Hokies Fall to Minnesota 24-10, Begin Rebuild for 2025

Bowl games mean something...to some people.

But for an ever growing number of programs, the outcome of these glorified exhibitions is simply a formality.

That's not to say the Hokies didn't want to win the Mayo Bowl, in fact they competed well given the circumstances. But with an already depleted roster in a 7-7 game in the 2nd quarter, the Hokies called on the defensive reserves to start the drive. That told you everything you needed to know.

Down 14 starters and multiple role players, the Hokies were unable to move the ball consistently on offense, struggled getting off the field on defense, and were simply a step behind a gritty Gophers team who is now 6-0 in bowl games under head coach, PJ Fleck. What started as a promising, very chilly night in Charlotte quickly turned in favor of Minnesota. After a few explosive plays for the Gophers and some questionable at best officiating, the outcome of the game was all but decided.

Then again, it felt that way before kickoff. 

Call it "risk mitigation", call it "quitting", call it whatever you want. The reality is a majority of NFL-hopeful players don't want to play in the bowl games. That's not a Virginia Tech phenomenon, it's a college football culture one. And after what we've seen bowl season become over the past decade with mostly empty stadiums, freezing temperatures, and participation from most of the sport it's hard to blame those players whose health is, quite literally, their wealth.

That left the Hokies without four of their top skill position players on offense, their best pass rusher, and their lockdown corner. Throw into the mix a handful of starters in the transfer portal and sprinkle in a few injuries and you're left with a Hokies team that looks nothing like the one we saw clobber rival UVa. 

Quarterbacks Pop Watson and Collin Schlee split time by design, but had little opportunity to make plays. Tech's offensive line, without 3 starters, struggled mightily against a Minnesota defense that is top 15 in the nation in almost every major statistic. Neither the run game or the pass game were able to find their rhythm outside of a few explosive plays from wide receivers Ayden Greene and Keylen "Brodie" Adams. Greene had the best game of any Hokie with 6 catches for 115 yards.

Minnesota on the other hand had many of their normal starters playing a full allotment of snaps. And in spots where they did have opt-outs they were backfilled with experienced role player. QB Max Brosmer played the entire game as he was able to pick apart a Hokies defense that struggled to get in good position pre-snap. Overall, Minnesota was comfortable all night on offense.

A Skeleton Crew Roster

A Mixed Bag on Offense

It was known coming into the game that the Hokies were going to struggle up front, and they did. Minnesota had 10 tackles for loss and limited the Hokies to just 74 yards rushing. Most of those 74 yards came on one play, when freshman wideout "Brodie" Adams took a reverse 47 yards before getting tripped up inside the 20. The pass protection wasn't much better, either, as Minnesota was able to get pressure with just four rushers but elected to blitz the young Hokies for a majority of the first half.

It wasn't the best showing for Pop Watson. The freshman signal caller finished with 81 yards passing and struggled to check into the correct protections and play call pre-snap. Watson seems to have some really high-level skills with his pocket presence and elusiveness in the open field, but in two of his three games this season there have been some clear accuracy issues. The ceiling remains very high, but there's a lot of room for growth over the next 18 months for the still very young QB.

Collin Schlee was the better of the two quarterbacks, although he still missed a couple deep shots that would have opened up the game for the Hokies. Schlee's experience was evident as the offense just seemed more calm under his control. A lot of Hokies didn't do their job over the course of the season, but Schlee sure did. You wonder what this season would've looked like if he were to have gotten the nod vs Clemson for a clearly injured Kyron Drones. We'll never know, but it's clear that Tyler Bowen can get a backup ready to perform. 

The running back room will be maybe the most interesting position group to watch in the spring. Freshman Tyler Mason showed great burst vs a stout Minnesota run defense, while Jeremiah Coney struggled to find much room at all. The Hokies brought in a few backfield players in the portal, so Mason and Coney may be competing for a backup roll moving forward. Still, this is an offense that, at its best, uses multiple backs. First step is building an offensive line, though, and the Hokies have a long way to go there.

A Quartet of Defensive Building Blocks

Kelvin Gilliam Jr., Emmett Laws, Caleb Woodson, Dante Lovett.

Two interior defensive linemen, a rangey linebacker, and a promising corner. Those are your building blocks of for the 2025 defense. Woodson has shown immense improvement over the year, while Gilliam and Lovett were solid role players who look poised for a bigger role. Laws may be the quiet wildcard of the defense. He made some very stout plays on Friday night, and certainly looks the part 

Some guys like Keyshawn Burgos and Jaden Keller have shown flashes, but consistency has been lacking. If the Hokies are to improve on this year's defense, which surprisingly to some ranked top 30 in most every advanced metric, those guys will have to take the next step.

Another interesting player for the Hokie defense is Kaleb Spencer, a safety/linebacker hybrid that had quite the up-and-down game vs the Gophers. Spencer led the team in tackles with 8 (all solo), but missed plenty of plays due to taking poor angles. Athletically, Spencer is a really promising 3rd down player. But, he'll need to clean up some fundamentals before he can be relied on consistently. 

The addition of Bud Foster as an analyst may have the most impact in player evaluation. For the first three seasons under Brent Pry, the program has struggled to get guys cemented in positions to grow and succeed. You could argue that constant position movement, not talent, has been the biggest hinderer to a dominant Tech defense. It will also be interesting to see if the Hokies begin to blitz more with Foster's influence. Under Pry, the Hokies have mostly relied on getting to the quarterback with edge rushers almost exclusively. You saw Friday night that without an elite pass rusher like APR, the Hokies were unable to put any pressure on the quarterback.

Beamerball?!

Much maligned for early season penalties, the Tech special teams units have for the most part performed very well this season. John Love hit a 60 yarder to set a Mayo Bowl record, and second longest in Virginia Tech history, showing that in end of half situations he needs to be trusted to give it a go. Kick returner Thomas Williams has shown some flashes late in the season since Bhayshul Tuten's injury. He had three kick returns vs Minnesota including a 36 yard return. Giving him a full season as the lead returner could yield some big plays. The Hokies will need to replace punter Peter Moore, who declared for the NFL Draft after the game

Wrapping Up the 2024 Season

That was not very fun. Not the Mayo Bowl, that was a solid weekend for Hokies fans regardless of the final score. But the 2024 season was, to put it bluntly, horrific.

Winning the Mayo Bowl wouldn't fix the problems in the program heading to 2025. Brent Pry knew that. That's why he made the changes he made in moving on from DC Chris Marve and OL coach Ron Crook. That's why he's in the process of overhauling the strength program. That's why he brought in a legendary defensive mastermind to be an analyst. 

What will also help is bringing in some transfer portal talent. The Hokies have brought in a slew of defensive backs and offensive weapons as well as a couple of talented offensive linemen from West Virginia along with highly respected OL coach, Matt Moore. There are still some additions to be made, however, including some additional help on the offensive line, some experience at linebacker, and potentially some more help on the defensive line.

The biggest addition the Hokies could make this offseason? A winning mentality. 

For three seasons now, the Hokies have found new and inventive ways to lose close football games, mostly due to poor game management. You'd think that more experience would lead to better results in those situations, but the flip side of returning so much to a team is that you keep those same losing habits in house. Whether they meant to or not, the Hokies are going to look very different in 2025. That's probably a good thing.

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