BLACKSBURG — Brent Pry’s Virginia Tech coaching tenure began with a 2022 defeat at Old Dominion. If his final night on the Hokies’ sideline was Saturday’s 45-26 home loss to the Monarchs, the full-circle outcome will be absolutely merited.
Yes, it’s only mid-September and three games into Pry’s fourth season leading a once-relevant program. And yes, Tech’s offensive line is ravaged by injury.
But nothing, repeat nothing, excuses what Hokies faithful endured at Lane Stadium on Saturday.
Given what they had witnessed a week earlier, a 44-20 rout at the hands of Vanderbilt that included a 34-0 second-half collapse, fans mere attendance Saturday — the crowd was 57,627 — showed remarkable loyalty.
And their reward? A poorly coached, ill-prepared team that was dominated on both sides of the ball for three quarters by an opponent with barely one-third the resources.
David Teel: Are Brent Pry, Whit Babcock on borrowed time after Hokies’ meltdown vs. Vanderbilt?
His job on the brink after two failed football coaching hires, 12th-year Hokies athletic director Whit Babcock told the university’s Board of Visitors last month that his department needs an annual budget of about $200 million to compete in the ACC, $50 million-plus north of present funding.
Well, how to explain getting boat-raced on your home field by ODU and its annual budget of approximately $52 million? How to explain a Tech program steeped in defensive excellence yielding consecutive first-half touchdown drives of 93, 97, 88 and 77 yards?
How to explain a 28-0 halftime abyss created, in part, by eight penalties and three turnovers, all of the latter by quarterback Kyron Drones? How to explain a four-quarter stretch, two each against Vanderbilt and ODU, in which the Hokies were outscored — gulp — 62-0?
Ugly, embarrassing and unacceptable all apply, and if that sounds harsh when talking about young people, let’s recall that many are being paid six-figure salaries.
Those unsparing adjectives also apply to Pry, who insisted throughout the offseason that this was his most talented Tech roster. Given that the Hokies lost five players to the NFL draft and transfers to the likes of LSU and Auburn, Pry’s claim always felt dubious.
Now we know. It was either delusional or purposely misleading.
Some may preach patience. But setbacks to South Carolina, Vandy and ODU have saddled Tech with its first 0-3 start since 1987, Frank Beamer’s debut season as head coach.
Most telling and alarming: The Hokies aren’t progressing in Pry’s fourth year. They’re cratering.
Conversely, Ricky Rahne, a former co-worker of Pry’s at Penn State, has the Monarchs (2-1 with an opening loss at No. 22 Indiana) ascending upward. They discovered a quality quarterback last season in redshirt freshman Colton Joseph, summoned the money to retain him and surrounded him with capable athletes such as running back Trequan Jones and receiver Ja’Cory Thomas.
Moreover, ODU’s defense, led by linebacker Jeremy Mack, safety Mario Easterly and lineman Javen Gibson has, through three games, been salty.
Perhaps the Hokies have such verve in them somewhere. But Pry — his buyout is approximately $6 million — seems incapable of unearthing it.
Even when Tech was good Saturday, it was bad.
With the Hokies trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, Drones broke containment on a third-and-11 from ODU’s 15. But as neared a first down, Drones fumbled after a hit by Mack, and Chris Forbes recovered for the Monarchs.
Kemari Copeland sacked Joseph on the ensuing possession, but the loss was erased by a Ben Bell facemask penalty.
The ultimate insult came with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. Leading 21-0 and facing a fourth-and-8 at Tech’s 39, Rahne disdained the safe and conventional punt.
Translation: He had minimal doubt that the Monarchs would convert, and even if they didn’t, that the Hokies wouldn’t be able to take advantage.
When Isaiah Brown-Murray broke up Joseph’s pass to Thomas, Tech was positioned to score before halftime and make the deficit manageable.
But no. Yet another flag, this one on cornerback Thomas Williams for grabbing a facemask.
Three plays later, Joseph connected with Tre Brown for a 13-yard touchdown and 28-0 lead. Compounding matters: Keyshawn Burgos was flagged for a personal foul.
In the 20-17 loss at ODU that started Pry’s tenure, the Hokies were penalized 15 times for 106 yards. Saturday’s total was 12 for 114.
That is not progress.
Nor is a three-quarters empty Lane Stadium jeering the home team. Nor is a 19-point defeat against an opponent you had owned in three previous visits to Blacksburg.
Props to Drones, receiver Donavon Greene and the offense for mustering four second-half touchdowns, but where was that pulse during the first half?
Virginia Tech is 16-24 under Pry, 10-21 versus Power Four opponents. The last Hokies coach with a worse record was Charlie Coffey, who went 12-20-1 from 1971-73.
As the Lane Stadium clock dipped inside two minutes Saturday, the ACC Network broke away for Boston College-Stanford pregame chatter.
A fitting close to a grim evening for Hokies football.
David Teel: david.teel@virginiamedia.com
