Losing to a Liberty team that, though ranked, barely managed to edge out teams like FIU and Western Kentucky, is not a good look.  The Flames came into the game 6-0, but those wins came against opponents who were a combined 4-28 on the season.  It’s also terrible for the fanbase. 

Since 2018, the Hokies have lost to ODU and now Liberty.  We talk a lot about program resources and how they are lacking in comparison to Tech’s Power 5 brethren.  That’s all true.  But no such excuses can be made when you lose 38-35 to Liberty, a team that was FCS the last time the Hokies played them in 2016. 

I said this past week that the Flames hadn’t beaten anybody with a pulse, and I was absolutely right to say it.  But here’s the sad part…sometimes the Hokies don’t appear to have a pulse, either.  They certainly do at times.  They were impressive against NC State.  They played well for most of the Louisville game.  They didn’t have enough defensive players to have a chance to beat UNC.  But other times, they just don’t have the juice.

I guess that’s what is so frustrating: the maddening inconsistency.  Of course, almost everybody is inconsistent these days.  At the time I’m writing this Saturday night, Penn State is losing to Maryland 35-13, and Mike Locksley is about to pick up the eighth win of his coaching career to run his record to a not-so-impressive 8-41.  And somehow Penn State is losing to him by a whole lot of points.  And just think, in recruiting discussions over the past few years, we wanted all of those PSU players…and now those players are about to be 0-3.  Crazy.

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