Cheers and Jeers: Virginia Tech vs. Vanderbilt

I turned this game off with about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter after yet another entirely avoidable loss in what has become an endless string of them. That tells you a lot, and we will be veering off course this week on the good ship misery to unleash just one big, fat, jeer. 

With just under six minutes to go in the third quarter the Hokies faced a 4th down and half a yard up 20-17. Tech decided not to go for it. The play was in Hokie territory, but punting meant a disastrous three and out after a successful, long Vanderbilt scoring drive to open the half. I correctly predicted at the time —as did our entire SOS staff in our group chat, even the drunk ones— that this moment marked the turning point and as if to prove our collective observation, Vanderbilt proceeded to score 27 unanswered points from that moment. It was a gutless call and the embodiment of the loser mentality that has crept into Virginia Tech football under Brent Pry.

Pry is a terrible head coach and has proven without question that his baseline is at best, .500. Realistically, it's probably considerably lower than that but he has managed six and seven-win records. Under his watch —with an exaggerated nod to his predecessor— the Hokies have become just another middling G5 program that resides comfortably in the cellar of the ACC standings. Even in our mediocre conference ripe for the taking Tech has lagged behind and has been looking up at everyone for years. 

At a time when football success has never been more important in the ever-shifting conference landscape and with his job so clearly on the line, Brent Pry is out here punting on 4th and a whisper. That complete lack of awareness has become the main calling card for this program over the last three-plus seasons and now it appears things have reached the end.

One can hope at least. It's a shame that it was a home game which means you can't pull a USC with Lane Kiffin and leave Pry on a tarmac somewhere, though you could take him to the Tech Airport and just let him find his way from that point. Of course, Whit Babcock is busy pleading for cash from anyone who will still take his calls so who knows if Tech will even be able to drop the hammer and make a move. Maybe we can just sell the entire football project to some technology company and get some of that sweet, sweet, morally bereft cash? Plus they LOVE firing people. It'll be the first act of the new Hokie CEO. 

That's a fever dream though. The cynic in me has worried for some time that Tech is in such a disastrous position that we won't have a seat when the music stops. I don't even know what that looks like exactly, but buddy, get ready to speak Southern Conference again just in case. 

I guess that's a problem for another day. The main thing right now is leaving Brent Pry at a public transport hub or perhaps just out in the woods. Maybe he can simply be reassigned for the remainder of his contract? With his general lack of awareness, he would make a fine addition to Tech's Board of Visitors. 

The sun will continue to rise and Tech will still play more football this season, but optimism is dead. It's replaced with anger and distrust, plus a heaping of sadness for a once great program now left in shambles by a string of charlatans and incompetent fools. 

May we one day soon wake to the return of interim head coach J.C. Price and maybe an email inquiry from whomever you consider to be the least detestable Silicon Valley figure looking to offload some capital. I wonder what those guys at Pied Piper are up to?