Virginia Tech had so many chances to put themselves in a winning position, it became hard to count.
Defensive stands foiled by late penalties…
Dropped interceptions…
Countless redzone trips ending in chip shot field goals…
Through it all, the Hokies (2-3, 1-1) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, losing 30-23 to Wake Forest (3-2, 1-2) in their homecoming game in Lane Stadium. This was truly a missed opportunity in what may have been the most winnable game remaining on their schedule.
“Disappointing and frustrating, but I was proud of our guys,” said Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery following the loss. “We’ve got to eliminate some of the self-inflicted things we did today.”
Virginia Tech and Wake Forest traded field goals to begin the second half, but with just under two minutes left in the third quarter, the Hokies made their first impact play. Trailing 27-20, cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray picked off quarterback Robby Ashford and returned it to the Wake Forest four yard line.
Looking to punch it in, Marcellous Hawkins and Kyron Drones managed just two yards over three carries, setting up what would have been fourth and goal at the two. Instead Donovan Greene, in a matchup against his former team, picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, pushing the Hokies back 15 yards and forcing them into a field goal.
“We were going to go for it on fourth down,” Montgomery said. “(But) At that point you don’t have a choice.
John Love sank the field goal, but that marked the third time in just the third quarter the Hokies had to settle for three in a redzone trip.
Despite the missed opportunity, the Hokies had yet another chance early in the fourth quarter - this time to take the lead - retaking possession, but once again stalling out as Drones took a third down sack setting up a 49 yard field goal.
Love narrowly sliced it right - just his second miss in 14 tries this season - giving Wake Forest excellent field position with about nine minutes left and a 27-23 lead.
The Demon Deacons then began a methodical 13 play, near seven minute drive, ending in a Connor Calvert 27 yard field goal to extend their lead to 30-23.
Kyron Drones and the Hokies had one final chance to send the game into overtime with a two-minute drill drive, but the game ended after three consecutive incompletions and an anticlimactic four-and-out.
Coming off of consecutive strong performances, Drones had a rough day on Saturday, going 14/28 for 111 yards with one touchdown and a pick.
“They changed some stuff up from what we saw on tape. They brought a lot more pressure against us like everyone else does,” Montgomery said in regard to the Hokies' struggles throwing the ball.
“They play a really high cover two so it’s hard to get explosive passes. We were prepared for all that, (but) we just have to go out and execute.”
Virginia Tech was consistently able to set Wake Forest behind the chains, but all-too often bailed them out with third down penalties.
“We didn’t have a ton of penalties,” Montgomery said. “(But) those penalties were costly.”
The Hokies totaled six penalties for 74 yards, including unnecessary roughness penalties on both Ben Bell and Kaleb Spencer to save two respective Wake Forest scoring drives in the first half.
Wake Forest quarterback Robby Ashford bounced back from his early season struggles with his best passing game of the season, totaling 256 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He spread the football all around, with seven receivers grabbing at least two passes, and no receivers catching more than five.
With this loss, the Hokie faithful are forced to come back down to earth and remember that this team is still very flawed despite the 2-0 start to Philip Montgomery’s tenure.
After beating Wake Forest in all five matchups between 1984 and 2011, the Hokies have now fallen in three of their last five matchups with the Demon deacons.
Virginia Tech returns to Atlanta - the host city of their season opener against South Carolina - for an ACC showdown against the #13 Georgia Tech at 3:30 pm Saturday, Oct 11.
Wake Forest, who is only a week removed from nearly knocking off the Yellow Jackets, takes on Oregon State at the same time on Saturday
Drones is not very competitive as a passer. Time to give the other guys a shot!