College football is a fickle thing. One moment, you're elated; the next, you're enraged. But often, you're just content being there, living in each moment.
Virginia Tech's (6-2, 3-2) 2026 season has been a rollercoaster, which is unsurprising for a team in its first campaign under a new head coach. We've seen unprecedented highs, maddening lows, and a whole lot in between. For many fans, it's been exactly the type of season they expected coming into Year 1 of the James Franklin era, the start of a bright, exciting future in Blacksburg.
Through eight games, this team has shown it can make history, behind electric playmakers like receiver Que'Sean Brown, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, and tight end Luke Reynolds, all of whom are on the cusp of Hokies lore.
It's also displayed a whole lot of growing pains in back-to-back losses to Pitt and Cal that now look even worse in hindsight, given those teams' struggles since taking down the Hokies.
In other words, it's exactly where it's supposed to be. Plenty of fans will shake their heads and ask "what if?" when taking a closer look at those two losses, believing Virginia Tech is potentially one missed pass interference call and two feet of airspace away from being a perfect 8-0.
As tantalizing as this hypothetical may be, it overlooks the litany of problems this team faces that severely limit its ceiling: a leaky secondary and a hobbled-together, work-in-progress offensive line, to name two.
Still, that line of thinking isn't completely devoid of merit. In both losses, the Hokies faced late deficits and put themselves back into positions to win, displaying inspiring toughness.
So, on the whole, the product this team has put on the field should give fans confidence heading down the home stretch of the season. In many ways, Virginia Tech controls its destiny, especially in a league as up-and-down as the ACC, as this weekend clearly demonstrated.
No. 1-ranked Miami nearly suffered its first loss of the season to North Carolina, needing some late officiating help to pull out a 38-35 win. The 'Canes' defeat of the Tar Heels came just two weeks after a similarly dicey, two-overtime win over Florida State (3-5), which fired head coach Mike Norvell on Sunday.
After appearing to shake off a loss to Louisville back in September, SMU dropped a road matchup against Syracuse on Saturday, the Orange's second straight win after losing its previous 11 conference games.
Virginia Tech's other two remaining ACC opponents—Virginia and Stanford—both are 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the conference, after surrendering 50+ points in at least one league matchup.
Suddenly, all four games left on the Hokies' slate look gettable. Will they win all four? In all likelihood, no. After all, two of their remaining four games are on the road and are against their two toughest opponents to date: Miami and SMU. But can they win those games? Absolutely.
Winning out, as difficult as it may be, would put this team at 10-2 on the year. It would be the first 10-win season in Blacksburg since Jerod Evans and Co. did it en route to an ACC Championship berth in Justin Fuente's first season at the helm.
Currently fifth in the league, winning out and hoping to get some help elsewhere in the ACC's chaotic ranks is about the Hokies' only chance to secure a trip to Charlotte on December 5. But it sure does say a lot that we're having this conversation at all at this point in the year, doesn't it?
The last time Virginia Tech played, it downed Clemson 20-16 in Death Valley to secure bowl eligibility in October for the first time since 2017. The seemingly benign achievement should be something teams assume, not strive for. But for a program that has been on such rocky ground over the last decade, it's an accomplishment worth savoring. It means more because fans know what it feels like to be on the other side.
Getting to 10 wins also used to be something Hokies fans almost took for granted during the program's heyday. Under Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech had double-digit wins every season from 2004 to 2011, representing one of the most consistent operations in the sport. Getting back to that mark, if only for a season, would not only exceed many fans' expectations for this season, but would re-establish a standard that hasn't been met in far too long.
Despite the difficulty of the Hokies' road ahead, despite the issues they must overcome, there are plenty of opportunities waiting to be seized.
Doing so would alter the course of the program for the better.
