ATLANTA — Two weeks after Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock pleaded to the university’s Board of Visitors for campus funds to invest in football, the Hokies began a season of paramount importance Sunday against what may be their most challenging opponent of 2025: South Carolina.
As one board member remarked during Babcock’s presentation to the group Aug. 18, his ask was not unreasonable. Tech needs to increase its football operating budget to have any chance of returning to national prominence.
How much is a debate for another time, but regardless of the amount, the Hokies on the field need to give the board and the athletic department’s donors reason to be all-in.
Toward that end, like a politician working the rope line, Babcock walked the length of Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s open-air, field-level suites behind Tech’s bench prior to the Aflac Kickoff Game shaking hands and saying thank you.
Predictably, the Hokies lost to the No. 13 Gamecocks and acclaimed quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
But there were glimpses in the 24-11 defeat, especially from the defense, of hope.
Primarily, first-year defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes looked like an XXL upgrade. After showing minimal resistance on South Carolina’s opening 75-yard touchdown drive, the Hokies didn’t yield another touchdown until Sellers’ 64-yard strike to Nyck Harbor midway through the final quarter.
That’s called maintaining poise and crafting adjustments, traits the defense previously lacked. Tech sacked Sellers four times and was mostly stout against the run as linemen/linebackers such as Kemari Copeland, Ben Bell, James Djonkam and Michael Short thrived .
The Hokies’ offense was another story. They did not score a touchdown and managed only three points in two red-zone trips.
Receivers Donavon Greene, Ayden Greene and Isaiah Spencer produced catches of 25-plus yards, but Kyron Drones threw two interceptions and had his least accurate game (42.9% completion rate) in three years as the Hokies’ starter.
Tech needs more, much more, from its veteran quarterback.
South Carolina linebacker Fred Johnson intercepts a Kyron Drones pass as Virginia Tech wide receiver Ayden Greene makes a tackle Sunday in Atlanta. Johnson, from Maury High, made a game-high 10 tackles. BRYNN ANDERSON/AP
The Hokies and Gamecocks condensed a game’s supply of intrigue/weirdness into the opening half.
Tech benched linebacker and captain Caleb Woodson for his recent DWI arrest, “punishment” that lasted all of one series. But on that possession, Sellers shredded the defense for 54 passing yards and a 15-yard touchdown run.
First-year Hokies offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery dialed up a deep pass to Donavon Greene on a third-and-1 from his own 19. The 25-yard gain ignited a drive that carried to the Gamecocks’ 20, where Drones brain-cramped with an on-the-run heave that Maury High graduate Fred Johnson (game-high 10 tackles, six of them solo) intercepted in the end zone.
But Johnson’s natural instincts got the better of him, and rather than take a knee to secure possession at the 20-yard line, he ran out of the end zone, pinning South Carolina at the 2. The decision loomed large when, two snaps later, Emmett Laws and Kelvin Gilliam sandwiched Sellers for a safety.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers is sacked for a safety by Virginia Tech’s Emmett Laws (99) and Kelvin Gilliam (22) of Virginia Tech during the first quarter Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. BUTCH DILL/GETTY
After receiving the subsequent free kick, the Hokies threatened to score again. But Drones’ 28-yard connection to Ayden Greene was erased by a chop block whistled on Kyle Altuner and Jeremiah Coney.
But the most haywire possession belonged to South Carolina. After a holding penalty and 14-yard Elhadj Fall sack of Sellers saddled the Gamecocks with a second-and-33, Rashul Faison eluded Keyshawn Burgos in the backfield and sprinted 30 yards to put them in scoring position.
Sellers appeared to convert with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Harbor. But the Big 12 replay official correctly ruled that Harbor was not in control of the ball when it hit the turf.
Rather than take a two-score lead, South Carolina extended to a 10-5 edge on William Joyce’s 27-yard field goal, which Love countered with a 56-yarder as the half expired.
Given how Sellers and Co., had started the contest, a 10-8 intermission deficit had to feel pretty good for the Hokies.
Three receptions for 94 yards stamped Wake Forest transfer Donavon Greene as among Tech’s premier talents, but his unnecessary roughness penalty short-circuited a promising third quarter that he had sparked with a 32-yard catch.
Such are the missteps you can’t afford against a quality opponent.
But no mistake was more crippling than the illegal formation that forced the Hokies to repeat a fourth-quarter punt from deep in their own territory. Nick Veltsistas outkicked his coverage, and Vicari Swain went 80 yards for a touchdown and 17-8 lead.
How fitting and, for Hokies faithful, disheartening.
A Beamer Ball moment, the calling card of Frank Beamer’s signature Tech teams, proved decisive. Only this one was authored by the team coached by Hokies alum Shane Beamer, Frank’s son.
“Disappointed in the outcome, and there’s no pats on the back,” Tech coach Brent Pry said.
“No one wanted a pat on the back,” Copeland said.
Sellers may be the most dynamic quarterback the Hokies encounter this season, but he sure won’t be the last.
In Saturday’s home opener, they’ll reunite with Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, who torched them for 190 yards passing and 104 rushing in the Commodores’ overtime win last year in Nashville.
Then comes Old Dominion’s Colton Joseph in Week 3. All he did Saturday at Indiana was rush for touchdowns of 75 and 78 yards, albeit while throwing three picks.
Siefkes and his defense appear ready for the challenge. The offense is another story.
David Teel: david.teel@virginiamedia.com
