Down seven with 4:03 left in the ACC Championship Game, Virginia Tech had the ball on its 41-yard-line. Its sights were set on a touchdown and would-be game winning two-point conversion attempt. The Hokies drove 36 yards, into striking distance, and ultimately sputtered on four straight downs to all but end the game.
Virginia Tech had a chance to beat Clemson. The same Clemson that closed as an 11-point favorite. The Clemson that's headed to the college football playoff, again. The defending ACC champions. Virginia Tech hung with the Tigers. In the game's waning moments, the Hokies closed on a 14-point gap that separated them from the Tigers most of the evening, and had an opportunity to win the game.
That loss is not a moral victory. Rather, it's an excellent progress report.
The last time the Hokies played a ranked opponent on the national stage — the Battle at Bristol against Tennessee in September — Tech sprung out of the gate only to fall flat on its face, hard. The Volunteers took advantage of a plethora of Tech mistakes and swept aside a mistake prone, hapless Hokies squad.
A few months later, the Hokies returned to primetime more polished and ready for the task at hand. Even in a 35-42 loss, Tech proved they belonged on the same field as an elite team and even earned a little of the media's respect along the way. Note Tech's one-spot, post-ACCCG loss jump to No. 18 in the AP poll (filed under rare occurrences), and these national pundits' insta-reactions to the contest.
Virginia Tech couldn't quite get it done tonight, but boy, that program is about to take flight.— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_AJC) December 4, 2016
Hokies played their asses off and then went and bought backup asses and played those off too.— BUFFALO TURKEY WRAP (@edsbs) December 4, 2016
@KirkHerbstreit during the 4th quarter of the ACC Championship#HardSmartTough pic.twitter.com/RQaToyFlSy— HokiesFB (@HokiesFB) December 6, 2016
2 big takeaways:* Fuente is a terrific coach & VT gonna be good for a while.* Clemson is gonna be tough out in playoff whoever it gets.— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) December 4, 2016
VT ended up waaaay ahead of schedule. 2017 and on look great for Fuente https://t.co/KTqrVFNUs4— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) December 4, 2016
Virginia Tech didn't receive a single vote in the preseason AP poll. The media picked the Hokies to finish fourth in the Coastal, and just three of 191 ballots pegged Virginia Tech to win its division. And one prominent scribe even predicted the Hokies' bowl streak would end. Points being, Tech's rebuilding effort is ahead of any reasonable pace.
The Hokies will need to continue to recruit better to close an evident talent gap. What a difference Richmond product Clelin Ferrell would've made rounding out Tech's two-deep at DE instead of holding down the trenches for Clemson. If they do, the sky's the limit. Rest assured the coach who was on the road recruiting less than 24 hours after a heartbreaking loss knows this already.
For as crestfallen as you are/were over that loss, feel equally encouraged to know Virginia Tech football is in Justin Fuente's capable hands.
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