30 - 21 Virginia Tech held Mason Rudolph and a prolific Oklahoma State offense to it’s second lowest point total of the season. The Hokies rushed for 248 yards and out-gained the Cowboys 506 to 471, but still found a way to lose the game. It was pretty simply what happened. The Hokies were mistake prone, Oklahoma State wasn’t. They played a cleaner game and that’s why they won.
As good as Justin Fuente has been, and he’s been an outstanding coach for Virginia Tech. The Hokies are prone to playing sloppy football from time to time. They had 45 more penalty yards, and lost the turnover battle Thursday 2-0 to Oklahoma State.
A mishandled handoff, caused a fumble inside the 5 yard line when the Hokies were about to go up 14-3, and a mishandled snap killed another drive. QB Josh Jackson struggled badly. Jackson missed 2 easy TD passes, and at least 2 easy 1st down throws. Jackson got banged up late in the year, and didn’t have his best playmaker Cam Phillips Thursday. Various reasons exist why Jackson didn’t develop the way I expected during the course of the year. He’s a raw talent, but clearly by the end of the year he wasn’t playing with a lot of confidence.
The Hokies will enter 2018 with some question marks at Quarterback. Jackson can still be the guy, but he’s got to be better if Virginia Tech wants to get back to Charlotte.
There is good news though. Virginia Tech still had a 9 win, with a fairly inexperienced team. Some suggested this might even be a rebuilding year. There’s certainly no shame in losing a bowl game to a very good Oklahoma State team either. The Hokies under Fuente look equipped to be a perennial ACC Coastal contender. Recruiting is on the uptick too, as Virginia Tech is about to put together back to back top 30 classes with this year’s class in the top 25 by any recruiting service you look at.
Virginia Tech has averaged 9.5 wins, which will be 2nd most in the ACC the last 2 years depending on if Miami wins their bowl or game not.
I don’t see anything to indicate the Hokies aren’t moving forward. What we saw this year is what separates a very good Virginia Tech program from being great. They certainly don’t have Clemson’s overall talent. They must get better play at the QB position, and execution on offense must be more consistent.
The issues are few though, and a lot of ACC teams would like to be where Virginia Tech is at as program.
