Five Takeaways After the Cal Weekend

What a treat it was to be in Blacksburg last weekend!  The Virginia Tech football team beat Cal in a Friday night game that had everything.  The multiple overtimes gave vibes of the 2019 UNC thriller.  The second one-score victory this year is already more than the previous three seasons combined.  And then fans were given their first look at the basketball team and arguably their best recruit ever.

Here are five takeaways from a perfect fall weekend that easily ranks as the best of this season so far.

One thing that was very clear on Friday night, especially in the second half, is that this team has not quit. They have not given up on the season. A lot of things did not go their way Friday, but the Hokies kept on battling.

Dropped passes.  Ten penalties.  A blocked punt.  An interception in the end zone.  20 unanswered points by Cal.  A potential game winning field goal off the upright.  There were plenty of excuses for the Hokies to lose this one.

But that is not what happened. Look at other campuses around the country in a similar situation as Tech, and you will see how differently those teams are playing.  Oklahoma State got blown out again. Wisconsin lost by double digits again.  West Virginia lost at home and is staring at a two-win season. This Virginia Tech team is not like them.

Sure, the Hokies continue to commit too many penalties, they tend to disappear offensively for one quarter per game, and they have breakdowns in execution, but the players in maroon and orange are still playing to win, and this week they overcame a lot of adversity, persevering for the win.  For that, I am very thankful.

Friday night’s game against Cal had a posted attendance of 53,837.  With a 2-5 team playing under an interim coach on a cold Friday night, it is not surprising that the stadium was only 80% full.  But that 80% was loud and made their presence known.

A special shout out goes to the shirtless students who started doing the Oklahoma State thing, and before you knew it, the corner of the north end zone was jam-packed with bare-chested students waving their shirts overhead. They stayed until the end and were rather raucous in the overtime sessions.

It was a great sight. And it almost made up for the completely empty student section in the east stands, which is nothing short of an embarrassment. I get it that the team is not doing well, but the school should never have expanded the student section that much, especially on the side of the stadium where on TV it looks like a third of the place is empty.

But I digress.  This is a shout out to those who stayed for the duration, not an indictment on the students who left.  When Tech is good again, they will be back.  In the meantime, there is a fairly strong core of the fanbase who stuck with the team until the very end.  Kudos to them.

As the search continues for the next Virginia Tech head coach, it is clear that there will be competition across the nation to hire the next guy. Make no mistake about it, Virginia Tech is indeed one of the better openings, and this weekend showed why.

The fan base is starving for wins. We will be there to support the next coach and his future team. If that coach can win, we will love him.

With the new budget, we will be able to pay a competitive salary, not just for the head coach, but for his assistants as well.

The path to the playoffs is easier in the ACC than it is the Big 10 or SEC. Our conference lacks dominance at the top. And the ACC schedule is not going to be overflowing with ranked opponents, which is not something that can be said for SEC schools. Just ask South Carolina or Florida - or now LSU - about that.

Clemson is down, Miami is notorious for losing at least one game a year that they shouldn’t lose, and everybody else in the conference is beatable on any given day.

If the next coach can recruit well and do a good job in the portal, Virginia Tech could be competitive again relatively quickly.

Why wouldn’t a good coach come here?

With the poor start, an interim coach, and a strong likelihood of losing record, many fans have considered opting out of the remaining home games. Friday's results showed that it is still worth the effort to make the trip to Blacksburg to watch the 2025 Hokies.

As mentioned above, the team is still fighting. And as long as that happens, the games should be competitive. Plus, the environment is fun.  Who didn’t absolutely love when “Enter Sandman” was played between every play in Cal’s second overtime possession?

Ask any fan who stuck it out Friday night and they will tell you how enjoyable that game was. It had almost everything you could ask for in one single contest, including an outcome that hung in the balance right up to the final play.

While that is not likely to happen every game, what is still probable is that this group will compete in its remaining two home games.

Miami and Louisville are good teams right now, and if the Hokies can string together four straight quarters and play without the mental mistakes, they can hang with these big boys. Who knows, maybe they can pull an exhilarating upset?  Wouldn’t you want to be in the stadium for that?

Here is a bonus takeaway from Saturday, where the Virginia Tech basketball team played an exhibition game against Duquesne, giving fans their first glimpse of Neo Avdalas and the rest of the 2025–26 Hardwood Hokies.

Tech lost 83-81 at home to an Atlantic-10 team, but it was indeed an exhibition game, so there is no need to think the sky is falling.  However, there is plenty of work to do if the Hokies are to earn an NCAA tournament bid in March.

After being up for most of the game, Virginia Tech could not protect the ball down the stretch and lost their seven-point lead over the last four minutes.  Ball security (19 turnovers, 12 on Duquesne steals) and free throws (16-29) certainly hurt the Hokies in this one, but the good news is that those are things that can be fixed.

Tech also got in trouble inside when Amani Hansberry fouled out, and they played the final five minutes with a true freshman at center. That certainly contributed to the loss, as the Hokies had trouble getting points from the inside late in the game. Hopefully seven-footer Antonio Dorn will also help in the paint when he returns from a minor eligibility issue.

There were plenty of bright spots, though, and that should give fans hope that the team can make a run for that tournament berth.

Ben Hammond dropped 22 points.  Tobi Lawal added 20.  Four players were in double figures.

Hansberry brought physicality to the post. He is a tough player who should give Tech valuable interior presence in ACC play. Christian Gurdak also showed toughness as a true freshman in the center position, and his future does look bright.

Neo Avdalas had a rather pedestrian stat line (11 points, one assist, two blocks), but he did show flashes of why he is so highly regarded. At times he was able to back his man into the paint and shoot a fadeaway shot much like Liz Kitley’s signature move. At other times, he was able to shoot from long range. Avdalas looked to distribute the ball frequently, maybe too frequently sometimes, but that could easily be adjusted as the season goes on.

There are a lot of new pieces, so it could take a little more time for the players to gel, but once they do and once they get comfortable in the Mike Young system, they should be competitive in the league.

This exhibition loss showed that the Hokies still have a little work to do. The roster is much improved from last year, though, and that is encouraging for Hokie Nation heading into basketball season.

The next four football games will be tough.  Louisville, Florida State, Miami, and Virginia will pose formidable challenges for Tech.  However, none of these teams are world beaters, so if the Hokies can clean up their mistakes and play four sound quarters of complementary football, anything can happen.

And if you are able to get to Blacksburg for either of the final two games, or Charlottesville for the finale, you might as well make the trip.  If the Hokies can pull off an upset, wouldn’t you want to be there?