Virginia Tech Football Has Turned Around Its Season in Remarkable Fashion

Good evening, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football fans.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Virginia Tech defeated Georgia Tech today – and the outcome was never in doubt.   The Hokies absolutely hammered the Jackets 45-0.  And this wasn’t just your ordinary hammering:  Georgia Tech had one first down in the first half.  One.  That’s ridiculous level of defense.  The Hokies had 461 yards of total offense – while the Jackets were held to 134 yards.  The Hokies dominated Georgia Tech on offense, defense, and special teams.  It might be the single best performance I’ve seen from Virginia Tech in all phases of the game in three years.

It is a remarkable in-season turnaround.

Why?  Back in September, I was extremely critical of Virginia Tech.  I went as far to say that Virginia Tech was the most disappointing football team in the ACC.    The Hokies looked lost on offense and defense – and at times, they looked completely unprepared by the coaching staff.  In its first four games, Virginia Tech had ELEVEN turnovers.  ELEVEN.  As recently as October 1, 2019, our friend @TerryPJohnson had Virginia Tech at #13 in his ACC Power Rankings.

And then Justin Fuente decided it was time to change quarterbacks.  In comes Hendon Hooker.  Our friend @MattZemek, had this to say about Justin Fuente’s great escape, which provides a cautionary note for many coaches:

Virginia Tech — with the help of Hendon Hooker — made huge progress in its repair project against Wake.

Everyone can see it: Virginia Tech’s offense has snapped back into place with Hooker at the controls. A Virginia Tech offense which was rudderless in the first half of the season has roared to life. Suddenly, Justin Fuente has quieted the noise within the system. The disaster of a blowout loss at home to Duke (a team which isn’t that good and might not make a bowl game this year) now feels strangely distant.

By all means, Fuente deserves credit for finding his way out of a deep, dark ditch. Taggart couldn’t find that escape route at Florida State. Other high-profile coaches this season have not been able to turn around disappointing seasons: Chris Petersen at Washington, Mark Dantonio at Michigan State, Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, and many others. Fuente, by rescuing a season headed for a fireball of destruction, has taken himself off the hot seat. Virginia Tech didn’t need that kind of headache with Bud Foster about to ride into the sunset. Now, the Hokies can simply focus on internal improvements for 2020. That is one big thing the Wake win achieved.

However, while giving Fuente credit, let’s not allow this piece to end without noting that — much as Clay Helton at USC failed to name Sam Darnold his opening day quarterback in 2016, and much as Kirby Smart went with Jacob Eason over Jake Fromm at Georgia in 2017, before an injury changed UGA’s season and the 2017 college football landscape as a whole — so it also is that Fuente failed to identify Hendon Hooker as the solution to his problems.

Coaches — good coaches, proven coaches — still fail to select the right opening day quarterbacks for their programs. Fuente has rescued himself, and yet his rescue also contains components of why he fell into such a troubled spot in the first place.

This is a happy story for Virginia Tech, but it is not without its cautionary tales. We will see if this repair job turns into a fuller restoration of the Hokies. Justin Fuente is working toward that goal, but he isn’t there yet.

Here’s a table that really tells a good story on Virginia Tech football through the Georgia Tech game:

* Hooker did not play vs. Notre Dame. 

From the Miami game and forward, Virginia Tech opponents have 12 turnovers to six for the Hokies (by comparison, Virginia Tech had five turnovers vs. Boston College).  The short of it is – if you have more takeaways than your opponent, you’re generally going to win more often than not.  The total offense statistics has been pretty steady most of the season as you can see above (with the exception of the very bad performance by Willis vs. Duke and a start by a tough spot for Patterson vs. Notre Dame) – but turnovers will absolutely cost you.  Plus, Hooker is such a mobile QB, that defenses have to respect him – and it’s opened up the entire Hokies offense.

Virginia Tech – had it not used the prevent defense vs. Notre Dame on their last drive, probably would have defeated the Irish in South Bend.  My buddy @TalkinACCSports had some nice words about Bud Foster’s defense – and the improvement made over the course of the season.  Since early October, @TerryPJohnson has moved the Hokies much higher in his ACC Football Power Rankings.

A turnaround?  A remarkable in-season turnaround, indeed.  The Hokies are playing better football than any team in the ACC not named Clemson.

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