Five Thoughts The Day After Virginia Tech's Loss At Marshall

Andy Bitter

Senior Staff Writer

September 24, 2023 96

Rasheen Ali had a field day against the Virginia Tech defense, running for 174 yards. (Ivan Morozov)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — You might not have noticed a fourth-tier Big Ten result last night, what with all of the marquee games going on, but after Northwestern was given up for dead against Minnesota, down 21 points at the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats rallied to win in overtime.

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Five Thoughts 2023 VT-Marshall football

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96 Comments

JC in FC September 26, 2023 at 8:52 AM

Andy, great job as usual. Hard to swallow the truth sometimes. I think we are heading for multiple coordinator changes at the end of this year as many of the posts mention. I disagree that this would not be a desirable job. Tech fans have been incredible despite a poor product on the field. I think most of them will continue to support the team and show up at games. The bar would be low for either coordinator to show improvement and with the current salaries being paid these potential coaches could see themselves stepping in and looking like heroes. Knowing that the HC is a good recruiter would further cement this as a good opportunity.
softball1 September 25, 2023 at 4:04 PM

Coach Rah-rah Pry aka~~ the Notetaker better look up word accountability- he puts expectations on players- what are the expectations of his coaching staff-- loyalty as Frank found out will kill ya-
134114Hokie September 25, 2023 at 1:14 PM

Please leave Stiney where he is. I don't want that oc back ever! Ricky Bustle is a different story but I assume he likes Louisianna.
PenthouseAlumni September 25, 2023 at 1:08 PM

This is the worst football team I have ever watched- and I watched almost every browns game the year they went 0-16. If we were an SEC or Big10 school, Pry would be gone after this year. No progress has been made, if anything we have regressed. I am not expecting Pry to win a minimum of 8 games until year 3-4, but the possibility of going 1-11 or 2-10 is very real and that's not going to be pushed onto the players. We have offensive linemen that don't know blocking assignments, we have linebackers running around the field like chickens with their heads cut off, and we have two quarterbacks that are inept at throwing. This is a coaching problem.
rdodge September 25, 2023 at 12:47 PM

Reader: "I wonder where is Andy Bitter from" Andy Bitter: "You can’t get blood from a turnip" Reader: "Ooooh ... Minnesota" lol :D
Cheesehokie September 25, 2023 at 12:29 PM

Maybe we’re learning why Joe Rudolph and Brad Glenn left. Both guys - especially Joe - have been around enough to sense bad situations. Not saying that the self-preservation instinct to abandon a sinking ship was their sole motivation, as both had good opportunities elsewhere. But you gotta wonder….
govt86 September 25, 2023 at 10:45 AM

This column answers my question on the deja vu article. Whit or Pry need to say something because even a lame duck coordinator won’t be worse for the team. And even if the players rally in response it would be better. Perhaps an official performance improvement notice would let the coach relax and not be so desperate he can’t think. I feel for the coaches, but only so far when their salaries are multiples of most.
Techman77 September 24, 2023 at 11:13 PM

I think Andy's first point is central to the problem, here. I can't believe that this staff doesn't understand football or how it should be played. It seems more likely that the points the staff are trying to convey to the players just isn't getting through. Even my untrained eyes (I have no organized football playing or coaching experience) can see the players getting themselves out of position. I think most, if not all, of the people commenting here see the same thing. I have to believe the coaches see it as well. Now, I have worked with teenagers, and I know it can be difficult to get a point across to them at times. And I am sure there are plenty of points to be made in coaching the game of college football. I mean if you're going to teach these kids how to play, then you need to make the game simple enough for them to understand and drill it into them so that they know what to do when game day comes around. You would think that the coaches would know how to do this, but there's obviously something amiss. I'm not one for calling for coaches' jobs or whatever, even when the team is playing this poorly. I've already accepted the fact that we're not very good. I'm more interested in seeing what kind of progress can be made, and then cheering on the team when things improve.
GilliesBlue September 24, 2023 at 8:52 PM

I've been reading AB for at least a decade. He's not one to reflexively start calling for coaches' heads. Four games into season 2, it's obvious even to me that there are serious coaching issues here. Seeing Andy openly talking about replacing one or both coordinators this early on is very telling.
1. ACChamps2004 September 25, 2023 at 11:09 AM
  
  Yes, I thought the same thing. Very interesting indictment of where the progrum is.
sfs48 September 24, 2023 at 8:39 PM

Remember, the average suffering between Legendary / Excellent head coaches is 4 mediocre coaches and 12 years total. See: Alabama See: Tennessee We have many years of misery ahead.
1. BobDigi76 September 25, 2023 at 4:15 PM
  
  Unfortunately we picked the wrong era of CFB to stink & for the administration to check out.
cdogvt September 24, 2023 at 8:35 PM

Excellent summary.
Coach_247_365 September 24, 2023 at 8:20 PM

If you can't block and tackle, you're not going to win many games. Age old comment from those involved in football know all to well. That's where we are. I've never been part of a kick the coach while we are down, but our inexperience at the coordinator level is a glaring eye sore. In that same breath, I don't know if any experienced coordinator would sign up to try their hand at VT right now. I think we're stuck right now and there's not a lot that can be done in the short term. No fan base likes their OC. Heck, they wanted O'Brien out at Bama and they were national contenders year in and year out. As crazy as it sounds, Stinespring may not have wowed the fans as the OC, but his offensive teams could run the ball and were physical. I'd take him back on our sideline right now. I'm sure he would jump at the chance to return to Blacksburg. That's the kind of hire and experience we can make happen sooner than later.
1. hokiebri September 25, 2023 at 12:38 AM
  
  RB coach Billy Hite and pretty good offensive lines were the main reasons for our many years of successfully running the ball.
  1. Coach_247_365 September 25, 2023 at 6:14 PM
    
    Who do you think recruited those O linemen? Stinespring was one of the best recruiters we've ever had. Right now we need some proven experience. Doesn't have to be Stinespring but someone who we could get given our current circumstances.
moneal September 24, 2023 at 5:48 PM

I’m still gonna get my Bitter fix each week but I’m mostly checking out. This team is going nowhere. Hard conversations need to lead to hard departures
Mapmaker September 24, 2023 at 5:31 PM

Until we start winning, or at least not stinking up the field, here is my comment... Torches and pitchforks are gathering.
VTSquires September 24, 2023 at 4:50 PM

I'd love to see someone pull the statistics on what other teams have inexperienced Off/Def coordinators - like we do. Is it possible we're one of the few P5 teams with such a lack of experience? Beyond that, it would be interesting to see the years of experience for Off/Def coordinators in the top 25, or the ACC for that matter. Just taking 1 team for example: Duke. Offensive Coord. seems to have 10 years of experience. Defensive Coord. seems to have 1 year of "co-coordinator" experience, which is interesting. I guess the key might be, 1 rookie at the top is fine, but certainly not both Off/Def coordinators.
1. Bruin2Hokie September 24, 2023 at 8:01 PM
  
  Rather... 1 newbie Coordinator may be survivable but 2 newbies is an unmitigated Disaster.
VT Rockie September 24, 2023 at 4:34 PM

Much of this circus is simply coaching. Tech had the ball with just under 2 minutes remaining in the game. The game ended with them having 2 time outs. Who is managing this on the sidelines? Same problem last year - this is nuts!!
1. No_Limit_Hokie September 25, 2023 at 5:40 AM
  
  #MikeLondon
2. VTCC74 September 25, 2023 at 8:14 AM
  
  This is just a case of poor clock mgmt by Pry. What us he thinking. There was plenty of time if he had managed it correctly and given his offense a blow.
3. DonHo-kieHi September 25, 2023 at 7:11 PM
  
  The use of time outs was not a problem. We were driving and had adequate time to score. Those time outs would have come in handy in the last 45 seconds if we needed. But you have to keep moving the sticks! We had a 4th and one which would generally be a run and then a time out to stop the clock there. But a penalty moved us back to where a pass was needed but not completed. End of game. Time outs had zero to do with it.
VTRB42 September 24, 2023 at 3:48 PM

Throwing a deep fade into double coverage on a fourth and three with a run game clicking is not clever play selection in my humble opinion! Go Hokies!
1. grg September 24, 2023 at 4:00 PM
  
  I made the same observation. One wonders....
2. rct September 24, 2023 at 4:04 PM
  
  Ditto!!!
3. hokies1693 September 24, 2023 at 5:50 PM
  
  Drones makes bad decisions
  1. atlhokie1 September 24, 2023 at 7:42 PM
    
    He's really a FR experience-wise. Maybe someone (ie coach) needs to remind him they just need the first down and not a touchdown. I believe he did the same thing against Rutgers so wondering if that conversation took place?
    1. steves13 September 25, 2023 at 7:35 AM
      
      Doubtful
4. vtbaz September 24, 2023 at 9:16 PM
  
  correction: the scrambling qb with enough green grass in front of him threw it into triple coverage
5. TboneParkerVT September 24, 2023 at 10:53 PM
  
  triple coverage, and if you know your going for it on 4th you run a different play on 3rd.
6. nkhooch September 25, 2023 at 1:34 AM
  
  Actually, there was 3 players around the receiver. But, not sure what that has to do with play selection. Was that the only option for Drones? Did any other receiver go out or just stand there watching? So, you could say the play selection led to triple coverage on a single receiver and opened up others that could have easily gotten 3 yards and Drones simply missed them.
7. VTCC74 September 25, 2023 at 8:16 AM
  
  Terrible call by Bowen! No other excuse. Run an RPO with Drones. Stress and spread the defense making space for him to shoot a fat into the end zone. This is easy.
MKD September 24, 2023 at 3:47 PM

VT has won only two games in over a year. That is something I NEVER thought I would say about Virginia Tech. Playing with a mentality of "razor thin margins, and have to play perfect" (Coach Pry's words) is a recipe for failure. It makes a player question everything they're doing on each and every down and they are thinking, not playing. That doesn't work in sports and business. Being over coached doesn't work.
1. Doublehaul Hokie September 24, 2023 at 6:23 PM
  
  This makes Sense to me. Is it just me or did Marshall look faster and stronger at nearly every position. I don’t believe they should be.
VTRB42 September 24, 2023 at 3:41 PM

Coach Pry has demonstrated his abilities as a defensive coach and has shown a pleasing personality which aids recruiting, but has shown poor discrimination in his selection of support staff. He needs to hire position coaches with knowledge and enthusiasm to instruct and motivate players. And, he needs to hire seasoned and imaginative coordinators to plan and direct the game time decisions.Coach Pry must forget about bringing along former associates and friends - a lesson our legendary coach also had to learn. Go Hokies !!!
Emperorlefty September 24, 2023 at 3:38 PM

Andy, I've watched these games and am less pessimistic in Marve than Bowen. Bowen and the O-Line seem to me to be the Achilles heel, with no real perceived path to fix at the moment. Corners seems okay short of injury bugs and able to play ball. That group seems coached okay, but to me those linebackers and interior linemen just seem not to be at the caliber needed and perhaps more talent/scheme alignment issues than coaching. OC and OLine upgrades leads to the offense to start playing more on the field than the bench, gives defense some rest. The poor run defense...just smells to me of lack of a leader on defense and talent/confidence in the scheme. Would love to see a breakdown of def and off play calling to see if the talent matches the scheme or if there is a way to analyze the coaching efficiency from these coordinators versus talent and assignment issues at player level. I get discipline can be coached....but what If the talent level is really that bad in spots and just being really exposed in this scheme. I'm fearful of swapping both OC and DC If it comes to it...I for some reason have better confidence in Marve than Bowen based on no real insight other than perhaps Pry and Marve can work behinds the scenes to get that side squared away more realistically that the offense. I really do like Pry, and can't stress how much I value his engagement back in the region. Just stinks this is where we are.
1. CPVT3 September 24, 2023 at 7:11 PM
  
  Our total D is around 60 I believe. Not world beating but serviceable.
  1. No_Limit_Hokie September 25, 2023 at 5:44 AM
    
    Not spectacular, but not horrid. As you say, serviceable. We could live with it, if the Offense would pick up their end. As bad as I think things are, two losses have come by 7 points each. So we are not 2022 Colorado, getting blown out weekly by 3 1/2 TDs or so.
    1. Tyhifam September 25, 2023 at 8:46 AM
      
      Horrid will come with the ACC schedule
      1. hokiehunter07 September 25, 2023 at 9:22 AM
        
        exactly. We haven't played anyone yet and we're in the crapper.
eyetalianhokie September 24, 2023 at 3:37 PM

Great analysis as usual Andy! Just curious, do you think the coaching staff reads your articles, and if not, could the article be sent to them , because they are all clueless!
Sawhill Hokie September 24, 2023 at 3:30 PM

Thanks Andy for being the first TSL staff member (to my knowledge) to write about it (I know that Chris has been strongly hinting at it in his writing)-coaching is a big part of the problem.
1. gaholder81 September 24, 2023 at 5:50 PM
  
  Will strongly hinted at it the other day too. But Andy is the first to outright say it that I've observed.
Chasesfish September 24, 2023 at 3:30 PM

It's just....not good. Pry gets to change assistants this year, then gets about a season and a half to see if it works, then the athletic department sends him on his way and says let's try another. The gameday decisions are baffling and this team is about to post an 8+ loss record against a relatively weak schedule. Best case? Works out like Dabo Swinney changing coordinators. Worse case? He's Chad Morris or Geoff Collins as former coordinator hires go.
hokiepearls September 24, 2023 at 3:21 PM

I expected a losing season after all the injuries, but not this. Many of the most loyal fans that travel beyond the footprint will be making difficult decisions not to renew tickets being unable to withstand the pain! Hoping Pry can get it together and have those tough conversations.
1. Hokiealways September 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM
  
  It is evident the Hokies is not a well coached team, in this juncture in the year! Effort = Performance!!!
2. Tyhifam September 25, 2023 at 8:48 AM
  
  Bad time for the reseating of the reseating of Lane for the coming years…… Who is willing to put up more money to keep there seats with what we see on the field mow and in the future?
SuperFeHokie September 24, 2023 at 3:20 PM

Coach Pry is not a good head coach and/ or a bad decision maker 1. Hiring inexperience offensive coordinator 2. Hiring inexperienced defensive coordinator 3. Also, thought he could manage the game and call defense as a 1st year head coach All very bad decisions showing he has bad judgement. Pry is a good person and maybe a strong coordinator but incompetent as a head coach… see results. Unfortunately, he will be VT head coach too long and VT will be the part of the new worst teams in college football. VT will be those easy wins for other team. The coaching staff salaries are too high for this in level incompetence!!
am3gregt September 24, 2023 at 3:16 PM

6th thing we learned is Marshall’s d-line and o-line bigger and stronger then ours! 7th is our couches could not adjust to the 3 plays Marshall was running! 8th I don’t think we get past three wins
1. rct September 24, 2023 at 4:08 PM
  
  9th Marshall seemed quicker at every position.
2. phtbddh September 24, 2023 at 7:19 PM
  
  re:7th - I hate it when the couch gets stuck in a bad position. ;)
  1. No_Limit_Hokie September 25, 2023 at 5:46 AM
    
    At least they are not in Morgantown!
panhandlehokie September 24, 2023 at 3:11 PM

Unfortunately an accurate summary Andy. Even those of us who are X’s and O’s deficient can see the product on the field is not getting better. The fear in most of our minds (after 15 games under Pry) is that this staff is X’s and O’s deficient.
Ranger Sam September 24, 2023 at 2:50 PM

Ultimately Andy, the issue will be if Pry and Company will be given another season period. This team for the last 5-6 years has grabbed losses from the jaws of victory. It routinely has done less with more, and it’s still doing it now under Pry. If Pry finishes 1-11 to 3-9, I don’t see fans hanging around, leading to loss revenues, lack of fan interest, loss of NIL investment $, and overall apathy surrounding the program. The impacts to all of the athletic programs will be felt. Progress must be visible, but I don’t see it happening with this mix of coaches-players. Each week just brings new excuses and more poor play.
Suffhokian September 24, 2023 at 2:32 PM

Great article Andy. These losses were winnable games, but the team looked disjointed and you knew they would either stall or give up big plays.
DelMarHokie September 24, 2023 at 2:23 PM

If you look back through the years (Dooley, Beamer, Fuente) it looks like you have to go back to 1973 to find a worse coached VT team (and that is easily debatable). And as the CFU haters jump in, none of his teams looked this poorly COACHED over a 4 game stretch and certainly not over Pry's 15 games tenor. If you break down talent by position group by game (ie VT DB vs Marshall WR) we have not CLEARLY won a match up since Pry has arrived at Tech. Why ? coaching. Position coaches and coordinators Guys, this is poorly coached team. The record, the statistics all show it. Pry is a by all accounts a great guy (so are the other coaches) he excels at recruiting and selling the program. He and Whit made very poor choices when it came to the assistant coaching staff. OC and DC need to go, sorry their record demands it.
1. am3gregt September 24, 2023 at 3:19 PM
  
  Don’t forget we have no talent or size on either line! Everyone wanted drones to play! Obviously he can’t make good decisions either!
  1. DelMarHokie September 24, 2023 at 5:28 PM
    
    Agreed we dont have great talent at these position groups, but not even compared to ODU, Marshall, Rutgers or Purdue ? We have talent on the DL We have some decent talent on the OL, but we have some real weak spots as well. They need some talented coaches to take the D's to C's and the B's to A's. Same with the DL We should be able to move the ball and stop the run against all of those teams. We have all watched the last 4 games. We dont look well coached and we look worse than last yr. It's hard to understand. But Pry has been selling the product (I do believe he believes in this team) and it's nowhere close to what he told us he thought they would be.
  2. No_Limit_Hokie September 25, 2023 at 5:47 AM
    
    The less talent you have, the more coaching matters.
  3. Tyhifam September 25, 2023 at 8:51 AM
    
    I would give Drones a couple more games before we throw him under the bus
    1. DelMarHokie September 25, 2023 at 10:10 AM
      
      I think Drones can be a good QB but CPry thought an former Offensive Lineman would be a good QB Coach.
Diehard Hokie September 24, 2023 at 2:16 PM

Hot dang, what a great article. Thanks, Andy!
HoustonHokie September 24, 2023 at 2:05 PM

Good article and direct. Possibly my only disagreement is that “the obituary” is further along than you indicate. VT’s staff falls short in almost every aspect of coaching- experience, player development, game planning, teaching, in-game coaching, etc. They don’t past the eye test nor does team performance, analytics or player development disagree. It will be a long year (and next).
DVerdeyen3101 September 24, 2023 at 2:00 PM

I’m now convinced that watching VT football is my penance for some unknown wrong I’ve committed against the universe. This team is undisciplined and poorly coached. How in the world do you commit a false start penalty on 4th & 1 with the game on the line AFTER you take a timeout? This staff is on borrowed time IMHO.
1. extremehokie September 24, 2023 at 3:07 PM
  
  LOL. Now that is golden. Looks like there are many of us that are paying the price for our past transgressions!
2. Lane2024 September 24, 2023 at 8:32 PM
  
  Perfect example of coaches not putting the players in the best position for success. You have a big, strong QB. 4 and 1, you put him him under center, snap the ball on one. No potential for false start BS. High percentage play. Stop overthinking it!
DCL September 24, 2023 at 1:59 PM

Andy great article as always. Everything you wrote is spot on. I thought LB would be a place of strength. Here we have a 5 year player making major errors which also demonstrates no player development is taking place. Please share what player has greatly improved since last year? I don’t see it. M Thomas doesn’t have 70 yards rushing for the year. Another example of please explain
Cappydave September 24, 2023 at 1:57 PM

At some point fans will begin to loose interest in VT football. I suspect loss of interest has started. A second straight three win season…not back to 70’s VT football, worse. When is basketball season? Go Hokies! Hoping for the best!
1. hokies1579 September 24, 2023 at 3:10 PM
  
  I’ve certainly lost interest. I usually plan my weekend around watching tech play or going to games. Now….psh, not worth my time, I’ve got better things to do, and this team certainly isn’t fun to watch. I’ll still be recording the games, and will always be a Hokie fan, but I’m not gonna waste 3 hours of my Saturday sitting around being disappointed in our team’s performance.
  1. Thornton Melon September 24, 2023 at 3:39 PM
    
    Well said... usually I make a point to keep an eye on the game (at least thru frequent checking of the various score tracker apps). The past 2 weeks, I checked the score once mid game and then at night for the final score. With upcoming games that I (and probably lots of you ..) think won't even be competitive I don't see putting any effort in attempting to watch/follow.
    1. DADEC52 September 24, 2023 at 6:43 PM
      
      Completely agree with both of you and could not be sadder about it. Whit and Pry both need to go and as soon as we can afford to dump them. The question is the longer we wait the less support and money we may have to get rid of this staff and the AD who let it happen.
      1. phoenixhokie September 24, 2023 at 7:47 PM
        
        Maybe every professor should resign too! And the Governor. C’mon people - Whit B is going nowhere. Stop that California gummie nonsense. He’ll make the next football hire if there’s one to be made in 2 years. Pry gets his 4 at least.
        
        nkhooch September 25, 2023 at 1:39 AM
        
        My favorite dire comment was when someone said that if we lost to Marshall, we should shut down the football program. Lots of drama. But, I agree we should go after the professors before doing that. :-)
        
        Tyhifam September 25, 2023 at 8:53 AM
        
        Our Governor has been very successsful?
      2. Techman77 September 24, 2023 at 11:34 PM
        
        Not only that, but a bunch of folks were calling for Fuente's head, and look at where we are now! If we keep making changes, maybe we can just can the football program altogether.
  2. No_Limit_Hokie September 25, 2023 at 5:50 AM
    
    I often just listen to Bill and Mike on the radio. It saves my eyes from hurt, by not actually watching it.
    1. Cappydave September 25, 2023 at 6:19 AM
      
      Yeah, I go out on the boat and listen to Bill and Mike. Check highlights and read TSL articles later.
laphroaig September 24, 2023 at 1:57 PM

Andy, Your #5 - who forces Pry to make changes? End of the season isn't too late?
1. vtgreg September 24, 2023 at 2:18 PM
  
  Hopefully no one forces Pry to make the changes and he realizes that changes are needed. If that doesn't happen then I think it's got to be Whit but without significant progress being demonstrated over the remainder of the season, Pry wanting to stick with these coordinators would reflect very poorly on his decision making.
  1. DADEC52 September 24, 2023 at 6:45 PM
    
    Picking these coordinators reflects poorly on his decision making already and Whit letting him pick these inexperienced coordinators reflects just horribly on him too. And at these salaries, incredible.
133182Hokie September 24, 2023 at 1:55 PM

Spot on…could not have declared the state of Hokie football better. BP and thusly WB are wasting precious fan investments, getting no return in the process.
Maverick86 September 24, 2023 at 1:49 PM

I agree it was a questionable call but I am sure Pry didn't draw it up for his QB to throw it into triple coverage. That was the decision the QB made. Coaches can't go out and execute the play for them. Last night, South Carolina scored a touchdown against Miss St and went up 20-14 late in the second half I believe. Beamer chose to go for two, which could be questioned, because there was a special play they had been working on in practice for a few weeks and decided to give it a shot because ya never, it may need to be called upon down the road. It was set up where the punter ran to the right side of the field and then stopped and turned and threw a pass to a wide open receiver on the left side of the endzone. Dude was wide open - the pass was terrible and sailed and knocked down. Great call, poor execution. Maybe Pry and staff had something much different planned out than Drones throwing it into triple coverage. Just another way of looking at it, but I do totally understand what you're saying about why not just kick the field goal.
Hokie.KennyG September 24, 2023 at 1:48 PM

I guess the worst case scenario is we go winless in the ACC (which means a loss to UVa) and I wonder how that would change the mood in the AD's office.
RoswellGAHokie September 24, 2023 at 1:44 PM

Some good, honest, hard-hitting journalism, Andy. Kudos for telling it like it is.
Cowhokie95 September 24, 2023 at 1:40 PM

Lack of discipline, lack of execution, lack of attention to details…it goes on and on. If we keep this recruiting class in tact, then this feels so much like the set up of what Beamer had when Braine had a come to Jesus meeting with him.
Durham Hokie September 24, 2023 at 1:28 PM

Good article. I thought it was a poor decision to go for it on 4th down early in the game. About 3 yards to go. Hokies were leading 7-0. Why not a field goal? And the play ran, was a pass into double coverage.
1. Andy Bitter September 24, 2023 at 1:37 PM
  
  I didn't hate that decision. Would have been a 48-yarder, which is no gimme. Offense was rolling at the time. Not a great play-call going deep, but I liked the aggressiveness of going for it.
  1. hokiepro September 24, 2023 at 1:46 PM
    
    Never…NEVER pass up the chance to put a team down 2 scores. Trust your kicker there or at least see IF you can trust him in that stadium later in the game from distance. Go for the 2 score lead
    1. Andy Bitter September 24, 2023 at 3:07 PM
      
      If it's late? Sure. But this was the second possession. There was a lot of football left. And it wasn't like this was a 30-yard FG.
      1. atlhokie1 September 24, 2023 at 7:47 PM
        
        It also wasn't like the offense was getting a lot of scoring chances in previous games either. Getting back into scoring range was never a given with this group.
        
        nkhooch September 25, 2023 at 1:42 AM
        
        It comes down to the probability of making a 4th and 3 vs. making a 48-yard field goal. And I guess they thought 4th and 3 was higher.
2. ANDYISGOLD September 24, 2023 at 1:37 PM
  
  Agree
3. Irish Hokie September 24, 2023 at 1:41 PM
  
  It was triple coverage….but point well taken. That was a sure fire momentum shift when we could have really put the pressure on them from the get-go.
4. vtgreg September 24, 2023 at 2:21 PM
  
  I also questioned the decision to go for it butts think that's more a reflection of the trust (or lackthereof) in the kicking game. Similar to the other questions about play calling, I would have much preferred to get Drones out of the pocket with a run pass option.

Five Thoughts The Day After Virginia Tech's Loss At Marshall

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