Cheers and Jeers: Virginia Tech vs. Clemson

There are plenty of things to complain about here but really, what's the point? This season has gone so utterly sideways that it's tough to pick a real culprit. Alleged star quarterback Kyron Drones has been bad. Against Clemson he fully regressed to an indecisive howitzer with no radar. His passes woefully missed the mark a number of times, and when he did hit his receivers they often dropped the catch. In total there were eight drops for Tech's receiver room versus the Tigers and that included a couple for Collin Schlee who came in in the fourth quarter and was an instant upgrade over Drones despite clearly not being healthy himself. 

Bhayshul Tuten's injury was badly mishandled. I'm sure he wanted to play but he was entirely ineffective and ended up getting hurt again. That's partly bad luck, but let's not forget he only got hurt initially while trying to ice the Georgia Tech game because there's no one else. Even more baffling, without the top two running backs and apparently no one else they trust the Hokies picked a bizarre game to not try any of their gimmicky wide receiver runs. And zero carries for Jeremiah Coney despite playing much of the game. That's coaching malpractice and atrocious game prep. Tyler Bowen, go sit in the corner.   
 

It was a sweet moment when the Hokies not only blocked a field goal but returned the thing for Tech's only touchdown outside of garbage time. I fully expected a flag or a phantom timeout called by the Hokies but it never came and for a brief moment it felt like old times as did much of the game. It's not an exact parallel but I had powerful déjà vu of the 2007 Boston College game. That was another game where Tech's defense largely owned the night while the offense failed to put the car in gear. Right up to that weird defensive lapse on the miracle Cade Klubnik touchdown pass, it was a frustrating evening that could have been a far different result.  

 

Perhaps the thing I'll remember most about this game was the strange meta moment when the broadcast focused on a group of inebriated children working on a turkey leg. The announcers seemed horrified by the passing around and sharing of the thing, but that's the only way to eat it! I've never seen anyone even attempt to devour one of those solo. I'm pretty sure that's illegal. At any rate, when the camera cut back to the group that was now watching their viral moment on their phones, while TV showed them watching themselves...that felt like an odd commentary on 2024. It's viral weirdness all the way down. 

On a grimmer note, we may come to remember this as the official beginning of the end for this coaching staff and quite possibly Whit Babcock. I have no idea what the money situation is apart from there isn't really any. We gambled on dumping all our resources into football and while the rebuild is admittedly still underway, the results have been underwhelming. This roster was built with this season in mind and the Hokies have gone from dark horse ACC title contender to quite likely missing a bowl game. 

I'll keep watching and so will most of you, but the esprits de corps is being stretched pretty darn thin here. At least it's...ugh...basketball season. Thanks Whit!