Well, we had a big and very pleasant surprise on Saturday evening as the Hokies traveled to Raleigh to take on North Carolina State in the Hokies’ ACC opener. The evening didn’t map out so well as the kickoff loomed. The parting of ways with Brent Pry opened the mid-season departure transfer portal, and several prominent names have taken advantage, to date. The 30-day window doesn’t close until October 13th (date hasn’t been published but it’s 30-days after the dismissal which would be that specific date.) There had also been a distressingly long list of players still listed but unavailable to play for the game.

Something Changed

It was obvious that something had gone “flooey” in the locker room at the half of the Vanderbilt game and it continued through the ODU game. Every analyst familiar with the program noted the same thing in more than a few ways but all pointing to the same problem that Pry had lost the confidence of a significant portion of the team and in that game and a half the 2025 Hokie Football ship just ran out of steam. Truthfully, a sports psychology and organizational analytics team should sit down with everyone involved, interview everyone from star players to the on-field support personnel and document what happened.

The thing that changed, physically, was that Philip Montgomery, an experienced, and modestly successful head coach had been promoted to be the interim HC for the Hokies. The team showing up on Worsham Field for the Wofford noon kick in the late summer heat wasn’t the same that had sort of trickled on and ambled through warmup drills. There were some smiles behind the facemasks and eye shades. Heads were up. Drills were being run with a bit more energy. A veil seemed to have been lifted.

Whatever “it” was, there certainly has been a major shift in more than just personnel. The team didn’t feel like it wanted to be on the field for the ODU disaster. (The feeling was very similar to the 2019 Duke fiasco.) That was gone. The question we had after the team posted the Wofford win loomed. Was that energy, the happiness to be on the field, going to show up in Raleigh to face the Wolfpack on September 27th? The next question to be begged was who was going to fill in for those missing players listed before the game, and was the reality that they were almost all freshmen and redshirt freshmen going to have a negative impact?

Discovering What Worked

You read that right, “discovering”. The team that received the ball for the NC State game kickoff was pretty much an unknown. A depth chart wasn’t produced, again, so who was starting and who was standing at the ready was largely an unknown. We knew that critical offensive lineman Johnny Garrett was suited up for Wofford. But was he going to start for NC State? Was the patched together group of #1s, #2s, and #3s going to handle the strain of playing a peer team that stacked up to be slightly to mostly better than Tech? Could the Hokies absorb hits and stand their ground to come back and hit back? Could Tech run the ball effectively, and would Kyron Drones have enough time to get the ball downfield in critical situations?

Cautious kudos go to the Offensive Line. Matt Moore and Philip Montgomery worked a miracle of spit, bailing wire, and perhaps a bit of good old duct tape to put a rotating crew of offensive linemen together who managed to keep Kyron Drones on his feet for the passing game. Giving up only 2 sacks for 18 yards. Yes, there were some breakdowns and a few missed assignments… and some “doing extra challenge sprints” at practice penalties, but this particular unit did one other thing that other units for years didn’t manage to do well, it moved people. And that showed up for something that Tech hasn’t had for a while, a run game.

Hello, Mr. Stewart! Terion Stewart finally got his opportunity to play a game and had the blocking good enough to give him an opportunity to convert the offense from a 3-and-out machine to an explosive unit. Saturday, we saw something near and dear to old Hokie hearts that we hadn’t seen in quite a while. A steady, consistent and often dangerous running game. The Wofford game was P.J. Prioleau’s time to shine. Terion Stewart blazed brightly on the field against the Wolfpack.

Kyron Drones was more like the 2023 Drones. Let’s give some due credit to someone who we all know has been struggling with things. Footwork, downfield reads, technique, and most of all injuries (which probably helped to exacerbate the afore mentioned issues). Saturday, Drones wasn’t absolutely perfect, but he was miles better than any peer game since he was dinged up in the 2024 Vanderbilt opener. Drones was smart about where he put the ball and managed to take care of it when he was forced to run. It looks like Coach Montgomery’s steady implementation of confidence building play calling and some nifty receiver work has started to rebuild the Drones who signed on to the Hokies back before 2023.

A QB needs reliable guys to throw to. The receivers are still having some issues but making up for it with some spectacular catches. Ayden and Donavon Greene each came up with clutch balls. Marcellous Hawkins has proven himself to be a solid target choice out of the backfield, and Benji Gosnell has finally been allowed out of his cage, and he’s showing why. The sneaky number was that transfer Junior Cameron Seldon led the team with 5 catches and grabbed his first touchdown from a short wide receiver screen from Drones. Montgomery got 8 total receivers involved in the game and that’s spreading the ball around.

Let’s not forget the Defensive Line. As the only truly deep squad on the field, it is absolutely critical for the defensive line to control the line of scrimmage, get penetration to put natural pressure on the quarterback, and most of all stop the run, not only the explosive plays, but the routine schedule stuff that grinds away clock, and burns up yardage a bit at a time. Trying to keep track of who was in and who was out seemed more like keeping track of Hockey lines as the swap on and off the ice during exchanges. The leader of the defense on the field needs a mention here. Kelvin Gilliam, Jr. came home to Virginia to play football for Tech. He quickly earned more than respect, he earned the Lunch Pail, and over the Spring and into the fall has become the standout leader of the defense on the field. His personal contributions, experience, energy, and determination, are rubbing off on, not just the line, but on the defense as a whole. This defense had some passing coverage issues (more in the next section) but the defensive line led the charge holding NC State to a net of 59 yards on the ground. Overall, that net included 5 sacks for a total of 34 yards.

Jayden Keller, Kaleb Spencer, and “Some Guys” played well enough. The linebacker corps has been a major issue for the last several seasons. It’s been more than difficult to really put a handle on exactly why because the physical talent was and is there. What we saw in Raleigh was a mixed bag, but also a glimmer of some hope. The only starting level linebackers on the field for the first NC State offensive series were Keller and Spencer. The coaching staff was forced to go deep into the depth chart, and the defensive playbook. What rolled out was in improvement over what we have seen lately. What worked were the critical run fits, and containing a relatively mobile quarterback. There are some things to fix, but overall, the linebackers managed to improve.

Special Teams continues to impress with more than a few of their functions. Kicker John Love is becoming Mr. Automatic. His single miss for the season was an almost impossible attempt from nearly 60 yards. Nick Veltsistas didn’t necessarily have a cannon leg but if you look at the critical punt return stat for the game, there were no returns. Kyle Lowe kicked off 6 times in the game, and not one return yard was registered.

The Unfortunate What Didn’t

Hey, a struggling team fighting a 10.5 percentage point spread underdog label probably doesn’t want to look at what didn’t work but there is a whole lot of football left, and Tech has an opportunity to salvage something meaningful to this team and coaching staff. That means that a good team is going to figure out how to fix things that didn’t work. Tech had a few issues.

As good as the linebackers were with the run, they really struggle at pass defense under the zone. While it wasn’t a game losing problem, every team, from now on, will be looking at the defensive film and developing 3 second pass plays underneath the zone, and in the seams. Tech’s linebackers are just not able to get those routes closed down, and the team paid for the problems as the Wolfpack’s C.J. Bailey cut them to ribbons on short to medium patterns. Siefkes is going to have to figure something out about how to deal with being a beat slow under the zone.

The Defensive Backs managed to keep things in front of them, but no one had complete coverage nailed down. They got critical stops and that should not be a complaint. The squad started the season with too many inexperienced players, and there is still way too much work to be done on basic physical coverage work. NC State managed to pass its way down the field a few times in the game, and unless the defensive line seriously disrupted or stopped the play at the QB end, the Wolfpack receivers were making critical yardage on their drives.

Penalties were a problem and nearly spelled doom for Tech. Tech committed 7 penalties for a total of 55 yards, where one series was maintained by goof-ups on the defense. The big problems remain turning makeable first downs into 3rd and long situations by getting anxious and getting called for false starts. When your team is struggling there is no point in handing the other guy yards and downs.

Receiver Drops are frustrating. The good thing about it was that they didn’t end up hurting the team in the end, but they made drives more complicated, and they certainly had a definite morale impact on everyone involved.

The last gripe is a good deal more subtle. Fast developing plays just don’t seem to be in the playbook, or they aren’t practiced. Many folks wouldn’t notice but more experienced analysts tear out their hair at the grindingly slow development of some of the most basic plays. This team needs to figure out how to pick up the pace because that one or two second traffic jam allows the defense to read and respond. Tech’s offense just has to get faster.

(Not Much Different) Dun Busted in This One

We’ve already gone over what are long term situation that may or may not ever be cured, especially at the program level, when promises of “Big Changes” end up being more of the same thing only hoping for more money to come from “sugar daddies”. Will that failure be cured? The jury is still out since the sketch proposal is just a lather rinse and repeat using ever more soap.

But there is something that really needs to be done about play calling and technique that has a serious effect on the final “Didn’t Work” item for this essay. The unwillingness, inability, or lack of trust – maybe it’s all of the above, I dunno – for the offense to quickly and efficiently execute a play and a reasonable audible after pre-snap read is just momentum slowing. The problem isn’t unique to this particular staff, but it’s a systemic problem that shows a lack of maturity in the growth of the players, and the training from the coach. We have mentioned this before, but one thing that Frank Beamer had, was trust in his Quarterbacks to make the right reads and do the right thing. It was expected of them. Tyrod had the last 2:30 of any game that he was on the field. Nebraska was Tyrod Taylor. Performance should be rewarded with trust, not just “C’s” glued to jerseys.

If Philip Montgomery does something significant this season, maybe he should take the risk and can the “Dancing Itos” and go back to huddling up and calling the play from the huddle. Design play series where wrist coaches give the players the play relayed in from a sub. But then stop with the “check with me stuff” and execute faster. “Tempo” doesn’t mean burning play clock wig-wagging signals and setting up the offense for a false start situation. Get back to fundamental football.

Frankly, it’s really nice to say that is the sum total of the busticated stuff noticed in this one.

On to the Wrap and Wake Forest Game Week

Wake Forest Week starts now. The NC State game was a total surprise. Tech has early odds at -3.5 and a 50.5 O/U that might or might not change in the next few days as folks think about it. Bryan will have the updated information for the coverage preview.

We’ll be on the field for the contest, so let’s see how far the old man’s knees let him go. This is a battle of the lower third of the ACC. Tech could crawl back to 3-3 in setting up from the 2nd half of the regular season. We won’t contemplate the alternative for now.

GO HOKIES!!!!!