Virginia Tech Football: 3 takeaways from late Belk Bowl loss to Kentucky

Lynn Bowden and Kentucky snatched away victory from Virginia Tech football in Charlotte. What did we learn from 2019 final Belk Bowl?

This season marks the final year of the Belk Bowl, after nearly a decade of sponsorship by the department store chain. The game has been going strong in Charlotte since 2002, however, and it will remain a critical segment of the postseason calendar in the future under a different name. In this final installment under its current moniker, however, Kentucky came to Bank of America Stadium and scored late to claim a 37-30 victory against Virginia Tech.

It was the kind of game that could go one way or another as the Wildcats found themselves in the red zone in the final minute with a chance to snatch away victory from the jaws of defeat. Grinding down the clock to its conclusion, Mark Stoops’ team took the lead with 15 seconds remaining.

Virginia Tech tried to get in position for a winning field goal. Instead, a fumble on the final play allowed Kentucky to score one final touchdown and stretch out the final margin of victory.

Justin Fuente’s team heads back to Blacksburg after falling to 8-5 to finish the 2019 college football season. Stoops takes his charges back to Lexington after a resilient season finished on an upbeat note as they also end the year with a 8-5 record.

What should we take away from the duel between the Hokies and the Wildcats? Here are three things we learned from this year’s Belk Bowl.