Self-Inflicted Wounds Sink Virginia Tech Football in One-Score Loss to Wake Forest
In a game that felt within reach for three quarters, Virginia Tech football couldn’t close the door and seize control. Costly penalties, missed tackles and late breakdowns piled up, and the Hokies watched a winnable matchup slip away in a 30-23 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon.
FINAL.
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) October 4, 2025
🦃 23
🎩 30#ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/88o019XPp5
The defeat — Tech’s (2-4, 1-1 ACC) fourth of the season — leaves the team teetering near the bottom of the ACC standings with a trip to Atlanta against No. 17 Georgia Tech looming next week.
"[The outcome was] disappointing and frustrating, but I was proud of our guys," said Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery. "I thought they played extremely hard. They played with a lot of passion. They played with a lot of effort.
"They were flying around a lot of different scenarios and situations that occurred during the game. I thought they continued to stay together. The way they are playing and the passion that they are playing with, I'm proud of. We've got to eliminate some of the self-inflicted things that we did today. Didn't have a ton of penalties. Our penalties were costly. But those guys are playing really, really hard and so, those are things we can clean up. Those are things that we can get better. But I don't ever question how hard they're playing, how much they're putting into it, how much heart they're playing with. And now, we just got to continue to keep growing and getting better. We got a lot of young guys that are playing. We got some old guys that are playing. We're patching holes where we got to patch holes because injuries happen and we'll continue to do that. But the effort and the attitude and the resiliency that they're playing with right now, I love that part and we'll go back to work and we'll get better because we know we got a tough one again this week."
Despite taking a 14-10 lead midway through the second quarter, Virginia Tech couldn't hang on, surrendering 21 points to the Demon Deacons (3-2, 1-2 ACC). In total, Wake Forest mounted six scoring drives, with four taking under three minutes to conclude.
One occurred on the first drive of the second quarter, fueled by a roughing-the-passer call on defensive end Ben Bell. His penalty extended the drive and resulted in an eventual touchdown for Wake Forest, courtesy of an 11-yard rush from Demon Deacons tailback Demond Claiborne.
Though Tech responded with a 43-yard Terion Stewart rush on the ensuing play and later, a receiving touchdown to wideout Takye Heath, to reassume the lead, 14-10, the Demon Deacons remained in the hunt.
Another self-inflicted and costly mistake occurred when Hokies linebacker Kaleb Spencer was assessed an unnecessary roughness call for contact with Demon Deacons signal-caller Robby Ashford, who tallied 256 passing yards against the Tech. Rather than settling at fourth-and-9, Wake Forest picked up shop on the Hokies' 14-yard line and three plays later, tallied a three-yard rushing touchdown via tailback Ty Clark. The seven-play, 55-yard drive zapped just two minutes and seven seconds off the clock.
“I don’t think that’s a lack of discipline,” Montgomery said. “I think it’s guys flying around, being relentless to the football. We’ve got to be a little bit smarter in those situations.”
It wasn't over yet, however. Right guard Tomas Rimac was assessed a holding penalty that moved Virginia Tech back to first-and-20 with 2:23 left in the second frame. After Stewart rushed for only a one-yard gain, Drones threw an incompletion and a five-yard completion to wideout Isaiah Spencer. On the ensuing play, punter Nick Veltsistas' kick took an awry bounce, settling at the Hokies' own 44.
“When you get into two-minute operations like that, the thing you’ve got to do is pick up the very first first down and you can’t have a negative play or a penalty, and you have to find an explosive play,” Montgomery said. “Found the explosive play on the first one, and yet we took a penalty with it, and now you’re behind the chains and now you’re in a tough look.”
The Demon Deacons thrived in the second quarter, piling on 21 points and 120 passing yards to assume a 24-14 halftime lead.
Though Virginia Tech inched to within four courtesy of a pair John Love field goal — Love now ranks joint-seventh all-time in points totaled — it was unable to get closer than that.
Another self-inflicting play occurred on defense when a pair of illegal formation calls offset and allowed Wake Forest to redo a missed field goal; the Demon Deacons then converted to assume a 27-20 lead.
Perhaps the most deflating sequence of the afternoon came late in the third quarter, when Virginia Tech squandered a golden opportunity to change the game’s momentum. Cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray caught a dipped ball for a crucial interception, giving the Hokies the ball at Wake Forest’s four-yard line.
"Get the ball in the endzone," Brown-Murray said on what his initial reaction was. "When I first called it out, my first thought was, 'I gotta find a way to score.' We didn't. But I was glad that I was able just to switch the momentum for our team."
But instead of capitalizing, the drive unraveled. Two consecutive runs were stuffed at the goal line, leaving Tech just one yard away from a potential tying score. Then, on the ensuing play, wide receiver Donavon Greene was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the whistle, a costly 15-yard penalty that pushed the offense back to the 17-yard line. The self-inflicted setback forced the Hokies to settle for a short field goal instead of taking a chance on fourth down, cutting the deficit to 27-23 and potentially missing a game-changing touchdown.
The sequence perfectly encapsulated Tech’s afternoon: flashes of promise undone by penalties and missed execution in key moments. Wake Forest proceeded to chew time of the clock, zapping off six and a half minutes before Demon Deacons kicker Connor Calvert's field goal attempt was good from 27 yards out.
Then faced with a do-or-die, make-or-break drive, the Hokies broke. Though Drones gained four yards on the first play of the drive, his throw down the middle to tailback P.J. Prioleau was bumbled and dropped, setting up a third-and-6.
On that play, Drones' short right throw to Gosnell was rushed and low, caused by a quarterback hurry from defensive back Karon Prunty. And on the final meaningful play of the game, Drones' last pass was broken up by Nick Andersen for a turnover on downs. Five years ago, back in 2020, Andersen picked off then-Hokies starter Hendon Hooker three times en route to a 23-16 victory over then-No. 19 Virginia Tech in Winston-Salem, South Carolina.
This time, however, Andersen's shining moment came inside Lane Stadium, cementing the Hokies' loss, their first to Wake Forest at home since 1983.
The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for Virginia Tech. The Hokies are favored in just one of their six remaining contests and have now dropped another game in which they entered as the betting favorite. Through six weeks, Tech has covered the spread only once — last week’s win over NC State — and remains winless both at home against the spread (0-4) and against FBS opponents outright (0-3).
Virginia Tech's next contest comes on the road in a week's time, being against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
"That's gonna be a tough opponent," said wide receiver Takye Heath. "But... we know the team we can be week in and week out. We just can't shoot ourselves in the foot... They got a very explosive offense. Quarterback, they got a nice quarterback over there. Got a defense. They run side-to-side very well, but we got the same, as well. So, it's gonna be a game."
The game will take place on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET, with viewing for the game available on the ACC Network.
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Thomas is a sophomore at Virginia Tech majoring in multimedia journalism with a minor in creative writing. He currently works with Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech's student-run newspaper, as a staff writer for its sports section. In addition, he also writes for 3304 Sports as a staff writer and on-air talent, as well as Aspiring Journalists at Virginia Tech as a curator. You can find him on X: @thomashughes_05.