Well, that was not the way the Hokies wanted to start their 2024 season. Regardless of the outcome, this game was frustrating on so many levels. The Hokie offense barely made the field in the first half, and when it did, the play calling was short sighted and plodding. The defense struggled against mobile Diego Pavia, and his numbers show that Tech was just not able to figure out how to corral him and keep him from doing damage.
The 17-3 deficit at the half was daunting enough, but the heat and continued pressure seemed to put some downfield thought in Tyler Bowen’s short field offense Tech managed to score 17 points in the 3rd quarter to tie the game, with some critical stops by the defense, and then edge ahead of the Commodores in the 4th 27-20, but with 4:00 on the clock, the Pavia pushed Vanderbilt offense managed to pick on some soft coverage by the Hokies to push the ball into the endzone with less than 2:00 on the clock.