Momma always said there would be days like these.

As it turns out, so did the owner of this site. Dave insightfully touched on Virginia Tech’s divorce with Justin Fuente on Tuesday, reminding everyone that if you thought the last few months were weird, you’ve seen nothing yet.

As the whirlwinds gain strength and throw the Hokie fanbase into confusion and uncertainty, I’ll be doing my best to appreciate how amazing the next two weeks will be for a special Hokie.

JC Price’s career at Virginia Tech coincided with the program’s ascendance to the pinnacle of college football. Every Hokie fan knows the importance of the 1995 team and how that season catapulted Virginia Tech into the Michael Vick era. JC Price wasn’t just a captain on that 1995 team, but also a third-team All-American.

If anyone understands where Virginia Tech should be as a football program, it’s Price. If anyone understands what it’s going to take to return to that level, it is also Price.

Price now has the opportunity of a lifetime — coach the football team he used to play for at the university he graduated from.

Price is a Hokie to his core. He was made for this moment.

All the legwork he put in to get here has paid off. All those years Price spent at Marshall, gritting his teeth as a Division I assistant coach are coming to fruition. It’s not like Price’s defensive units were struggling there either — Marshall led the nation in scoring defense in 2020 and the Thundering Herd won a Conference USA title in 2014. Price’ defensive front played a crucial part in those accomplishments.

TyJuan Garbutt said it best as he walked away from the podium.

“I can’t stop smiling, man.”

Virginia Tech’s 48-17 drubbing of Duke was a cathartic experience for everyone involved. It was an excision of frustration and disappointment that has plagued the Hokies for weeks, if not years.

Duke was outmatched from the start and even if starting quarterback Gunnar Holmberg was healthy, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The Blue Devils just weren’t on par with Virginia Tech, a phrase not often used to describe the Hokies’ opponents this season.

On a Senior Day with more than 20 players playing in likely their final game at Lane Stadium, Virginia Tech did what they used to do to lowly opponents. The Hokies’ defense dominated the line of scrimmage and stifled Duke’s few offensive weapons. The offense took advantage of a great matchup, scoring 48 points and racking up 573 yards, both season highs.

Raheem Blackshear exploded for 157 total yards and two touchdowns. Keshawn King emerged from the bottom of the depth chart to add 137 total yards and two scores. Braxton Burmeister battled through injury once again and threw three touchdown passes.

Tech’s performance was a needed one — a deserved reward for the players that have battled through this trying season.

Virginia Tech’s potential coaching change at the end of the season may end up being just one component of possible turnover facing the program this offseason.

The Athletic’s Andy Bitter revealed the list of players participating in Senior Day ceremonies today and boy, is this roster in for some serious turnover.

Here are the players who are set to be a part of Senior Day ceremonies Saturday — Amare Barno, Cole Blaker, Chamarri Conner, Tae Daley, Drake DeIuliis, Silas Dzansi, Changa Hodge, Brock Hoffman, Keondre Ko, James Mitchell, John Parker Romo, Austin Rosa, Oscar Shadley, Lecitus Smith, Tyrell Smith, Nadir Thompson, Tre Turner, Jermaine Waller, Jordan Williams and Johnny Jordan.

Excluding walk-ons, Virginia Tech has 17 players participating in Senior Day festivities, and many of these players are starters. While there’s no guarantee that participating in Senior Day means that a player is not coming back, it’s usually a good indicator that the player intends to either attempt to go to the NFL, possibly transfer to another school, or otherwise not be a part of the team next season.

(Photo Courtesy Of Virginia Tech Athletics)

Nasir Peoples Makes A Stop In 17-3 Loss To Boston College

Following Virginia Tech’s win over Georgia Tech last weekend, I came away thinking the Hokies’ coaches and players hadn’t given up, and were close to playing competitive football for the remainder of the season.

Following last night’s loss to Boston College, I have now come away thinking just the opposite.

I spent the remainder of Friday night and early portions of Saturday morning wondering if I was exaggerating. How can a team go from borderline competence to borderline craziness in the span of six days?

But the more I thought about it, the more I felt convinced the situation in Blacksburg is getting out of hand. Allow me to explain.

Preparation

An offense shouldn’t be completely beheaded when the starting quarterback goes out with an injury. Nobody was expecting the Hokies’ offense to light up the scoreboard when Braxton Burmeister left in the first quarter with a suspected rib injury, but the Hokies’ offense should have at least looked like a college offense.

It didn’t.

Virginia Tech football has many issues, but quitting is definitely not among them.

The Hokies’ rebound from their three-game skid Saturday wasn’t pretty — Virginia Tech failed to put Georgia Tech away on several occasions and settled for five field goal attempts, three of which came from the red zone. Regardless, the Hokies prevailed, and for at least a week, the smell of victory wafts through the Merryman Athletic Center.

(Photo Courtesy Of Virginia Tech Athletics)

Tre Turner Caught 7 Passes For 187 Yards, TD

I could sit here and poke holes in the Hokies’ 26-17 victory all day long. If Virginia Tech wasn’t 4-4 and worried about bigger problems come seasons’ end, I probably would. But for today, I'm just going to enjoy the win.

Even though the Hokies settled for five field goals, Virginia Tech’s offensive performance was one of the best we’ve seen this year. Braxton Burmeister completed multiple throws downfield to stretch Georgia Tech’s defense to the brink. Tre Turner had a career day, catching seven passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. Malachi Thomas validated his breakout performance against Syracuse, running for 103 yards against the Yellow Jackets.

In total, Tech amassed 491 yards of offense, 237 of which came on the ground. Raheem Blackshear joined the party with 83 rushing yards of his own. Burmeister chipped in 46.

Virginia Tech went 9-19 on third down and dominated the time of possession battle by 11 minutes. By this season’s standard, the Hokies’ performance on Saturday was incredibly productive.

On the other side of the ball, the Hokies’ defense held up their end of the bargain. They pushed Jeff Sims into two turnovers and held Georgia Tech to just 3-12 on third-down attempts. Even better, the Hokies got stops on two of Georgia Tech’s three fourth-down attempts.

One cannot forget John Parker Romo’s performance — four makes with his only miss coming from 53 yards away. After a shaky start, Romo is now 10-13 on field goals and a perfect 22-22 on extra points this year.

(Photo Courtesy Of Virginia Tech)

Virginia Tech Running Back Malachi Thomas

Alright, so here’s the deal — nobody could blame you for tuning out tomorrow when Virginia Tech plays Georgia Tech at noon on a Regional Sports Network (MASN for those of you in Loudoun County), which just so happens to create an annoying acronym that rivals the IRS and NSA.

But you know you’re going to watch. As Dave Scarangella has so eloquently explained before, you’re going to keep watching.

Because you’re going continue tuning in to Virginia Tech football, despite their 3-4 record, you might as well have some things to look forward to. Let’s hit on some of them.

(Photo Courtesy Of Virginia Tech)

Tayvion Robinson Makes A Catch Over The Middle For Virginia Tech

I wrote after Virginia Tech’s defeat to Notre Dame that this week was a “now or never” moment for Justin Fuente. He needed to rally his team and help them compete against Pittsburgh in a de-facto Coastal Division title game.

I guess the answer is never.

The Hokies’ 28-7 loss can be described in a number of ways. Disappointing is surely one of them, but the predictability of Saturday’s performance might be the worst of them all. And the most damning.

We knew the Hokies’ offense would struggle. We’ve seen it all season. Once Pittsburgh hit the 21-point threshold, it felt like the rest of the game was a moot point.

Tech only has one conference loss, so they’re by no means eliminated from the Coastal race. But if you watched them against Pittsburgh, you know that this Virginia Tech team needs to worry more about bowl eligibility than winning a divisional title.

(Photo Courtesy Of Virginia Tech)

As is usual after a loss, the most important game is always the next one on the schedule.

For Virginia Tech, this is especially true.

The Hokies’ 32-29 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday served as a yet another heartbreaking loss. Tech’s defense battled exceptionally well for about 56 minutes and Braxton Burmeister gutted out a tough fourth quarter with one healthy shoulder.

But good teams find ways to win. Bad teams find ways to lose.

Notre Dame scored 11 points in the final four minutes, dashing the Hokies’ eight-point lead with 3:55 remaining. Burmeister had just loaded up the offense on his back and carried them 19 yards through a sea of defenders for a touchdown, giving Tech what should’ve been a cemented advantage.

Like many times before, Virginia Tech was presented with an opportunity Saturday to polish its strengths and address its weaknesses against a lesser opponent.

And like many times before, the Hokies came up short in trying to do those things.

(Photo Courtesy Of Virginia Tech)

Virginia Tech's Amare Barno

Tech’s 21-10 win over Richmond isn’t maddening in the sense that the Hokies nearly lost the game. But it was frustrating that once again, Virginia Tech failed to do what they should do against an FCS team — run them into the ground.

For some reason, Justin Fuente’s teams in Blacksburg tend to play down to their competition, especially against FCS opponents. I can go through the list, in case you might’ve forgotten.

It started in 2017 with Tech’s 27-0 win over Delaware. Two years later, Tech went to the wire with Furman after trailing by two scores at halftime. Later that season, Tech slogged through three quarters of football vs. Rhode Island before winning 34-17.

Those instances are just against FCS teams. I didn’t even include the 2016 losses to Syracuse or Georgia Tech, the 2018 stunner against Old Dominion or the 2019 Duke Debacle.

No. 15 Virginia Tech fell to West Virginia Saturday, losing 27-21 in an “upset”, though the degenerates in Las Vegas knew better as the Hokies were three-point road underdogs.

It was as demoralizing of a loss as a fan will ever see, and we’ll try into get into those reasons below.

Cornelsen’s Decision-Making Is Still In Question

As the play-caller, you really begin to shine in the red zone. How you score points when the field shrinks like that shows a lot about your ability to get players open.

Virginia Tech ran 12 plays from the 10-yard-line or closer against the Mountaineers and registered zero points from those plays.

We’re two weeks through Virginia Tech’s 2021 season, a lot has happened already, and the same goes for the rest of the ACC, which has seen its fair share of ups and downs since the start of the season.

Through two weeks, here are the ACC storylines that I’m paying attention to:

New coach, Same Issues At Florida State

The Seminole faithful can Swag Surf all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that the ‘Noles lost on a walk-off touchdown pass to FCS Jacksonville State this past weekend.

It was an unexplicable defensive call, as Florida State’s defense lined up with a one-on-one matchup on the outside with six seconds on the clock. Down 17-14, Jacksonville State completed a desperation throw and scampered into the endzone to send Florida State fans home dumbfounded.

To Mike Norvell’s credit, he understands that the loss is unacceptable. It still happened, however, and people in Tallahassee aren’t happy. After a dismal 3-6 record in 2020, the ‘Noles are 0-2 to start Norvell’s second season.