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Sep 21, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) throws a pass during the third quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech Gets Grim Season Outlook with Latest Week 1 Bowl Projections

Originally posted on Virginia Tech Hokies on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 8:00 AM ET

It is officially game week for the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Virginia Tech is one week away from opening their season against South Carolina in Atlanta and the Hokies are hoping that it results in a huge upset for the program against one of the SEC's top teams.

Entering year four in Blacksburg, head coach Brent Pry is trying to play his way off the hot seat. After coming into the 2024 season with high expectations, the Hokies finished with a 6-7 record, including more abysmal one-score game performances. Virginia Tech saw five players drafted and a number of high-profile players elected to enter the transfer portal. With 30-plus new transfers on the team and two new coordinators, can Pry find a way to work his way off the hot seat this season? Is a bowl game going to be good enough, or will Virginia Tech need to find itself in ACC contention?

No Bowl in Blacksburg?

While a bowl is still the expectation, not everyone believes the Hokies are going to get to the postseason in 2025. In the latest projections from The Athletic's Stewart Mandel and Scott Dochterman, Virginia Tech was not included.

What would that mean for Pry in his fourth season with the program? It would not paint a good picture for the outlook of his tenure.

Pry talked about his belief in this team at ACC Media Days:

"I'm excited and encouraged by the leadership from our players, from our new coordinators, our new strength and conditioning coach. We made some upticks in some really important areas in our program. We needed to have the type of off-season that we're having.

Our roster is deeper. We've had an influx of talented transfers, high school signees, and young men that we've developed in the program over the last couple of years, guys that we've recruited and have been in the system for multiple years.

I'm also excited and encouraged by the type of off-season we've had. When we reflected on the 2024 year, it was evident to me that we needed to be a more mentally and physically tough team. That starts with me, and we've addressed it in each phase of our off-season program, the winter, the spring and the summer."

Season Opener Could Be Telling

Is Virginia Tech closer to the top of the ACC or the bottom? We may find out on Sunday when they face South Carolina in Atlanta.

Of course the obvious headline in this game is going to be South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer coaching against his fathers team. Frank Beamer is the greatest coach in the history of Virginia Tech and there is certain to be a lot of talk in the lead up to this game about his son coaching against the Hokies.

While Virginia Tech is not going to have the same amount of hype that it received ahead of the 2024 season, South Carolina is going to enjoy plenty. The Gamecocks were one of the hottest teams in the country down the stretch of last season and made a case to be in the College Football Playoff at the end. They are going to return quarterback LaNorris Sellers and standout defensive end Dylan Stewart, and may just start the year in the top 10. The Hokies, on the other hand, have been one of the hardest-hit teams when it comes to transfer portal entries, and their roster is going to look a lot different when the two teams kick off the season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. To Brent Pry's credit, he did a solid job of landing talent in the portal after an early mass exodus, but they are going to be the underdog in week one vs South Carolina.

South Carolina leads the all-time series 11-7 between the two teams, but they have not met since 1991. Virginia Tech has not beaten South Carolina since 1974.