The team was emotionally and physically unprepared to play that game. I think it destroyed the confidence of the players, both in their own abilities and in their coaches. Yes, I know F$U ended up being not very good last year, but we still played well in that game and did exactly what you would want to see vs. a FCS team in the followup. After two games, VT football was exactly where we would want it to be, and I along with most of Hokie Nation was eagerly awaiting what looked like a battle of top 10 teams vs. ND. Then ODU happened, we lost our starting QB, lost our best defensive player, started the transfer portal exodus, and the program has never recovered. And IMHO never will under the current leadership.