BLACKSBURG 鈥 Brent Pry heard the boos as Virginia Tech headed to the locker room Saturday evening. The fans鈥 chants of wanting him fired as the Hokies鈥 football coach didn鈥檛 go unnoticed, either.
It wasn鈥檛 fans simply lashing out because Old Dominion, from the Sun Belt Conference, looked like the superior team. Their frustrations boiled over after watching four straight quarters in which Virginia Tech played like it was outcoached and outclassed.
Pry heard it all as he entered the tunnel and made the long walk to the locker room.
鈥淚 get it. I鈥檓 frustrated, too, so I understand where they鈥檙e going from. The expectations at this place are to win,鈥 Pry said after Saturday鈥檚 45-26 loss to ODU. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e got great fans here. I understand their frustrations. They鈥檝e been fantastic to us. I thought the crowd was a good crowd tonight, and we let them down.鈥
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It hasn鈥檛 been the last two games 鈥 Saturday night鈥檚 19-point loss that came on the heels of a 44-20 debacle against Vanderbilt 鈥 that led to the chorus of boos sending the Hokies (0-3) to the locker room.
Virginia Tech fell to 16-24 under Pry, and the Hokies have underperformed in two of Pry鈥檚 three full seasons and early into his fourth campaign.
Fans forgave him for a 3-8 record in 2022 with a roster that was woefully deficient at most every position. They embraced him being the coach that could turn the program around after a 7-6 campaign in 2023 that featured a Military Bowl victory, and they were optimistic after Tech retained most every key piece heading into 2024.
Tech was 5-3 overall and 3-1 in ACC play heading into November last season.
Since then, the Hokies have won once (the regular-season finale against Virginia) and were humiliated over the past two weeks in lopsided losses to Vanderbilt and ODU.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to make improvements,鈥 Pry said. 鈥溾 It starts with me. It starts with our coaching staff, and it works its way down.鈥
Old Dominion smacked around the Hokies over the opening 30 minutes and didn鈥檛 let up in the second half.
ODU racked up 334 yards of total offense and led 28-0 at halftime. That 30-minute performance came one week after Vanderbilt scored 34 unanswered points and nearly outgained the Hokies by 300 yards in the second half of the 24-point win.
The Monarchs finished with 526 yards of total offense. Four different players scored rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Colton Joseph added two passing touchdowns and had four pass plays of 30-plus yards.
Old Dominion running back Maurki James (left) celebrates after scoring on a 10-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter. James was one of four different players to score rushing touchdowns for the Monarchs.
鈥淚 think in a time like this when obviously the season hasn鈥檛 started how we wanted it to, now it鈥檚 like, OK, are we truly going to be committed to this process, to this season, to this winning, or are we going to falter?鈥 safety Tyson Flowers said. 鈥淲ith the leadership we have on this team, they鈥檙e not going to let us.鈥
The leadership stepped up in the fourth quarter. Pry has frequently praised his teams for not quitting, and that showed over the final 15 minutes with three touchdowns to make the score more respectable.
Quarterback Kyron Drones accounted for all four of the Hokies鈥 touchdowns. He threw two touchdown passes to Donavon Greene.
Virginia Tech wide receiver Donavon Greene (right) catches the second of his two second-half touchdowns in the fourth quarter ahead of Old Dominion cornerback Justin Watts on Saturday in Blacksburg.
鈥淪ometimes it just is what it is, and you鈥檝e got to fight back and go through adversity,鈥 running back Terion Stewart said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to go through adversity and just keep going. As a team, we鈥檝e just got to keep going and we鈥檙e going to be good. We鈥檙e going to be fine.鈥
Wide receiver Donavon Greene said players are trained to block out crowd noise. It鈥檚 especially useful for road environments, and it came in handy at halftime Saturday when the crowd was booing and chanting for Pry鈥檚 firing.
Were the players even thinking about the possibility of the coach that recruited them to Virginia Tech not being around to finish the season?
鈥淚 can鈥檛 control that. We can鈥檛 control that,鈥 Flowers said. 鈥淚 know winning solves a lot of issues, so going forward hopefully we can win one game at a time, and the rest will take care of itself.鈥
Tech鈥檚 latest loss came in front of an announced crowd of 57,627 at Lane Stadium. It was the smallest home crowd since Justin Fuente鈥檚 final game in 2021 when 56,730 came to watch the Hokies top Duke, 48-17.
There have been far fewer in the stands to see the conclusion of Hokies鈥 last two games.
鈥淔an apathy is the death knell of athletics,鈥 Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock said on Aug. 18 when asked about the economic impact of Virginia Tech football falling behind during a Board of Visitors meeting. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not there yet, thank goodness.鈥
Based on the fans鈥 reactions multiple times Saturday night and the near-empty stands to end the last two home games, Virginia Tech isn鈥檛 far away from reaching that point.
