With 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Russell Wilson and Co. were looking at a four-point deficit. The team jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first half, but saw its lead shrink and shrink until it found itself in this predicament. But there was still time. Carter-Finley Stadium was jam-packed, the third largest crowd in history, and every fan was on the edge of their seat.
At this point we all know what happened– Wilson dropped back on the first play of the drive, lofted a ball up to senior receiver Jarvis Williams, and the ball was picked off, sealing the victory for the Hokies, while ending the Pack’s short-lived stay in the top-25 and its undefeated season.
“Obviously a tough afternoon, we lost to a good football team but we made too many mistakes to give ourselves a chance to ultimately win the football game,” coach Tom O’Brien said. “That was the difference.”
Wilson echoed O’Brien’s comments, but believed the main difference was the fact that when it came down to it, the Hokies made more big plays than the Pack when it counted.
“That is what we have to do to win games, close it out and step up and make a play here and there,” Wilson said. “They made one or two more plays than us and it went there way.”
Some of the mistakes O’Brien was talking about included three interceptions by Wilson, one of which came when the Pack was in the red zone and had a chance to at least walk away with three points.
“The interceptions hurt there at the end,” O’Brien said. “We didn’t get any points and those are the kind of things we can’t do if we are going to be successful.”
The Pack completely failed to close out the game against Virginia Tech in the second half. The defense gave up 253 yards and 34 points in the second half and looked a lot like last season’s porous unit, missing tackles left and right.
“He [Tyrod Taylor] was the difference-maker out there tonight,” O’Brien said. “We couldn’t get him on the ground. There were other times when we did miss tackles and we blew a few things where we didn’t get lined up on defense, which obviously we have to get back and work on.”
But all of the blame cannot be placed squarely on the shoulders of the defense. The offense looked just about as much out of sync as the defense, getting outscored by Tech 34-13 in the second half. Playing a part in that was the adjustments the Tech defense made, relying on the blitz to try and stop Wilson and the offense.
“They continued to keep bringing the house and we didn’t capitalize on some of the opportunities we had to make,” Williams said. “We knew they were going to keep fighting and it was going to be a dog fight. But they just outplayed us.”
No matter where the blame is placed, the obvious fact about the game was the Pack’s inability to finish the contest and put the Hokies away.
“They just finished the game better than we finished the game,” O’Brien said. “There is no excuse for us not finishing the football game. That is where you want to be, up by three with four minutes to go in the game. We spent a whole scrimmage practicing those situations during preseason camp so you are ready for those things.”
However, even though the players know they gave the game away, they understand there is still a long way to go in the season and needs to learn from this game, while setting their focus on the next game against Boston College.
“I definitely believe we should have won that game and could have won that game,” Wilson said. “But at some point you have to move on and look back at it and realize we have something coming up next weekend and it’s another opportunity for us.”
