Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt open as a 2.5 point underdog at Virginia Tech pic.twitter.com/eKFBrSxcqv— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) September 1, 2025
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Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt open as a 2.5 point underdog at Virginia Tech pic.twitter.com/eKFBrSxcqv— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) September 1, 2025
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That's curious. I suppose it's "home field" advantage
Still have PTSD from the Vandy Veer offense.
From a pure personnel standpoint, VT is the superior squad.
But here's the rub:
Who do you trust more with the ball in their hands--Drones or Pavia?
And
Who do you trust more to manage their team thru the game--Pry or Lea?
The fact that we have to be somewhat surprised to be a home favorite vs. Vandy is stomach-turning...
I think if we lose this week Pry will be officially entering lame duck status.
Personally, I think Pry is already at lame duck status. I don't know what his contract is tho. With NIL it's harder to fire coaches. We need that money to pay players now. Can't spend it on a coach to not coach.
He has a 6 year contract will just over $ 10m left on it after this season
welp. looks like we're probably stuck with him a few more years then. it's a shame, really. I wish he had worked out
neither: vandys actual hc is jerry kill
Opening game at Lane Stadium is worth AT LEAST 2.5 points.
Yet we're only getting 2.5. That should tell everyone something. This is not going to be a pretty or easy game for VT.
I hate that we're at the point as a program that being favored at home against Vanderbilt is newsworthy.
It's not really newsworthy. More of a footnote, really.
It should just be a reminder that VT can't take any games for granted. It's just where VT is as a program.
I really caution against the over-reaction so many people have to things, but actually do feel this is the - as in "THE" - most important gave for VT in many years. Said at the start of the year, I'd be very happy with 1-1, then winning the 2 easy games. 3-1 going into ACC play gives us a decent chance to have a decent year. Lose and be 0-2, and I think Pry is done. Could the team still bounce back from 0-2? Yes. But not likely. This and NC State are the ultimate pivot games. Tough but winnable. Win them both, 4-1 and we have some real promise. Lose them both and be 2-3 and that is it for the year and for Pry.
Watched the taped game and the defense looked good most of the time. The offense was not painful to watch (which they often were the past few years). Saw improved OL play, which to me is the key for the team, with some decent runs but could not sustain it. Some decent, albeit inconsistent, passing. Against teams that have similar or less talent, the same offense should score more and have a chance. They need to pull it together and find ways to win these games. Vanderbilt and @NC State will be the true tests. USCe is a better talented team. We lost as we should. We need to win when we should.
Well said, and I concur. We left some stuff out there on offense with dropped passes, bad throws, and untimely penalties. This was against a team that has one of the best edge rushers in the game, and a very stout D around him. We held and offense to 17 points that is led by true Heisman contender that had an Olympic athlete at receiver. I felt decent after the loss to what looked like a legit top 15 team, but we need to put up or shut up this weekend. We need to bring Vandy's cocky shit back down to earth and play a complete game from whistle to whistle.
The TD pass to Harbor I put an asterisk on because the game situation following the punt return TD changed to the point where we needed to sell out to stop the run
We'll know more later in the season about how good SC is or isn't, but VT absolutely did not look like they didn't belong on the same field as a top 15 team with Heisman candidate. They competed at a high level even if the execution wasn't fully there. The Gamecock fans were legitimately worried up until the punt return (that should've never happened, uugh).
While we won't truly know about SC until the second half of the season, we'll learn a lot about the Hokies this weekend. An equivalent level of scheme and effort should lead to more consistent execution against more mortal opponents! Most expected to lose Sunday and are now voicing all this disappointment because we legit had a chance to win.
With a Saturday night crowd in Lane, I can see a convincing win against Vandy. Lose and it will be a long season... and the negativity will likely be well-earned.
Interestingly, SC and Vandy play the following week. That could provide some comparisons to gauge how good we are (or not good, lol).
FSU and Miami look legit, let's see if we are.
At least we're not UNC, hahahaha! Honorable mention to Syracuse, who looked like they didn't belong on the same field as a top 25 SEC team.
How hot is the hot seat for Pry? Is there any chance he would lose the position based on the outcome of this Vandy game? I think if the defense plays to the same level they can win this game but hard to feel confident obviously. Drones at times on Sunday looked worse than I've seen him play in 3 years as accuracy continues to be a major issue. From what I remember, Pop was a much better passer when we saw him play at the end of last year....
I don't think it's as hot as it should be - NIL probably going to save his job. He's going to be expensive to fire and we need all that money to pay players. Talent is more important than coaching so I think you ride with Pry and buy him some better players. When his contract is up hopefully we're in a better spot and can hire a true HC. Until then, we just have to avoid signing any extensions for him
I'd rather spend more money paying players than buying Pry out. His latest round of coaching hires were an improvement, and the program overall seems to be improving. Just not as fast as we'd like.
To me this is the best way to spend money and everyone involved to work their ass off to gain the best possible outcome on the field. At the end of his contract, then decide to renew or move on. No buy out.
VT isn't old school recruiting anymore. Pry has hired experienced coordinators. He should continue to improve his staff at all times. I think we may witness the biggest improvement next season and will be higher on the Pry experiment after this season.
So next year is year 0 or this year?
I think with Whit begging to the BOV for money, burning $10M firing a HC that just restaffed probably isn't in the cards at all. On the other hand you likely lose a really big chunk of the fan base if you lose to Vandy. Pop was atrociously bad when we played any defense with a pulse.
Re Drones: If we look back to last year the opening game we tried to use him as a pocket passer and it went horribly. We averaged 5.17 yards per play that game. The problem was we were 1-14 on passing plays in the opponents territory. 13% Success rate in the red zone. He is what we have and we have to scheme around him, we did it successfully some last year on the back of Tuten, I'm confident we'll get there this year.
Objectively, it should be scorching hot. But I don't think we get a new HC until we have a new AD. And I don't think Whit is going to be fired at this point, especially since he just sounded the alarm on our dreadful financial picture (how terrible would the optics be after that in-depth presentation on the funding needed to compete and then VT fires the AD?) So he probably, either intentionally or unintentionally, was very slick and saved his job for a couple years.
That being the case, then I think Pry is safe this year regardless of record. We will get a new HC when we have a new AD (have a feeling Whit will probably get some of this big funding request secured from the BOV, have a great big presser about all the great things the money will do, and then announce his retirement sometime in the next 1-2 years.)
Until then, we have Pry. Which is pretty bleak IMO, but honestly I would rather not eat yet another $10MM buyout and use that cash and hopefully extra funds coming for NIL. And most importantly, we better go get a much better QB from the portal next offseason.
Hot. Win less than 7 and he's out IMO.
Zero chance, unless there's an off the field scandal.
You really think Pry is on the verge of being fired this season if he can't win 7 or more? I just don't see it, not after that big presentation and pitch to the BOV for funding. No way they're on board with eating another big buyout AND letting Whit of all people pick a third football coach while they're working to secure more funds for athletics.
I totally agree his seat should be scorching, and we really aren't going anywhere as a program with Pry at this point (he is what he is). But I just don't see it until some of this new funding comes to fruition and we have a new AD. I do think Whit will announce his retirement in the next 1-2 years if he can get some of this funding secured.
I think 6 or less and he's gone, 8 or more he's safe, and at 7 it depends on context.
I don't see firing Pry as mutually exclusive with begging for money. One of the reasons you have a war chest is so you can move on from underperforming coaches.
Also, Whit is a big believer in not 'throwing good money after bad' - I believe those were his words - as to why he gave Pry (what was at the time) enough money to fund the third highest paid staff in the ACC, but didn't give it to Fuente.
I don't know how much of a blocker this is...
Everything I have heard out of the athletic department rumor mill was he is gone if he doesn't win 7. That was from before the pitch, and I don't realistically think anything has changed.
That's very interesting. I also think this weekend is a must win, currently winless against non-con P4 teams. That will be pretty damaging if he can't beat Vandy at home.
It would be our first non-conference P4 win in Lane since Nebraska in 2009.
And we wonder why the home atmosphere has sucked so much
That stat is bad, but also only includes 5 teams (that I can tell):
Not good, but not as dire if one says, "we lost six games"
Thanks for clarifying that. I have been wondering how many games we were actually talking about.
If we are at a spot where we need to clean house, I'd rather do it with a new staff coming in with a completely clean slate, and a pile of money on hand to build out the staff and recruiting as he sees fit. And this time, we might actually have the budget to bring in someone who has a proven track record in building something up that can work.
That is at bare minimum doubling our coaching budget and maybe even hire to lure coaches away.
Bottom line and there is no need to discuss the particulars as to why....
We need to beat Vandy....period.
End of discussion.
This!!^^^ 1000%
Pavia has a noodle arm. Watching in the stadium last year and it took everything he had to get the ball 30 yards down field with some zip. Single high and robber coverage to keep everything in front of you and stop the scrambles within 3 yards of the LoS.
Bear front like we used vs. JT Barrett in 2014, we def have the personnel for it.
This is what LSU and I think Arkansas did and it did not go well for Vandy
I have a good bit of faith that Siefkes will give Pavia a lot of trouble. I do not have a ton of faith however that our offense with Drones can score a touchdown.
3-0 Final Score. 3OT.
7-0
2 safeties and a field goal
real iowa hours
In three OTs the score would actually be 2-0
And the one score would be a pick six.
With the current trend Vandy will return kickoff to the house and pick 6 off drones to win 14-6
So you're saying Drones throws his first touchdown of the year!?
OMG so cold.
still counts
This is pretty much down to 1 or 1.5 everywhere now. I like VT in this matchup so maybe I'll let the people keep giving me more points.
Siefkes will absolutely destroy Pavia. We will intercept him so frequently they go to a complete run game and then the D will line up with the 2 high safeties and make them guess which one will charge back into the box. Negative offensive yards for Vandy in Q2 so our offense has a very short field.
Even if we get no yards on a series, we have at minimum long FG attempts.
We get so many FG attempts that Love starts to get a tired leg.
I want to believe - but one game with Siefkes is not enough to make me a believer ... yet.
I heard that the Vandy's offensive strength is in their wide receiver corps (not sure if that is valid assessment), and you know that our defensive backs are not the strength of our defense.
Pavia might actually be older than Siefkes. Nobody fact check that
Dunno about that, but I know both his brothers got arrested Saturday night.
same thing happened with the white trash qb for k state's family in Ireland too I think
KState QB's brother and dad got into a dustup WITH EACHOTHER after the game... absolutely hilarious.
However, can't really call them white trash since the dad isn't white.
Trash is trash, regardless of the color of it.
We need to use this to get between his ears. Twitter, Game Day signs, stadium signs (is that still allowed?), chirps from the stands and field.
Pavia lives for that kinda banter I'm pretty sure its what fuels him. He will literally go out of his way to make controversy for fuel
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We can reverse psychology and hit him with the: "YOUR BROTHERS ARE PERFECT LITTLE ANGELS AND FOLLOWERS OF THE LAW!" shouts.
Don't we have the Laws on our side?
M.O.O.N that spells Pavia
12-1 Baby
Between this and your above comment, I would really like some of what you're drinking / brewing.
Though I am pretty confident Vandy won't move the ball very well on Saturday too, just not to the point of negative yards
For 1 quarter. Our DC will adjust faster than their OC can counter. 2 drives with some slight negative yards from a couple sacks if we don't intercept him too fast that Q. Halftime their offense will adjust.
The Hokie world needs more dreamers! Dreaming is a coping mechanism for the harsh realities of late, right?
I'm ready for us to play above our ability for once and kick the shit out of somebody we're not expected to. We're not a great team but neither is Vandy. Pavia is a known quantity and we need to take away what makes him successful. We need this win and we can get it.
Who's going to the game? Anything happening in Lot 18?
I'll be there-planning on arriving 6am or earlier...despite the night time kickoff. Did it last year for several games and beat the Corp guys that monitor the entrance there lol.
I'll be there mid-afternoon.
Maybe Lot 18, if my pass gets here in time. FedEx said it was in Fredericksburg yesterday and would be delivered to Nova today. Then overnight it ended up in Memphis - with delivery now expected by tomorrow night. Leaving for the burg Friday morning with or without it.
Weird aside I also am tracking a package (usps) that went Denver -> Charlotte -> Charleston SC -> Dulles VA. I live an hour outside of Charleston.
I've had multiple packages being delivered by USPS that the tracking shows them arriving from (insert random source city) to the 'Richmond Distribution facility" then be sent to Tidewater area then BACK to Richmond post office then to my house. Richmond of course has been in the news a lot lately for crap postal service and lost
mail. Have had things take 9 days to go from on e place in town to another.
They might be apocryphal but there have been rumors that on Friday afternoons when faced with deadline to "finish a batch of mail" that workers at the main Richmond post office would simply dump the whole batch onto an outgoing mail truck to "insert random city"..
As someone who has visited the Richmond Main Post Office on Brook Road multiple times, I have zero trouble imagining this scenario based on the level of "service" that I received there. The place should be bulldozed and rebuilt in a safer neighborhood and staffed with people who give a crap about helping their customers. Relocating it over to Jackson Ward near VCU would dramatically improve the situation there.
By "service" do you mean they were giving you the business?
Yupp mine just made it back to Charleston yesterday and is out for delivery as of this morning. There are explanations (ie small packages going cross country loaded on pallet xyz that doesn't get unpacked until DC and then shipped across up/down the coast) but it's still hard to wrap my head around
And they wonder why the usps operates in the red every year...
Since they closed the mail hub in Roanoke, our service has been horrible. It takes two weeks to mail anything. I have literally had a bill delivered after it was already due.
Going to the game, check. Lot 18 probably not. I will wander over from Chicken Hill about 6:45.
Chicken Hill Tailgate for every home game is the constant. VT football team winning and playing well is the variable. Will be there. Go Hokies! We need to win and beat the spread.
We are going to dominate vandy.
Well, we don't win 1-score games. So our only option is to win in a blow out
Well, whatever it takes.
Lol. We went to the complete opposite of this
Well, we got our blowout.
Just wasn't the one we wanted.
At least we didn't pay Vandy to beat us....
Yeah, they didn't mind doing it Home and Away.
Odds for the ODU game- we are faves by 7.5 with o/u of 51.5...discuss! (....ducks)
we haven't scored more than 20 points all year. If we're going to win this game, we'll have to win by holding ODU to 14 points or fewer
I'd hammer the under, for sure. I don't have a lot of confidence that we'll win and cover, though