Brent Pry explains what led to unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in Duke’s Mayo Bowl

The Duke’s Mayo Bowl has become a fan favorite over the years. However, for Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Brent Pry, there was plenty to be frustrated about as his team lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers and he got tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty along the way.

After the game, Pry met with media members. While speaking to them, he explained that the penalty came from several calls he felt were missed and a desire to fight for everything for his team during the course of a game.

“To me, there were a few minor things early that I thought they missed,” Brent Pry said. “Then, the back-to-back no calls. I didn’t see that. I didn’t understand that. We’re going to fight for every inch we can get. I thought there was a couple of calls missed there.”

At the time, Brent Pry was primarily frustrated with two, apparently, missed defensive pass interference calls and a roughing the passer in the second quarter of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. That’s a total of 45 penalty yards that Virginia Tech missed out on and Pry let the officials know about his thoughts on the play and was animated with them before he earned a 15-yard penalty for himself.

If part of Pry’s goal was to fire up Virginia Tech, it didn’t show up on the scoreboard. The Hokies would go on to lose 24-10. However, their three penalties for 33 yards was a cleaner game than Minnesota’s five penalties for 25 yards. However, that wasn’t enough to overcome getting outgained 403 yards to 223 yards for the game.

With the loss in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Virginia Tech fell to 6-7 on the season having lost four of its final five games. It was a frustrating end to the season and makes for the second losing season in three seasons under Brent Pry. Part of those struggles could have led to the frustration that boiled over for Pry to earn a type of penalty he hasn’t had in a long time.

“It’s been a while,” Pry said. “Been a while. Not proud of it, but we’re going to fight for what we think there.”

Now, Brent Pry will turn his attention to the offseason and getting Virginia Tech prepared for the 2025 season. It’s a season that the Hokies expect to take a step forward in as Pry will be in his fourth season with the program.