Hobbled by a low hit just before halftime, Hokies quarterback Grant Wells couldn’t move well or step into his throws with much oomph as Saturday’s game against Purdue dragged on in Lane Stadium.

Five straight drives with zero points finally prompted the Virginia Tech coaches to make a switch they’d discussed throughout the half, handing the reins to Kyron Drones for his first full drive this season at the worst time possible: down by seven, 91 yards from the end zone and with just 2½ minutes on the clock.

Not surprisingly, Virginia Tech’s last-ditch drive ended like most of its late-game possessions in a 24-17 weather-delayed loss to Purdue, with a few modest gains but ultimately not enough to score points in what turned out to be a scoreless second half.

Four straight Drones incompletions from the Boilermakers 42-yard-line, including a fourth-and-10 go route to Da’Quan Felton up the sideline that was knocked away, all but ended the Hokies’ hopes in a game that took more than eight-and-a-half hours to finish and renewed questions about Tech’s work-in-progress offense.

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