From a statistical point of view, there was a lot to like about Virginia Tech’s 21-6 win over Georgia Tech.
For one, it marked the first time since 2019 the Hokies have won 3 games in a row. First time they’ve gone undefeated in October since 2019. It was the second straight year Coach Brent Pry has gotten off to a 3-1 start in ACC play. And it was the first time Pry has beaten two different ACC teams with a winning record, as last year 4 of the 5 ACC teams Virginia Tech beat last season had losing records.
Yet for all these statistical gems, the actual game between the Hokies and Ramling Wreck was a bit lackluster. Kind of like when your favorite NFL team is playing in the 4 PM game and you’re just watching the 1 PM game to kill time. And while they were credited with a win today despite such play, what they learn tomorrow may go a long way in determining just how their season is going to finish.
Virginia Tech trailed 3-0 early, but aside from that, was never really threatened. The defense seemed to come up with a way to stop Georgia Tech whenever they got close, either with an interception or a 4th-down stop, prompting Pry to say after the game that “every time Georgia Tech punched today, the defense punched back.”
An accurate way to describe not only today, but the identity the team is developing with each passing week.
But while the defense started well and got stronger as the day went on, you can’t really say the same of the offense. They had a few plays that were noteworthy, scoring one touchdown when Georgia Tech failed to cover tight end Benji Gosnell on two consecutive plays. One just about perfect pass to Gosnell advanced the ball 31 yards, then another to a wide-open Gosnell scored the touchdown to make it 7-3.
Another decent burst of offensive plays culminated in the Blacksburg version of the “Philly Special”, with Jaylin Lane taking the pitch back on a reverse and throwing the ball 6 yards to Drones in the end zone to make it 14-6. Having thrown for and caught a ball for touchdowns, Drones completed the hat trick with a rushing TD on a one-yard run to make it 21-6 and complete the scoring.
While those plays were nice, they were a small percentage of the overall offense, which seemed to focus on frustrating fans into yelling at their televisions. There were entire drives where Bhayshul Tuten seemed to be a forgotten person to give the ball to, there were passes thrown into traffic where an incomplete pass seemed to be the best of the possible outcomes, and the offense just looked like that person at the end of the bar at 2 AM only a few minutes before closing time.
Even assistant coach Shawn Quinn said “it’s not always going to pretty” and Pry admitted “we were by no stretch perfect today” in discussing an offensive effort that could be confused with the word “ugly.”
Individual stats were no more attractive than the overall atmosphere of the game: Drones only passed for 128 yards. Tuten only rushed for 84 yards. Only one receiver had more than 3 catches or 28 yards receiving. Nothing special by any means.
Fortunately there are no places in the standings to denote aesthetics, so you can be as homely as a press box full of sportswriters and it doesn’t matter…as long as you win. The only danger when you are having a sloppy stretch of play is that in the midst of such activity, you can leave yourself vulnerable to injury.
Which happened today. In the worst possible way.
During this three-game winning streak, there have been two really bright spots: One has been the play of Xavier Chaplin, who has led a resurgent offensive line while opening seams for Tuten to use his speed and vision to run through.
The other has been Tuten himself, who set a school record last week against Boston College with 266 yards rushing.
Chaplin, however, got banged up several times early in the game, leaving the game after one injury, then returning to action until he got injured again. One time Chaplin was grabbing his left shoulder, and another time it was his right knee. It looked like when they showed an instant replay after one such play that a Georgia Tech defender stepped on Chaplin’s right knee.
The human body is not built to take such abuse. Pry had nothing to add on how badly Chaplin was hurting after the game, saying only that they’d know more tomorrow.
While Chaplin kept coming back, the same was not true with Tuten. He turned his ankle pretty severely at a point in the game where the contest had already been decided and he was just helping the Hokies to kill clock. He stayed down for an extended amount of time and was holding his ankle the way some do when they’ve broken something. There were no details from Pry on Tuten either, but from the way he could barely put any weight on it walking to the sideline, it could very possibly be a broken bone or the dreaded “high ankle sprain” that can keep a player out of action for several games.
No matter how you look at it, it was a win today. While watching, I viewed it for the game at hand, and for how this level of effort might play Nov. 9 against Clemson. The Hokies certainly played well enough to beat Georgia Tech, but their execution even before the injuries really has to make you wonder if that will be good enough next week.
They were inconsistent passing the ball, as Drones had a return of “happy feet” while trying to figure out which way to go with the ball. Running plays were maddening because they for the most part worked, but at times weren’t being called. The execution in the second half was at best sloppy, as at one point an official in calling a penalty said “There was not a time all 11 players were set,” something you hear in season openers, not the eighth game of the season.
What did work was handing the ball of to Tuten, throwing the ball to anyone named Gosnell (Benji or Stephen) and any situation from passes to punt returns where Lane touched the ball. An offense centered around just those things, paired with the kind of defense the Hokies showed Saturday, is always going to have a fighting chance.
If, however, the Hokies don’t have their best runner in Tuten, or their best offensive lineman in Chaplin to open holes for whoever takes Tuten’s place, the odds slip significantly, and not in your favor. The Hokies will need to play significantly better in that scenario.
“Tomorrow will be the tell-all” Pry said after the game about his M*A*S*H unit of an offense.
That it will. And not only for next week.
Tomorrow’s news could also decide just what kind of season 2024 ends up being.
