The Virginia Tech defense would’ve struggled to stop a nosebleed in the second half of Saturday’s demoralizing 44-20 loss to Vanderbilt, which puts head coach Brent Pry’s tenure on the brink.
After the Hokies limited the Commodores to 169 yards of total offense in the first half, the dam broke in the second and they yielded 321 yards of offense, including 199 on the ground.
“I was excited about how we played in the first half, the good things we were doing,” Pry said. “The drives, the takeaways, converting in the red zone. We were beating blocks, we were tackling well and then we came out of the locker room and played poorly. Couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t get off the field defensively. Mostly drives, but also some chunk plays that were obviously hurtful, and we couldn’t get going offensively so it compounded each other.”
In all, Vandy finished with 490 yards — a 262-228 run-pass split, good for 8.6 yards per play and 7.1 yards per carry.
It was the fourth time the Hokies allowed an opponent to average seven yards per carry in Pry’s four seasons, joining losses to Pitt (2022), Rutgers (2023) and Florida State (2023).
“They did some trading in shifting that they weren’t doing in the first half,” Pry said. “Ran some G scheme, they found some success with it. I thought the quarterback made a few plays. They got us off balance those first two drives.”
The well-structured Vanderbilt rushing attack gave Tech fits last season in Nashville, though it came in doses, mostly directly from quarterback Diego Pavia, who was the catalyst. He ran for 104 of the group’s 181 yards, but it only came out to 3.8 yards per rush.
The Commodores gashed the Hokies this time around. No one broke the century mark, but three players finished with 60-plus, led by Makhilyn Young’s 95 yards on eight totes. Sedrick Alexander added 73 yards on 10 touches, too. That duo combined for three rushing scores. Pavia also chipped in 61 yards on 11 carries.
Vandy was slightly off-kilter in the first half and amassed just 63 rushing yards — a solid early sign for a Tech defense that caged up LaNorris Sellers and South Carolina last week in Atlanta. But it was a completely different game in the second half as the tables turned.
The 'Dores moved the ball with authority, running right down Tech’s throat time and time again. Of their 38 second-half plays, 27 were runs. They used some trickery, throwing in some triple option and even a reverse, to keep the Hokies guessing.
And then there were the battering ram plays, like Alexander’s 18-yard touchdown run, where they just did it the old-fashioned way. Pavia even put his shoulder down and ran over Tech players while blocking for his teammates on multiple plays — simply out-muscling Tech.
Diego Pavia is a goblin and i mean that in the best possible way pic.twitter.com/R8fbkfPWLc
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 7, 2025
“They were able to stay on schedule,” Pry said. “They ran the reverse, they ran the option. They just did different things to mix it up and it kind of jumpstarted them, to be quite honest. They got some momentum.”
Also impressive: Tech did not sack Pavia once, only generating two tackles for loss, and excluding two kneel-downs on the final drive, Vanderbilt only lost six rushing yards over the course of 60 minutes. Moreover, four came from backup quarterback Blaze Berlowitz. Pavia had the other two. (Vandy also did not punt — an occurrence that last happened to Tech before 1987.)
For a Hokies defense that made multiple plays in the backfield against the Gamecocks and whose strength appeared to be up front, they couldn’t muster anything against the Commodores.
That was particularly true in the second half when Tech watched Vandy rip off five consecutive scoring drives, three of which lasted between four and seven minutes. The 'Dores had the ball for nearly 22 of the half’s 30 minutes. The Hokies’ anemic offense just magnified the disparity.
Offensive Line Injuries Set Hokies Back
Virginia Tech appeared to have limited offensive line depth entering the Vanderbilt game with key backups Brody Meadows (boot) and Jaden Muskrat (not cleared due to injury) unavailable.It took even more lumps there when starting right guard Montavious Cunningham left the game after the third series and did not return. Redshirt freshman Tommy Ricard replaced him, but even more shuffling took place later in the first half when starting left tackle Johnny Garrett went down with an injury. Tech moved things around and brought in Aidan Lynch, another redshirt freshman.
“We’ve got to get Johnny Garrett healthy,” Pry said. "Got to get him back at left tackle. No. 6 and No. 7 — No. 6 on the O-line wasn’t dressed out, No. 7 was left out but not cleared to play yet, so we’ve got to get healthy on the offensive line.”
It left the Hokies a bit helpless back there. What was an offense that got a push up front in the first half and moved the ball on four of its five possessions couldn’t do anything in the second. It punted three times and turned it over on downs once, netting just 21 yards. Lynch’s youth also showed on a false start penalty.
Tech only had three first downs, too, the first of which came via a Vanderbilt pass interference call. Running back Jeremiah Coney picked up the other two in garbage time with under two minutes remaining.
The Commodores recognized the weakness up front and pinned their ears back, routinely sending the house and putting Drones under intense pressure. They brought him down for their first of three sacks of the game, an 8-yard loss, on the last play of the third quarter.
Unable to give Drones time, the Hokies’ offense was treading water at that point.
“We couldn’t protect,” Pry said. “They were in the backfield. We tried chipping and helping out our guys that had to fill in and step up. We did some of that, but to be honest, I thought they were on our side of the line of scrimmage, certainly more times than not.”
It’s unclear if Tech will have any of those banged-up linemen available next week vs. Old Dominion, but the offense looked like a shell of itself without them. Offensive line coach Matt Moore described it as a “work in progress” in late August, and it will have an even steeper uphill climb if young guys are forced to play because of injuries.
“I like that first five, and all of a sudden Montavious and Johnny aren’t out there and No. 6 and No. 7 aren’t playing,” Pry said. “All of a sudden you’re playing No. 8 and No. 9. That’s the one spot we didn’t have experienced depth at.”
Hairston Gets His Moment
With seven seconds remaining in the first quarter on the Vanderbilt 2-yard line, Drones rolled right and fired a dart to Hokies tight end Ja’Ricous Hairston in the end zone — the first catch of his career and also Tech’s first touchdown of the season. It put the Hokies up 10-0.“It felt great,” Hairston said. “It’s been a long time since I found the end zone.”
Two drives later, Hairston was lined up as the H-back in a jumbo package and paved the way for Drones to scoot into the end zone on a 1-yard run, making it 17-7.
It was the first real action for the redshirt sophomore, who played in all 13 contests last season but didn’t record a catch. Now on scholarship, a distinction he received in the offseason, he’s carved out a unique role for himself and has seen 18 offensive snaps in Tech’s first two games.
He hails from nearby Bassett, where he was an all-district quarterback and linebacker and earned offensive player of the year honors as a senior.
“From only playing quarterback, I was a little scared to block when I came in, I can’t lie, but now I just throw my body in there and go to work,” Hairston said.