RALEIGH, N.C. — Virginia Tech’s football contingent hit all the right public notes after head coach Brent Pry’s dismissal earlier this month. Players underscored unity, while Pry’s lame-duck staff, led by offensive coordinator/interim coach Philip Montgomery, vowed to continue serving the young men in their care.
But the authenticity of those sentiments was difficult to gauge before and after the Hokies’ routine dusting of Football Championship Subdivision member Wofford. Saturday at NC State promised a far more revealing test.
Tech aced it, escaping Carter-Finley Stadium with a 23-21 victory that hinged on a stirring, youth-led defensive effort, Terion Stewart’s break-out night and John Love’s typically clutch kicking.
“Man, just an incredible win by our guys,” Montgomery said after dancing up a storm in the locker room. “… Came here with a mission and a passion about them.”
It showed as — you can exhale, Hokies faithful — Tech snapped an eight-game, three-year losing streak in one-possession contests.
The final points came on Love’s 49-yard field goal with 6:31 remaining, his third in as many attempts on the night.
The final stop, after Montgomery punted to the Wolfpack on a fourth-and-1 from his own 40, came with less than a minute left when Christian Ellis broke up a C.J. Bailey pass intended for All-ACC tight end Justin Joly, Ellis’ third PBU of the game.
Montgomery said he was oh-so-tempted to go for it on the late fourth-and-1, and would have had the Hokies been across midfield. His quarterback did not endorse the decision.
“Oh, we’re gonna have a talk tomorrow,” Kyron Drones said with a smile. “… I don’t care if it’s a yard, inches, I was going to get it.”
Drones threw for a modest 177 yards, but twice when chased 15-18 yards behind the line of scrimmage, he completed passes of 36 yards to Ayden Greene and 14 to Benji Gosnell. The first set up the Love kick that extended Tech’s lead to 13-7, the second extended the drive that ended with Love’s game-winner.
Did the OC/quarterback coach in Montgomery cringe at either of Drones’ heaves?
“You gotta trust guys,” he said.
Since taking over the program, he’s come to trust more than Drones.
“In the midst of everything that’s going on, these guys have just continued to work, … continued to grow as a football team,” Montgomery said. “We played a complete game tonight.”
North Carolina State running back Hollywood Smothers (3) struggles in the grasp of Virginia Tech’s Jaden Keller (24) with Kaleb Spencer (3) nearby during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Tech’s opening touchdown spoke volumes about its mindset.
On a second-quarter third-and-goal from the 11, Drones stood strong in the pocket against a fierce blitz and calmly found Marcellous Hawkins in the right flat for a touchdown. Center Kyle Altuner promptly hoisted his quarterback high in the air, celebrating a 10-7 lead.
The sequence foreshadowed little of the final outcome but indicated that the Hokies under Montgomery were not checking out.
And let’s be frank: There were extended stretches of the blowout losses to Vanderbilt and Old Dominion, both at home under Pry, when Tech appeared completely disengaged.
That was never the case Saturday.
The Hokies registered a season-best five sacks, three on a single drive, against an opponent that had allowed only four all season. Linebacker Kaleb Spencer (from Gloucester High) had a career-high 11 tackles, while linebacker Noah Chambers and safety Sheldon Robinson, true freshmen both, performed beyond their years.
“That dude’s special,” Montgomery said of Chambers, who made tackles on each of his first three snaps and finished with six. “I figured it out honestly in the summer, when the freshmen got there, and (strength coach Jarrett Ferguson had) them out there on the track, and we’re running 300s, and that dude is out there running like his hair’s on fire.”
Then there was Stewart, a transfer running back from Bowling Green, where he played for ex-Tech offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler and earned first-team all-conference honors last season. Nicked by injuries since arriving in Blacksburg this summer, Stewart emerged with a career-high 174 yards, headlined by an 85-yarder.
The seventh-longest run in program history, Stewart’s third-quarter burst set up Drones’ 4-yard scoring pass to Cam Seldon.
“He’s got good vision; he’s got good contact balance; he’s got good speed,” Montgomery said of Stewart.
While Stewart and the Hokies ran for 221 yards and averaged 7.4 per attempt, State’s Hollywood Smothers, the ACC’s leading rusher, had a season-low 67 yards.
Tech (2-3, 1-0 ACC) is 2-0 under Montgomery, a former big whistle at Tulsa and the ideal front man at this time. Ideal because, with nine games remaining after Pry’s exit, the Hokies desperately needed a steadying presence, and Montgomery brings that calm.
“We couldn’t let (Pry’s departure) break us as a team,” Stewart said. Montgomery “has been a great influence.”
Montgomery’s influence extends beyond the players to the staff.
“Obviously, the uncertainty of what the future holds is part of that,” Montgomery said Tuesday. “But the one thing that I told them and the thing that we’ve expressed to each other is we all got in this business for the love of the game, but also for helping develop and grow young men.
“And we still have that opportunity in front of us. As we step out onto the field, we all get to go compete, we all get to go work together, and right now, we need each other more than ever. So, let’s lean on each other. … I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to do this before, so I can fall back on some of my experiences there. But this is a unique situation in itself.”
Naturally, there’s been dissonance, with linebacker Michael Short, cornerback Dante Lovett and receiver/return ace Tucker Holloway entering the transfer portal, defensive end James Djonkam leaving the program and Keyshawn Burgos looking to redshirt.
But clearly most Hokies are all-in on their dancing interim leader.
“Wins are hard to come by,” the 53-year-old Montgomery said. “Conference wins are hard to come by, and you better enjoy them, you better celebrate them, and we’re going to do that. And so if an old man getting out there dancing looks silly, that’s OK. I don’t mind looking silly because we’re going to enjoy those wins that we get.”
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com