Virginia Tech walked out of Berkeley with another close loss, and James Franklin didn’t try to dress it up.
The Hokies fell 25-20 to California on Saturday after letting a late lead slip away, and Franklin’s postgame message centered on the same theme that has defined back-to-back defeats: enough good moments to stay in it, not enough clean execution to finish it.
“Obviously I thought our guys battled their tails off all the way to the end,” Franklin said. “But at the end of the day, you know, we did not play well enough to get a win on the road in the ACC and we got to get things cleaned up.”
That frustration has now followed Virginia Tech through two straight losses by a combined seven points, including the 35-33 defeat to Pitt on Oct. 2. Franklin pointed to the small margins that keep tilting the wrong way.
“There’s critical moments and critical plays that we’re not maximizing and ultimately that’s my responsibility to get it fixed,” Franklin said.
The Hokies were hurt by penalties at exactly the wrong time. Virginia Tech was flagged seven times for 88 yards, while California had 10 penalties for 99 yards, but the Hokies’ most damaging mistakes came on the Golden Bears’ game-winning possession. Linebacker Kaleb Spencer was called for roughing the passer and cornerback Cam Chadwick Jr. was flagged for pass interference, turning California’s drive from its own 37 to Virginia Tech’s 33.
“We have opportunities to get off the field,” Franklin said. “And we get penalties. We actually had less penalties than they did today, but they came up at critical moments.”
The defense also came up empty again when it came to turnovers. Virginia Tech has now gone four straight games without forcing one, and Franklin made clear that has to change.
“We got opportunities for turnovers and we don’t make them,” Franklin said. “And we got to play the ball in the air. When the ball’s in the air, we got to have the confidence to play the ball in the air.”
He added that making a real play on the football can help defensive backs stay out of trouble while also creating takeaways.
“If there is contact and it also is going to give you an opportunity to get some turnovers, which we’re not getting right now,” Franklin said.
Virginia Tech’s final shot came after California moved deep into Hokies territory. Franklin said the defense was instructed to let the Golden Bears score so the offense could have enough time for a comeback. California running back Ashten Emory finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run and 18 seconds left.
“We made a surrender call there at the end there,” Franklin said. “We needed to let them score.”
He explained the reasoning more fully afterward.
“The only chance we had at that point was to let them score and for us to get the ball back with as much time on the clock as possible,” Franklin said. “Because if we would have if they would have took more time off the clock and we would have stopped them, then we would have had no chance to go win it at the end.”
That last possession did get Virginia Tech moving. From California’s 7-yard line, Grunkemeyer completed back-to-back passes of 18 and 20 yards to wide receiver Marlion Jackson, setting up one final chance. The Hokies then tried to hit tight end Luke Reynolds in the end zone as time expired, but the pass fell incomplete through contact and no flag came out.
“As you guys know, I don’t officiate and I don’t have comments about officiating,” Franklin said. “There’s very strict rules about that. My job is to coach our team and get us to execute on offense, defense, and special teams.”
Franklin did, however, say the game should have been called more consistently.
“But things should be called consistently on both sides,” Franklin said. “We did not play the ball in the air enough with our defense at critical moments and it cost us and it should be evaluated for both teams the exact same way, especially in critical moments.”
Special teams also became part of the story. Fifth-year kicker John Love missed both of his field goal tries, pushing wide from 55 yards in the first quarter and again from 39 yards in the fourth.
The second miss came after a false start by left guard Michael Troutman III on fourth-and-1 from California’s 16, which moved the kick back and took away a chance to extend the drive. Per Tech Sideline’s David Cunningham, it was the first time in Love’s career that he has missed three straight field goals.
Franklin stood by Love, while also making clear that every spot on the roster has to feel pressure.
“I love John. He’s got a ton of experience,” Franklin said.
“He works his tail off. We need to create competition at every position.”
He expanded on that idea when talking about practice habits and roster pressure.
“Whether it’s snappers, whether it’s kickers, whether it’s punters, whether it’s DBs, whether it’s quarterbacks, you got to create pressure in practice to put them in those moments,” Franklin said.
Franklin stopped short of saying Love would lose the job, but he did say the program needs more competition.
“We’re going to have to create some more competition,” Franklin said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Even with the loss, Franklin singled out the final drive as a positive effort under difficult circumstances.
“To me that was a super impressive drive at the end of the game under very very challenging circumstances,” Franklin said. “And again we had an opportunity to win it at the end, but all that stuff is only remembered if you find a way to get the win.”
Virginia Tech will try to reset at home next Saturday, Oct. 17, when it hosts Georgia Tech for Homecoming at Lane Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
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