Greg McElroy predicts whether Virginia Tech can bounce back this season

Virginia Tech has disappointed during the tenure, especially last season, under Brent Pry. However, year four for Pry could be one where the Hokies are at least pesky overall.

Greg McElroy tiered the Atlantic Coast Conference last week in an episode of ‘Always College Football’. VT found itself in tier three for ‘spoilers’, alongside Pittsburgh, Duke, NC State, and North Carolina, as a team that could cause issues for their opponents over their dozen-game slate.

“I think this is a team that can be problematic,” said McElroy. “The problem is, last year, we had high hopes and expectations and they just did not get off to a great start.”

The main reasoning for that was the Hokies’ offense. That’s with OC Phillip Montgomery coming in for his first season while QB Kyron Drones is coming back for a third season as their starting quarterback.

“They bring in a new offensive coordinator in Phillip Montgomery, who’s been around a long time. Dating back to his time at Baylor, he was with RGIII at Baylor. So, he’s been around the game, he knows the game, and he knows how to score points. This new leadership should hopefully bring some new perspective to an offense that, at times, was very up and down,” said McElroy. “Kyron Drones? It’s his third year as a starting quarterback. There have been some really positive moments. Down the stretch of 2023, he was playing fantastic. Got to be healthy, naturally, but his running ability allows him to be dynamic. Now it’s about being a little bit more methodical, a little better situationally. If he could take those strides, you got to feel good about what they might be able to do.”

That said, for those pros offensively, McElroy has as many cons overall. That’s with a whole lot of turnover in general with new coordinators on both sides of the ball and an all-new lineup of names at offensive live, in the receiving corp, and around the defense.

“There are a couple concerns,” said McElroy. “The offensive line lost all five starters from last year, some by way of transfers…They’ve got to be more consistent at wide receiver. That’s been a group that’s turned over a lot as well. And, if you look too, defensively? New coordinator coming in. You got some key returners but there’s a bit of a rebuild because there’s only two guys that started last year that are going to be starting again this season.”

Still, McElroy wonders if Virginia Tech has enough to surprise at least one team in an upset. They’ll have a lot of opportunities to do so too with them opening with South Carolina, hosting Vanderbilt early and then Louisville and Miami late, and going on the road to NC State, Georgia Tech, and Florida State.

“You get South Carolina, neutral site. That’s in Atlanta. That’s week one. They’re at Florida State. Louisville, Miami both come to the land of the Hokies. They also go to NC State and to Georgia Tech,” said McElroy. “You look at the schedule? It’s tough in some spots but also gettable in some spots, especially if they can pull off a big home upset against one of those top-tier teams.”

At 16-21 (.432) following last season where they underachieved, Virginia Tech is in need of a good year. Now, if they can just maybe pull an upset or two, the Hokies might have that in 2025.