2025 VT Game Notebook: Two-Faced Hokies Become the Villain

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is one of my all-time favorite movies. Most people remember this installment of Batman’s lore for Heath Ledger’s unforgettable performance as the Joker, and rightly so. It is one of the best acting jobs ever put on film. With that being said, I always felt like Aaron Eckhart’s role as Harvey Dent was criminally underrated. For the first half of the movie, Dent is a charismatic District Attorney, solely intent on ridding Gotham of organized crime. Then the Joker kills his girlfriend, and Harvey’s face is permanently disfigured in a fire. Dent becomes the iconic villain “Two-Face,” not just named for his physical appearance, but also for his two distinct personalities. The witty DA and the raging psychopath that lurks underneath. 

On Saturday night, the Hokies showed both their faces in successive halves of football. The first half was electric. The defense was forcing takeaways from a Vanderbilt offense that only surrendered the ball 7 times a year ago. The offense seemed to overcome some of its red-zone woes from the South Carolina game. Kyron Drones wasn’t finding much open down the field, but he made smart underneath reads and moved the Hokies down the field. Tech took a 10-point lead into the break, and all was right with the world in Blacksburg.

Then the third quarter started. Vanderbilt took their opening drive of the half straight down the field, and the avalanche began. The Commodores would score on all their possessions in the last 30 minutes, save for the last one, where they took victory formation on Worsham Field. While the defense was falling apart, the offense had no answer. After barely getting to Drones in the first, Vandy took advantage of an injury to Hokies’ left tackle Johnny Garrett and lived in the backfield the rest of the night. Drones were sacked three times in the second and faced pressure on seemingly every drop-back. The Hokies had no run game to speak of, with Marcellous Hawkins leading the running backs with just 29 yards. Tech got outscored 34-0 in the second half, and any memory of the 10-point lead the Hokies once held was completely erased. 

The Hokies were trying to exorcise some demons Saturday night. The non-conference losing streak, the one-score loss record, and last year’s loss to Vandy that sent a season with so much preseason hype off the rails before it even got going. This felt like a last stand, and after that stand failed, questions about the future of the program began. 

Brent Pry was brought in to be the hero. His ties to the glory days of Frank Beamer and Bud Foster gave Hokie fans hope for a return to the top of the ACC. He hired some highly rated assistants, improved VT’s talent acquisition, and seemed to have the ship pointed in the right direction after a strong finish in 2023. The hero was here to save the day. 

But last night, the Hokies officially lived long enough to see themselves become the villain. Boos rang out across Lane Stadium as Vanderbilt continued to run up the score. After the game, Coach Pry was asked point-blank if he’s feeling the heat about his job in Blacksburg. Of course, Pry said he’s not, that he’s focused on the season, but after last night, it’s impossible not to feel it. 

The Hokies players and staff could offer little answer as to what went wrong in the second half, hoping to find the solution when they watch the film this week. However, the issues with this team may lie deeper than something that can be seen on the All-22. Maybe, no matter what plays were called or who was out there, this was going to be the result. Because there’s one more thing about Harvey Dent I haven’t told you. Dent has a coin that he flips to make big decisions, but it has a twist. Both sides of the coin are the same, allowing Harvey to rig the outcome. The Hokies are that coin right now. No matter the situation, the coaches or the players on the field, the result has remained the same. It feels expected at this point, like we know what’s going to happen before the coin is tossed or the ball is kicked. 

The Hokies will have two Group of Five opponents coming to Lane Stadium to try and right this ship. There is still a lot of season left. This team may not be the 1995 or 2012 Virginia Tech teams, which each started 0-2 and went on to have stellar seasons, but only time can tell us that. Until then, all we can do is wait and see which side of the Hokies we’ll get against ODU next Saturday.