Virginia Tech Football Week 5: a One-Score Win, a Pesky Next Opponent, and a Landmark Budget Increase

It has been several days since Virginia Tech beat North Carolina State in Raleigh, but Hokie Nation is still riding the high of the surprising upset.  Given the poor start to the season and the questions around the program, we may not quite be on cloud nine, but the vibes are high for sure.

Maybe we are on cloud three.

The win could not have come at a more needed time.  After so much disappointment in the past few weeks (and years!) coupled with so much turmoil off the field, Tech fans were on the verge of checking out.

But then the Hokies did the unthinkable.  They went on the road as a double-digit underdog and won.  By one-score no less, something that has not been done by a Virginia Tech football team since the last game of 2022.

Hokie fans expected to lose to the Wolfpack, and many even prepared for a blowout, which could have been the final nail in the coffin for Hokie Nation’s happiness in 2025.

My friend Bob sent me a text Sunday that was right on the money.  He wrote:

“A double digit loss would have resulted in fan apathy and probably more portal attrition. The win - especially how we played - gave life to the fan base. I don’t think many of us expect to all of a sudden compete for the ACC title, but a bowl bid is still on the table.”

My daughter, a recent Tech graduate, also had an insightful take on the victory.  “It’s a statement that this season is not completely lost,” she said.  “Long-term, this (beating a mid-level ACC team) is the bare minimum expectation. But for now a win is a win. And we’ll take it.”

Virginia Tech is now sitting at 2-3 for the fourth straight season.  Even though the path to this record is much different than past years, there is a smidge of hope that the Hokies can turn this 2-3 record into a 6-win season for the third straight time.

The November schedule is pretty tough though. Tech ends the 2025 campaign against four opponents who currently combine for a 15-2 record.  That said, an upset win in that stretch isn’t an outrageous thought now that we have shown some fight and the ability to win a one-score game.

But let’s beat Wake Forest before talking about bowl games.

For now, we should revel in the delight of the unexpected victory and the satisfaction of watching a team that has been resurrected from the dead.

My Sunday morning experience included a warm glow in my heart and a repeating of “I can’t believe we won” in my head.  I also told myself to enjoy it and not worry about anything else this week.

Over the past few days, that sentiment has been echoed by many others in the Hokie fan and media circles. So let’s just enjoy this win for a few more days, then pack into Lane Stadium again this weekend for homecoming and hope to see another spirited performance.

The Hokies might not be “back,” but hope and excitement, even if just a little, have been revived.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons come to Blacksburg Saturday, fresh off a heartbreaking overtime loss to Georgia Tech.  It was a tough outcome because Wake had the game in hand, but a missed penalty call led to a stoppage of play and a fourth down punt that turned the ball over to Georgia Tech, who then mounted the game-tying drive.

When a Georgia Tech defensive player jumped across the line of scrimmage and the ball was snapped on third and five, the Wake Forest quarterback thought he had a free play and thus he took a shot downfield.  However, when the play was over, there was no laundry was on the field, the deep pass had fallen incomplete, the clock was stopped, and Wake had to punt the ball with 1:48 remaining.

Had the ACC referees simply thrown the flag and made the obvious call of offsides, then Wake  would have earned a first down on the penalty, allowing them to take a few knees to end the game since Georgia Tech was out of timeouts.

Honestly, it is a little reminiscent of last year when the ACC officials overturned the Hokies’ touchdown in Miami.  The following week Virginia Tech had to go on the road for an ACC game at Stanford.

Similarly, the Demon Deacons have to shake off the disappointment and go on the road for another conference game.  How will they respond?  The Hokies played their most complete game of the year at Stanford, so don’t expect Wake Forest to just fold after being robbed.

Wake Forest has been competitive lately. Demond Claiborne is a top tier ACC running back who averages 91 yards per game and 8 yards per carry.  He already has 6 touchdowns.  He will have to be contained.

Defensively, Wake only gives up 20.8 points per game, good for 5th in the ACC.  This could very well be another one-score slugfest.  I feel better now that Tech has finally won a close game, but still, this will not be a walk in the park.  The Hokies will need to come out and play like they did last week.

If you are even a casual Tech fan, then you undoubtedly heard about the proposed budget that would bring Virginia Tech’s athletic spending to the upper echelon of the ACC.

And so you probably heard that the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors voted to approve that budget this past Tuesday.

It was a landmark decision by the BOV, one that will provide much needed resources that have been lacking for far too long.

You can read more about the budget here, but there are two specific points of interest that have been on my mind since learning the details of the proposal.

The first is that yes, this is a windfall, but that does not automatically equate to football success.  The school still has to use those resources wisely.  In particular, the right coach needs to be hired.

Just ask North Carolina if they are happy with the $10 million they spent on Bill Belicheck per year.  Or ask Texas A&M how they feel about hiring Jimbo Fisher years ago. When all is said and done, the Aggies will have paid Fisher well over $100 million, mostly so he could NOT be their coach.

Money will definitely attract better candidates, but let the buyer beware:  we will not know if the next coach is the right coach for a few more years.

Case in point, Justin Fuente.  In 2016, he was the hot name of up-and-coming coaches.  At the time, it was lauded as a great hire.  Unfortunately, it did not pan out.

Then we hired Brent Pry, who appeared to be the culture fit that was so badly lacking.  But we know how that ended.

We can only hope that the next hire is the right one, and I’m sure in a few years I’ll write about how it was or was not the right move.

The other point of interest is the $120 million of this new budget that is arriving through “philanthropy.”  In other words, $30 per year for the next four years - over half of this new budget - is supposed to arrive through new donations and sponsorships.

That is a lofty goal.  I sure hope the Virginia Tech Athletic Department already has ideas for this new fundraising initiative, because they aren’t likely to receive all of that in new donations from alumni alone.  They have to think outside the box to form new partnerships and seek corporate sponsorships.

One takeaway from this initiative, though, is that even if it does fall short of raising $30 million per year in donations, Virginia Tech is still increasing their budget significantly, which is what is sorely needed right now.

This has been talked about a lot this week, but Hokie Nation has to be so thankful for Philip Montgomery right now. His mid-February hire wasn’t exactly lauded by the fanbase, with some even suggesting that the Hokies “settled” for him because of the timing of the move.  Thank goodness we did get him, because he is bailing out the program!

We should shout out Kyron Drones as well.  Quarterbacks always receive more criticism that every other position on the team, and after the first few games, Drones was an unfortunate target on social media.  However, he did not let the “noise” get to him, and he has strung together three straight effective performances.  In those past three games, Drones has completed 70% of his pass attempts and has thrown for 7 touchdowns.  Tech needs him to continue to progress if the Hokies want to make a push for 6 wins.

And finally, I have a word of caution for the faithful in Happy Valley.  After Penn State’s disappointing overtime loss to Oregon at home during their white out, the Nittany Lions fanbase was vocal.  They are upset that they have all this returning talent and they still can’t beat top ranked teams.

Sounds familiar.

Franklin just cannot get over the hump.  He has built a program that wins 9-10 games per year, but none of those games come against “better” opponents.  Take a deeper look at his struggles:

     • 1-15 vs. top 5 opponents

     • 4-21 vs. top 10 opponents

     • 15-30 vs. top 25 opponents

     • 4-17 vs. Michigan and Ohio State

That record against top teams also sounds familiar to those Hokies who are longer in the tooth.

My advice to Penn State fans (for whom I care deeply since my eldest son is a graduate), is to be careful what they wish for.  Sure it is frustrating to always be the bridesmaid and never the bride.  But the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

If they run Franklin out of town, there is no guarantee that they will maintain that high level of play and competition.  We Hokies know all about failures against the top five and falling from grace.  There’s no Hokie alive who wouldn’t love to go back to Frank Beamer’s heyday of winning 10 games a year but never winning the big one.

Ten win seasons can turn to .500 seasons overnight.  Tread carefully, Nittany Lions!

And go Hokies, beat Wake!