Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene -- and a glimpse at what’s to come next week.
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Hokies have more penalties than points in defeat to Mountaineers
It’s usually a losing formula when you only rush for 35 yards and score just 10 points in a football game.
It’s almost always a losing proposition when you commit more penalties than points scored, and that was the case for Virginia Tech in a 33-10 loss to West Virginia at Lane Stadium on Thursday.
The Hokies committed 15 penalties for a whopping 132 yards, which tied for the second-most in program history.
Even worse, there were 10 different types of penalties committed by Virginia Tech.
It was the second time in four games this year the Hokies have committed at least 15 penalties.
“I think we press and we kind of get out of sorts,” Hokies head coach Brett Pry said of the penalties. “We feel like we got to do things above and beyond. We got to stay in the framework and play with fundamentals and techniques, and be mindful of what we’re doing.”
Virginia Tech will need a couple extra days this week to regroup with the meat of its schedule coming up.
The Hokies play three of their next four games on the road, starting at North Carolina on Saturday.
The only home game in that stretch is against Miami.
Brennan Armstrong continues to struggle
It was another close game for Virginia on Friday, but this time the Cavaliers were on the losing end, falling 22-20 at Syracuse.
Worse is that the puzzling regression of quarterback Brennan Armstrong continued.
Armstrong was average again, going 19-of-38 passing for a touchdown, but he also threw an interception and had a fumble.
After throwing for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns last year, Armstrong has thrown for 848 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions this year.
There’s still plenty of time for him to bounce back and be the player many expected, but for the first four games, it’s been odd.
Commanders feel lots of “Hurts” in loss to Eagles
Washington hoped to send a statement that it will be a team to contend with in the NFC East this year on Sunday, but instead got hurt by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and a relentless Philadelphia pass rush in a 24-8 loss.
While Hurts passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns, the Commanders’ offensive line had serious issues protecting quarterback Carson Wentz, who was sacked a whopping nine times.
Not only is Wentz getting punished, but Washington’s leading rusher, Antonio Gibson, has only 86 yards rushing total in three games so far this year.
If this continues, Washington will no doubt be looking for offensive line help in the draft and free agency over the offseason.