbthe dock right now, you can tell Fuente was trying to fix the issue…and he was well aware of where he needed players. I give Fuente kudos for what he was in the process of doing and not giving up when he knew he was going to be out. Our current overall talent level IS on his shoulders though. Kudos to Pry for keeping the incoming class together and improving on it here and there. I honestly do believe this year is the bottom for us. It could have been so much worse. Imagine if Hollifield hadn’t stayed…. Thomas…King… The last two years of Fu, the QB was often the leading rusher. Some have pointed to regression…sure…a different system.There have been great improvements as well. Hollifield is pretty much doing everything that can be done at his position. I will be at the Miami game. I am looking forwards to it.
ROBCLELAND
You mentioned there was only one tackle for a loss. Wasn't Wells sacked at a critical moment to take them out of field goal range on one drive?
Chris Coleman
They only made one tackle for loss that wasn't a sack. But they did have three sacks. So four total TFLs, but only one came against the running game.
Cheesehokie
Appreciate the positive takes, Chris. We’re all disappointed but we can’t wallow in bitching and despair. There was improvement. Hoping coaches and team can build on that while addressing the shortcomings.
LMK
It’s almost like VT is playing pre-season as the mistakes are correctable but after all these games we continue to make he same mistakes
Nortazhokie
One disappointing continuing theme was getting on the 2 yard line with first and goal and not scoring a TD. But the offense did look somewhat competent yesterday otherwise. Baby steps.
hokiepro
Yep not quite sure why Thomas wasn’t given the ball each time at the goal line
Also may be time for D Wright to be used in red zone
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