Five times in the past – 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2021 – Virginia Tech faced UVa needing a win to become bowl eligible. Each of those games went down to the wire and we got a dramatic finish. Facing the same scenario in 2023, the Hokies didn’t mess around. They steamrolled their in-state rivals in what has to be considered the most satisfying win of the Brent Pry era to date.

When Pry wins, he doesn’t mess around. Outside of last year’s Liberty game, all of his wins have been blowouts. But we haven’t seen anything quite that dominant, though the Syracuse game was close. Not only did Virginia Tech win by 38, but the 55 points it scored was the most ever scored in this rivalry, narrowly topping wins in 2005 and 2016 in which the Hokies scored 52. And they fumbled on the two as well, so it could have been worse.

Last week, I wrote that I was worried that a loss in Charlottesville would undo a lot of the progress made this year in the eyes of the fans. It wasn’t that I thought Tech would lose — I actually felt quite good about the matchups and picked Tech by double digits (albeit barely — I had them winning by 10). Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about. Not only do we not have to worry about it, but we can all bask in the glow of this one for some time. That one was a beauty.

This one reminded me of the 2005 game, which Virginia Tech won 52-14. There was one difference, though. In that 2005 game, the backup offense drove all the way down inside the UVa 10, where it proceeded to take a knee. In 2023, the backup offense drove all the way inside the UVa 10, but there was too much time remaining to start taking knees. So it simply scored a touchdown instead, and there didn’t seem to be a lot the Cavaliers could do about it.

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