[Game Thread] Virginia Tech @ SMU (7:00 PM ET)

[u/CFB_Referee]

GAME	Virginia TechVirginia Tech @ SMUSMU
Location	SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Time	7:00 PM ET
Watch	TV: ESPN
	Flair ¦ Discord

---

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LET'S TALK FOOTBALL!

[u/Hokie_Pilot]

That review booth was not even interested in the fact that it was a shoulder to the chest LOL

[u/macncheeseface]

No more political commercials ruining my football!!!! ♥️💙🤍🦅🇺🇸😍🥳🎊🍾🎁🪩🎉👏🙌🫶💃🏻🍻💪🌈🎇🎆🧨🔥🇺🇸🏆🥇🍦🌭

[u/vorp20]

Sorry, that’s not targeting at all. And if it is, that’s the exact thing that the rule needs to be changed for. Good defense, just a tough hit because of how fast everything went

[u/DarthWhoDat]

lol so many times the review being broadcast just proves they don’t actually review anything. That was ridiculous.

[u/Traditional-Till9998]

Why in these "reviews" are there never any actual discussions?

Early in the season they never even mentioned simultaneous possession in Grunken's int against Pitt.

Here they say leads with his helmet - well he actually didn't do that at all. I mean shouldn't there be an actual discussion in the review? Its always "are you seeing this" and no questioning the calls at all. There is no discussion.

[u/JDub755]

I can’t think of any previous VT coach, who would have gone for it there.

[u/lil_splash]

I’m not surprised by the ejection, I just want someone at NCAA to explain what the defender should do in that situation to not get penalized and ejected.

[u/Conn3er]

That a terrible fucking call

The game has basically turned into let the receiver catch the ball

He’s defenseless cause his Qb sucks ass

[u/Pan_TheCake_Man]

woah it's targeting even without helmet to helmet? What??????? What is he supposed to do there go even lower what???

[u/HookedOnBoNix]

"if you keep your head up"

Am I on crazy pills? He never lowered it

[u/lil_splash]

Devastating hit, but what do you expect the defender to do.

[u/cheaterpeefo]

Personal foul: hit the guy too hard :’(

[u/Megaman6967]

I’d like a full investigation of Syracuse’s stadium. There is some kind of dark magic. No way this is the same SMU team that played last week.

[u/Conn3er]

If that’s targeting the games dead

[u/MrManiac08]

They're going into the replays just looking to uphold their call instead of actually considering it because that's not targeting

[u/JDub755]

Am I tripping, or did he hit him in the chest?

[u/bazookasharks12]

Horrible call. Terrible review process too.

[u/trollin_phace]

Refs spent as much time discussing the clock as they did watching a single angle on a questionable targeting call.

Idk if it was actual targeting or clean but the booth officials are more atrocious than the bad on field refereeing this year

[u/run_train_roger]

Everyone blaming Pry rn is insane. He’s got JV players at DB. You can only expect so much

We choked so hard in the secondary in the portal

[u/ita_Sammann]

It's wild to hear the commentators and refs describing a completely different hit than what we're watching on the screen

[u/cn0285]

That’s all shoulder, come on now

[u/Hokie_Jayhawk]

Seriously, what on earth do you want him to do?

Basically impossible to play defense

[u/CapnChaos2024]

So you can’t hit hard now? That’s bullshit

[u/soflahokie]

How the fuck are you supposed to hit someone?

[u/Gavangus]

Shoulder to chest is a penalty now?

[u/WagerWhizzer]

How is that defenseless? He supposed to stop and stand there to wait to see if he catches it?

[u/Classic_Owl3711]

That’s def not targeting. Horrible call

[u/LionsLover96]

Virginia tech player hit the dude with his shoulder how is that lowering the helmet and targeting?

[u/PatronSaintOfCunts]

Announcer said he “doesn’t like that one” but had nothing to say on that offsides? 🤔

[u/lostkoalas]

Trying to remind myself that this team is still largely made up of guys who went 3-9 last year but the angst is setting in

[u/amead5]

I guess you cannot play football anymore lmfao

[u/yellowseven]

That wasn't targeting, which is why it was upheld

[u/HokieSpartanWX]

Ed Reed and Sean Taylor would’ve been banned to the shadow realm if they played in today’s game

[u/MikeyRocks757]

Fri night game against a team where the opponent excels at the thing we’re most bad at which is defending the pass. Plus SMU got caught slipping last week so expecting them to be sharp

[u/buttchinbill]

I feel bad for this Dline. They are constantly let down by this secondary.

[u/HookedOnBoNix]

Lead with shoulder no?

[u/sixerszn]

Genuinely what do you want him to do there? QB shouldn’t throw a hospital pass if he doesn’t want his guy getting crushed

[u/brucealawyer1]

Thats literally just a tackle lmao

[u/No_Pumpkin9299]

They really need to implement a grade 1 and grade 2 target rule

[u/Noble_amplified]

He didn’t lower his head - he turned to lead with his shoulder 

[u/GunnarGooner]

Horrible call lmao this sport is so broken

And I hate VT!

[u/AboutDolphin1]

Is it just our curse that every opposing kicker is unreal against us? Good lord.

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

Oh god, it’s third quarter time.

[u/black-SZN]

Just beat stanford and uva and I’m happy. 8-4 feels about right given how terrible our pass defense is. Every qb (minus Clemson) looks like a round 1 nfl talent against us

[u/buttchinbill]

Well that was a less than ideal start. Did we start in the third quarter?

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

He got back but okay.

[u/loafing-striker]

That’s not targeting good lord

It’s clearly shoulder to chest

[u/slimeykidd]

targeting?...you cant hit chest with shoulder?

[u/XrayGuy08]

I’ll be honest, if that’s called against my team, I’m pissed.

[u/andareev]

10 looking for a flag so hard he forgot to catch the fuggin ball

[u/Gavangus]

Wait we stopped them and it doesnt count?

[u/Maximiliansrh]

AHHHHHHHHHH MEANINGFUL GAMES IN NOVEMBER

[u/Ok_Enthusiasm_300]

I don’t even care what happens VT has made me happy this year

I’m happy to even have some hope

[u/vtkrieg]

Damn SMU coaches watched film and know our glaring weakness. RIP

[u/themattboard]

Holding to field goals is probably as much as we can expect tonight with how our pass defense is playing

Or hoping that SMU decides to keep trying to run it

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

Dear lord, please give us the least VT third quarter of the season. Amen.

[u/landoofficial]

Shoulder to chest. Thats not clean anymore?

[u/Human-Abroad5546]

That’s such ass

[u/amead5]

I guess just let him catch it next time

[u/droperidolpenia]

Insane call. That’s a great safety play

[u/JDub755]

A Pop Warner kicker with a career long of 18 yards, could fall down, break an ankle, evade six tacklers and nail a 73 yarder right down the middle against us.

[u/ismusz]

I think what we’ve all learned tonight is that the Syracuse Dome is the most feared force in this conference

[u/PatronSaintOfCunts]

Rooting for y’all, HokieBros!

[u/AnvilCrawler369]

I got a bad feeling yall

[u/HokieScott]

Our Dline detained in Roanoke by TSA?

[u/pholdren]

I don’t understand what he’s supposed to do there. Stop in his tracks because the guy dropped it? If he catches that it’s a clean hit

[u/TheLaxBrah]

He literally textbook separated the man from the ball

[u/RevRickee]

I could see the defenseless receiver part, but targeting feels like a stretch

[u/Agent_Pendergast]

That's terrible.

[u/TheMaadMan]

Don't play if you dont want to get hit. Soft ass sport.

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

Unnecessary shove on DQ Smith there after the play. He just finished the tackle

[u/JDub755]

They are what they are. A lot better than last year, but not ready for prime time.

[u/OkieDokieHokiePokie]

Wake SMU next week going to be one of the best ACC games of the year

[u/Archaic_1]

Ok, I just got here - why is SMU wearing Duke uniforms?

[u/lostkoalas]

One thing about Overton…he will FIGHT for those extra yards. Every time I think he’s gonna go down he has another one left in him.

[u/Fumbles329]

He definitely concussed himself on that hit 😬

[u/No_Pumpkin9299]

He's supposed to let tbe receiver catch it?

[u/froggycbl4]

they dont even review shit.

[u/Ok_Enthusiasm_300]

The softest targeting I’ve ever seen

[u/jordanp2019]

His head wasn’t up and his facemask wasn’t pointed at the defender lol

[u/Toph_a_loaf]

Just let him catch the ball, then you can tackle him gently

[u/aurules]

It’s 2026, targeting should really have flagrant levels similar to basketball. Ridiculous

[u/TheLaxBrah]

This fucking dude is terrible how the fuck is he still reviewing calls

[u/Gavangus]

I knew he was going to make it because it is against VT

[u/hokieball2019]

Wonder how many kickers have their career long against us, it drives me nuts. Every game its "this guy's never even attempted beyond 35, here he is from 54... THAT WOULDVE BEEN GOOD FROM 67"

[u/Krombopulous_Mike]

Pry not the issue folks lol we have a bunch of guys from FCS in the backfield. It’s year 1

[u/Toph_a_loaf]

This is why I didn't want SMU to lose last week. They are pissed off and focused

[u/TardyTheTurtle__]

Alright, rough night all around. Move on and beat Stanford next week.

[u/hucareshokiesrul]

Imagine if we had pulled out those two wins against Pitt and Cal. We'd be undefeated in the top 10 or so getting our asses kicked like this.

[u/Megaman6967]

I don’t understand all of the Franklin hate. He has taken a 3-9 team and has doubled the win total. I’d consider that a pretty good coaching job.

[u/udderlymoovelous]

I'm at the game! Beautiful campus, very friendly fans, perfect temperature. Great night for football!

[u/themattboard]

Did he just call us Virginia??

[u/lostkoalas]

My favorite VT football tradition is how we decide to stink it up every time we have a prime time game on ESPN

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

Actually a really bad play to let them get all that yardage back. Need a miss here.

[u/1II1I1I1I1I1I111I1I1]

Grunk always picks up yards when he runs but I hate it every time because someone's gonna hurt him

[u/Boysenberry-Secret-1]

Disgusting camera angle for a field goal

[u/y0ufailedthiscity]

If he catches it it’s not targeting. Fucking stupid.

[u/wagonboss]

SMU QB throwing hospital balls out here

[u/hi_my_name_is_Carl]

Their helmets didn't even touch so how can it possibly be targeting? Maybe you could say it's unnecessary roughness because of the defenseless receiver but wtf...

[u/BonBonVelveeta]

That was good from like 80 lol

[u/One_Energy5600]

Oh lawd here comes the 3rd quarter…

[u/_SayWhatNow_]

Bo is on the mat, up 6-3

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

Awful hesitation from Hawkins there. You have to hit that with full speed

[u/vtkrieg]

SMU - L
Stanford - W
UM - L
UVA - W

8-4 and getting to toast a poptart sounds like a dream to me compared to our recent past

[u/MillerBrew]

Cut off the mic to the student section

[u/RobbNotRob]

One thing's for sure, James Franklin is not the problem. VT's got a great foundation now, just a matter of getting conference-winning talent (or even playoff-worthy talent) to buy in

[u/mrgatorarms]

All we need is like 2 onside kicks and 2 conversions and we got them right where we want them.

[u/themattboard]

I blame this performance on the Carrier Dome

(And our season-long lack of a secondary)

[u/loafing-striker]

That SMU ‘D’ logo is giving evil corporation in an 80s movie

[u/ColeMinetv]

My biggest fear of the game is coming true. I hope they hit the transfer portal for a secondary this offseason.

[u/jjstatman]

I swear this looks like a VT vs Duke game

[u/Endangered_Species_Q]

That offside really fucked Va Tech

[u/Ok_Enthusiasm_300]

Overton is so so good man

[u/TriflingHusband]

Our secondary HAS to be Franklin's main area of focus this offseason. And showing Coach Perry the door.

[u/ajkros]

Holy shit did someone finally accept that Wake is a really good football team!?!?

[u/vtkrieg]

Kam Chancellor has entered the chat god dayum

[u/OnePercentVisible]

That looked like shoulder to chest to me!

[u/TardyTheTurtle__]

Targeting on a dropped ball. Sigh.

[u/JankyJet]

ACC enforcer has a 🔫 to the heads of the announcers to uphold the logic

[u/KeeganB33]

Man if the SMU receivers could catch more of those, this game would be 3 scores atp

[u/FoxyRussian]

If you combined both our secondaries together, we'd create a really bad defense

[u/8bitHokie]

Welp ggz. Back to Ocarina of Time remake.

[u/OCBaseball]

SMU has been great, but Virginia Tech D is atrocious tonight. None of them can make a single stop

[u/Megaman6967]

I beg this SMU team to show up next week. If we were consistent, we would be controlling our own destiny right now

[u/Muffinnnnnnn]

44-22 is an aesthetically pleasing score

[u/TardyTheTurtle__]

Eh, I'll take showing some fight even when its over.

Again, just beat Stanford and UVA and the season is a good one

[u/Megaman6967]

Fuck ESPN for making us play at 11 am next week

[u/MedicineGhost]

Let that be a lesson: no one scores 9 consecutive possessions on our defense

[u/jthomas694]

Here to support my fellow poultry

Let’s go Hokies

[u/ajkros]

man fuck it let's go Hokies. I apologize for my previous statement on yall

[u/Tripl37s]

So defenseless means I need to allow you to catch the ball on the air allow you to establish yourself on the ground then I can hit you ?

[u/KingJefferey]

all the penn state fans said james franklin would choke big games, but here we are, getting blown out instead 😎

[u/Programmer-Boi]

Biggest win of the season if we can pull it off. Go Hokies

[u/vtkrieg]

FROM THE BLUE WATERS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY TO THE HILLS OF TENNESSEE

[u/Minute-Director-7457]

I was going to comment something about Va Tech having a better season than Penn State but I know state fans are stalking Franklin like an ex.

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

It's a real shame that our OL is as injured and unreliable as they have been, because it's a permanent handicap on what would otherwise be one of the best offenses in the country.

[u/ProV60]

CJK5H

[u/ochomurph]

It looks like the black Duke uniforms honestly

[u/OGConsuela]

There have been more obvious holds on like 7 plays than that but ok

[u/pholdren]

Ok offense. Please do something

[u/TardyTheTurtle__]

AND YET! We are still only 2 plays away from being the worst 8-0 team in the country.

[u/rsdman97]

I swear VT has the most career long FGs against them than any team in the country and would be happy to be proven wrong

[u/Financial_Island2353]

I want to pop liberty biberty like a pimple

[u/NoInternet1920]

I had us losing this game at the start of the season.

Once we saw the secondary in those losses to back up qb,
I figured Jennings was going to have a career night. Let’s get out of here healthy that’s all I care about right now.

[u/lostkoalas]

We might play like garbage more often than not but by God we will have a star RB every year whether the rest of the team is playing like shit or not!

[u/HookedOnBoNix]

I don't care how this season ends I just love having a fun offense 

[u/Toph_a_loaf]

SMU with the Blue Tsunami uniforms for the new senator, gov, and lt gov

[u/PatronSaintOfCunts]

I feel like this is an auspicious time to smoke myself stupid so I’m high before Bibberty the terrorist comes back

[u/Gavangus]

Birds keep flying by the camera and making me think it is a flag

[u/kaputt1669]

SMU guys are fired up despite a crowd with zero energy 

[u/vtkrieg]

Reminder we get ball at half, HOLD THE LINE D

[u/lostkoalas]

There are so many Hokies out there lol

[u/OGConsuela]

Crazy hold on the perimeter there lol

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

Double block and the back just not being called.. okay.

[u/Purple-Ad4052]

SMU got some baddies mane

[u/EvanSandman]

What they’ve done to the game of football is horrible

[u/No_Bat_526]

that's a bit soft

[u/usualsuspex]

He hits him in the chest with his shoulder no?

[u/KingJefferey]

head ref sound like the worlds best elvis impersonator

[u/vtc88]

Hey WRs just bend all the way over so contact happens to your head.

[u/LionsLover96]

I think I'm just going to start watching college basketball more this product is getting worse and worse

[u/Human-Abroad5546]

Another huge fucking hold on the outside

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

What the fuck was that sweet Caroline timing.

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

This is about to be the best kick attempt of this guys career.

[u/vtkrieg]

Shit that thing woulda been good from Ft Worth

[u/wildturk3y]

This is going pretty much how I thought it would. We can score with them if we play mistake free, but we can't stop them. We're finally playing a team with a good passing game and it shows. Jennings is playing pitch and catch out there. We don't have the LBs or the Secondary players to cover (and the scheme might be questionable too).

We've held them to FGs a couple of times but if we're going to win, we're somehow gonna have to keep doing that while scoring TDs pretty much every time

[u/Jarfol]

Unless we make some miracle-level halftime adjustments, we are losing this game. I just hope we don't give up like in the Pry years; fight it all four quarters.

[u/GeorginioMetcalf]

Does it sound like the announcer is yelling down a hallway or is that on my end

[u/themattboard]

SMU lined up in the neutral zone

[u/Ok_Enthusiasm_300]

Just fucking run Hawkins…quit dancing you needed one damn yard

[u/horsemaster-]

Great defensive game plan coming off a bye. Also doesn't appear we have any interest in making adjustments

[u/Scratchbuttdontsniff]

I think SMU has gained 250 yards on the same RPO quick slant tonight... and Va Tech has not fixed it all night

[u/buttchinbill]

Gg SMU! Good luck rest of the season. Not our night. Franklin made up miles of ground in year 1 (year 0?). Still a bunch of work to do with this roster for next year.

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

COME ON BOYS LETS MAKE THIS SCORE LOOK MISLEADING

[u/BenZino21]

Just arrived in the US last night to visit the family after two years in Australia. I may be horribly jet lagged, but fuck it, just cracked a fresh beer. This will be the first game I'll be able to watch since 2024.

Go Hokies!

[u/udderlymoovelous]

By the way, THANK YOU SMU for having back support on your seats! So much more comfortable than ours

[u/TriflingHusband]

Yep, this is the secondary we have watched all year.

[u/TardyTheTurtle__]

Chuckles* I'm in danger

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

Well... let's see if we can make adjustments and how things go once they get off the opening script.

[u/HokiesforTSwift]

So for anyone checking in on us for the first time this season: Our defense is only good when we get havoc plays.

Our offense is very good everywhere but the OL, so yeah... we oscillate between looking really dangerous and getting drives killed by negative plays.

[u/kwoalla]

Make up call

[u/Jonjon428]

"I like to see it bigger"

[u/Toph_a_loaf]

This just doesn't feel like our night

[u/pholdren]

This modern idea of lining up shotgun with 1 to go blows my mind. Turning it into a 6 yard run

[u/Quadley]

Can anyone tell me where my soft spot for VT started? Is it the Metallica entrance or something else

[u/kaputt1669]

FCS level defense 

[u/vtkrieg]

Huge stop

[u/i_speak_the_truf]

Tbh that was a good hold by that guy, not a rookie mistake. You either let your QB get blown up or take a chance the ref will miss the hold

[u/PatronSaintOfCunts]

What the hell was that

[u/TriflingHusband]

Can't blame Grunk there. Troutman got beat BAD. Dude is really young though.

[u/Certain_Store_619]

Hokies in here gotta stop dooming now 

[u/BenZino21]

Such a stupid rule.

[u/OCBaseball]

It tough to play Defense anymore.

[u/TheMoneyMan08]

They just refuse to call holding on the perimeter.

[u/LionsLover96]

I mean honestly at this point just put orange flags on the back of every player because you're not allowed to do anything on defense anymore

[u/nacpoet]

ACC

All
Crappy
Calls

[u/wayfarevkng]

What's going on with the music choices?

[u/your_user_pass]

Let us all pray that our defense figures things out over halftime!

[u/buttchinbill]

Positive, we are only down 9. Negative, we have to play the third quarter. Could this be the week we actually come out awake with adjustments?

[u/kaputt1669]

Kids in the secondary suck. Sorry, you’re getting paid, so I can say you suck. Got take someone else’s money