Virginia Tech falls to Purdue, 24-17

What a weird day it was in Blacksburg. The Virginia Tech Hokies were to host the Purdue Boilermakers for a noon kickoff. That meant everyone would have the entire evening to enjoy whether the Hokies won or lost.

After two weather delays, the game restarted with around five minutes remaining in the first quarter at 6:15 p.m. ET. Unfortunately, the Hokies came up short, as Purdue defeated VT, 24-17.

The Hokies fall to 1-1 on the season.

It was an ugly game on a lot of fronts for the Hokies. Purdue jumped out to a 17-0 lead, and this game looked like it was headed for a blowout. However, the Hokies came storming back, scoring 17 unanswered second-quarter points to make this a tie at halftime.

Everyone is feeling good, right?

The defense appeared to settle down after a rocky start, holding the Boilermakers scoreless in the third quarter. On the flip side, Tech’s offense seemed to have lost any mojo it had regained in the second quarter, as the Hokies also failed to score in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Tech’s first drive ends like so many others in the game. It was Purdue’s turn to try and win the game, and the Boilermakers delivered. Purdue went on a 13-play, 74-yard drive that took up over six minutes of the clock, and quarterback Hudson Card ran the ball in for two yards out. Tech had two more opportunities to tie the game and came up short. The Hokies’ best shot came on their final drive that began at the nine-yard line.

Head coach Brent Pry replaced Wells at quarterback with redshirt sophomore Kyron Drones, who immediately gave the Hokies a jolt with a quick 26-yard completion to tight end Dae-Quan Wright. Drones then had a 13-yard run to cross midfield, where he ran over a Boilermakers defender.

But the final four plays were ugly. On one, Drones threw it deep down the sideline and out of bounds while under pressure. He threw the ball away on another play. And on fourth down, he took a deep shot to Quan Felton, who was double-covered on the play. Wide receiver Stephen Gosnell was wide open for a first down on the play.

Ballgame.

The Hokies lost a very winnable game Saturday. They fall to 1-1 and travel to Rutgers next week. We’ll have more on this game tomorrow.