Virginia Tech showed plenty of fight in its two-touchdown loss to Minnesota in Friday night’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Hokies were without 14 starters and the young players thrust into the rotation provided a glimpse of what the future holds heading into Brent Pry’s fourth season.
The showing in the bowl game was more competitive than the Hokies’ previous bowl loss when a makeshift roster was overwhelmed by five scores to Maryland in the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl.
Tech, this season, went 2-2 in nonconference play and recorded four more triumphs against ACC competition to finish with a 6-6 regular-season record for the third time in the last four seasons.
Here’s a look at some of the highs and lows of a season that began with lofty expectations and concluded with a losing record for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
BEST WIN: 21-6 over Georgia Tech (Oct. 26)
Virginia Tech’s first eight ACC wins under Pry came against opponents who failed to finish above .500 in league play. In fact, the combined conference record of those opponents was 18-46.
The Hokies secured a big league win under Pry with a stellar defensive effort that shut down Georgia Tech in the second half. The Yellow Jackets were without star quarterback Haynes King and eventually brought in third-string quarterback Aaron Philo for a spark.
The spark never came as Virginia Tech recorded a second-half shutout and held a team without a touchdown for the first time under Pry.
It became a more impressive win when Georgia Tech, led by King, handed Miami its first loss of the season and then took eventual SEC champion Georgia to eight overtimes.
The Yellow Jackets went 5-3 in league play.
WORST LOSS: 26-23 to Rutgers (Sept. 21)
A 24-14 loss to Clemson was the only regular-season setback decided by more than one score. It doesn’t come close to the worst outcome of the campaign, which came in the nonconference finale at home to the Scarlet Knights.
The Hokies’ offense failed to show up in the first three quarters against Rutgers. They had seven points and 196 yards of total offense after 45 minutes, and then staged a furious fourth-quarter rally by tallying two touchdowns, two two-point conversions and 124 yards to even the score with 4:35 remaining.
The defense wasn’t able to come up with a stop as the Scarlet Knights converted on a go-ahead field goal with 116 seconds remaining. It marked the second of four losses during a season in which Tech surrendered either a tying or go-ahead score after the two-minute timeout.
OFFENSIVE MVP: Bhayshul Tuten
The senior tailback dealt with multiple injuries throughout the season (knee sprain early and ankle injury late) and still enjoyed a campaign that resulted in him being named to the All-ACC second team. Tuten finished his second campaign with the Hokies by rushing for 1,159 yards and 15 scores on 183 carries and added 81 yards and two more scores on 23 receptions.
Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten (center) breaks free for a 58-yard touchdown run against Virginia on his final carry in a Tech uniform.
He had a team-record 266 rushing yards in a Thursday night win over Boston College.
Tuten ranks 16th in the nation with 17 total touchdowns entering the College Football Playoff semifinals. He also became the first Tech tailback to tally more than 1,100 rushing yards and at least 15 touchdowns in a single season since Ryan Williams (1,655 yards and 21 touchdowns) in 2009.
Tuten finished his two seasons in Blacksburg with 2,022 rushing yards and 25 rushing scores. He became the first Tech running back to lead the team in rushing in back-to-back seasons since Branden Ore in 2006 and ’07.
DEFENSIVE MVP: Antwaun Powell-Ryland
The defensive end appeared on the five major All-America teams after posting eye-popping numbers of 16 sacks, 19 tackles for a loss, nine quarterback hurries, three fumble recoveries and one blocked kick.
Virginia Tech associate head coach and defensive line coach J.C. Price congratulates defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland after a sack against Virginia on Nov. 30 in Blacksburg.
He won the Dudley Award and was a first-team All-ACC selection. He was a second-team All-America selection by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) and Sporting News, and a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
Powell-Ryland became the first Tech player with three career four-sack performances thanks to his ability to consistently win one-on-one battles off the edge. The Hokies are tied for 17th in the nation in team sacks.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Aeneas Peebles
The defensive tackle spent one season with the Hokies. He made a huge impact in the middle of the defensive line.
Peebles, a third-team AP All-American, was routinely winning battles in the trenches and posting the highest grades from Pro Football Focus among Tech defensive players. He finished the season with 31 tackles (11 solo), 6.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks and four quarterback hurries to garner first-team All-ACC honors.
Virginia Tech defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles (left) puts pressure on Georgia Tech quarterback Aaron Philo during the Hokies’ Oct. 26 win in Blacksburg.
The Duke transfer’s ability to create a push in the middle of the line set up opportunities for Powell-Ryland to rack up sacks and set Tech records. Peebles was the only Tech defensive tackle to start every regular-season game.
WORST MOMENT: The 6-minute review to overturn Felton’s TD at Miami on Sept. 27
Was there enough evidence to overturn the call on the field that Da’Quan Felton came down with a 30-yard touchdown reception as time expired to beat undefeated Miami? There was not an undisputed view of the play that definitively could determine it wasn’t a catch.
No matter where you stand, it was a controversial conclusion to a game in which the Hokies felt they won for a near 10-minute stretch spanning the call on the field to Jerry Magallanes announcing the call on the field was overturned. The play was discussed and analyzed throughout that weekend, and it will come up again when the Hurricanes visit the Hokies in 2025.
BEST PLAY: Jaden Keller’s fourth-down stop vs. Boston College (Oct. 17)
Tech needed a defensive stop to stifle Boston College’s comeback bid. The Eagles scored three third-quarter touchdowns and trimmed a 28-0 deficit to 28-21 entering the fourth quarter.
That’s when Keller, who grew into his role at Mike linebacker throughout the season, came up with the biggest defensive play of the season. He broke through the line and stopped Boston College running back Kye Robichaux for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the 49-yard line.
Tuten scored three plays later as the Hokies regained momentum and pulled away for the win.
WORST PLAY: Clock management at end of first half at Miami (Sept. 27)
John Love’s 57-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the first half gave the Hokies a 24-14 lead. Tech arguably should have entered the half with a double-digit lead, but Pry called a timeout after a third-down sack with 25 seconds left instead of letting the clock bleed down to a handful of seconds.
The Hokies called for a squib kick that was returned to the Miami 47. A pass interference call on the subsequent play put the Hurricanes in position for Andres Borregales to make a 56-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-17 entering halftime.
BEST DECISION: Getting both Drones and Watson back
Virginia Tech could have easily looked at Pop Watson as the quarterback of the present and entered the offseason with him atop the depth chart.
Watson, who started the last two games of 2024, will enter the spring battling Kyron Drones for the starting job. Both Drones and Watson are coming back next season and that gives the Hokies two quarterbacks with starting experience.
It also allows offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen to have both quarterbacks work with him on building the offense during the winter and hopefully develop a game plan that allows the Hokies to start the season strong.
