Virginia Tech's quest for the Coastal is seeing rapidly diminishing chances... but the Hokies will take any help they can get.

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Virginia Tech 14, Miami 20

The Hokies' offense was absolutely listless for three quarters... but the defense played well enough to keep Virginia Tech in striking distance.

Unfortunately, they were one stop short against the Canes, with Grant Wells and Malachi Thomas's touchdowns coming just a bit too late. UM converted a late third down with their own quarterback's legs, and that was enough to run out the remainder of the clock.

This week: Virginia Tech bye

The Hokies showed signs against the Canes. Can they use the off week to build upon those?

Listed in approximate order from best-to-worst for the Hokies

West Virginia 43, Baylor 40

Losing to the Mountaineers was painful, but it certainly wasn't an embarrassment. WVU managed a late defensive two-pointer after blocking a Baylor extra point (that would have tied the game!), and VT's non-conference schedule at long last got a little bit of shine.

Old Dominion 49, Coastal Carolina 21

ODU is at the very least proving to be one of the very best teams in the Sun Belt. As with the WVU loss, it doesn't ease the pain much, but it adds some levity to what looked extremely troubling at the time. ODU never trailed - and rarely let the Chanticleers within two scores - in a dominant performance.

Syracuse 24, NC State 9

The Wolfpack will have the same "get right" bye week leading into next Thursday's game, but this was a fairly comprehensive loss. Without quarterback Devin Leary, who will miss the remainder of the season after shoulder surgery, there just was no offense for NCSU. Cuse would score seven on a drive, and the Pack would answer with three, and that's no recipe for winning contests. With the loss, NC State is down two games in the L column and a tiebreaker to two different Atlantic Division teams (Clemson obviously joining Cuse), and that could sap some motivation next week.

Liberty 21, Gardner-Webb 20

"Liberty looks bad but still wins" hits two notes: increasing the Hokies' confidence that they can go to Lynchburg and beat the Flames, while also keeping the Hokies' schedule strength intact. Liberty trailed 20-14 midway through the fourth quarter (after 13 straight GWU points), but scored a touchdown and held on defensively.

Wofford 31, The Citadel 16

Break out the champagne! With a win over The Citadel, Wofford won't challenge to go nearly two years between victories. The Terriers managed to build a 31-7 lead before The Citadel clawed back a little bit at the end (including a field goal just two pretty up the score with under two minutes to play in regulation).

Clemson 34, Florida State 28

If Virginia Tech's season had taken a drastically different shape, "Clemson looks bad but still wins" may very well fall into the same positive bucket as the Liberty result, and for the same reasons. Instead, it's sort of nice to see FSU lose, and Clemson keep the ACC in a national spotlight.

Duke 35, North Carolina 38

The one legitimately "bad" result for Virginia Tech this week, North Carolina remained unbeaten in the ACC, giving the Heels a three-game advantage in the loss column over Virginia Tech in addition to the head-to-head tiebreaker. (Which is to say: even a perfect finish for the Hokies would see a Coastal title extremely unlikely). The teams traded blows, but two early-fourth-quarter touchdowns by Duke were rendered irrelevant with a last-minute touchdown for UNC to retake the lead and the win.