MONDAY HUDDLE: Did 'prevent' defense cost Virginia Tech win at Notre Dame?

Here are three takeaways from this past weekend's football action around the state.

Were the Hokies too passive? 

The old saying that the only thing a 'prevent' defense does is prevent you from winning might have rung true for Virginia Tech on Saturday at Notre Dame.

Leading Notre Dame 20-14, Virginia Tech punter John Parker Romo hit a beautiful punt that went out of bounds at the Notre Dame 13-yard line, forcing the Fighting Irish to go 87 yards in 3:22 with only one timeout.

Notre Dame ended up doing just that, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds left thanks in large part to the Hokies deploying just a three-man rush throughout the drive. 

Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book had plenty of time on each play, and the eight defenders Virginia Tech dropped into coverage still couldn't prevent Notre Dame wideout Chase Claypool from being wide open for a 26-yard completion on 4th-and-10 that moved the ball to the Virginia Tech 7-yard line. 

Book eventually scored on a quarterback draw and Notre Dame kicked the extra point to hand the Hokies a bitter loss, one that might have been avoided had the Hokies not played it so safe on defense. 

Virginia in driver's seat for Charlotte

Virginia certainly picked a great time to overcome its struggles on the road, earning a colossal 38-31 win at North Carolina that put the Cavaliers in terrific position to make it to Charlotte for the ACC championship game.

The Cavaliers are on top of the ACC Coastal with a 4-2 record, and have the tiebreaker against second-place Pittsburgh, which is 3-2. 

Virginia also doesn't have a road game the rest of the year and will see last-place Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech come to Charlottesville to finish out the league portion of the schedule. 

Virginia Tech is 2-2 and is the only other team that controls its destiny besides Virginia, but the Hokies still have to play No. 22 Wake Forest and Pittsburgh in addition to Georgia Tech and Virginia. 

Virginia has never made it to the ACC title game, but it's looking more and more like Cavalier fans will need to start booking rooms around the Charlotte area in early December. 

Floyd County knocks off unbeaten squad

Floyd County closed out its regular season in the best way possible, knocking Radford from the list of unbeaten teams with a 14-12 triumph. 

Tyler Fenton was the hero for Floyd County, catching seven passes for 186 yards and both touchdowns. 

Floyd County improved to 6-4 on the year, while Radford is now 8-1.