The final moments of Virginia Tech’s agonizing loss against Pitt ended in controversy on Friday night. The Hokies were narrowly defeated by the Panthers in a 35-33 loss, ending their unbeaten start to the season. However, kicker John Love had the chance to clinch a dramatic victory for Virginia Tech in the dying seconds of Friday’s game.With just :03 seconds remaining, the fifth-year kicker had a potential game-winning 36-yard field goal. Love and the Hokies fans inside Lane Stadium appeared to believe that he made it but the officials disagreed. The kick sailed higher than the goal posts’ reach making it unclear to viewers if the ball just snuck inside the left post. Virginia Tech kick John Love had a potential game-winning 36-yard field goal on Friday Officials ruled that the fifth-year kicker missed the attempt, sealing the Hokies’ defeat to PittThe fans behind the goal immediately started cheering as Love and his teammates began to celebrate. However, the official below the posts instantly ruled the kick wide left. The field goal was chalked off as a miss, sealing Virginia Tech’s losing fate. Love protested at the time but Hokies head coach James Franklin did not argue the call in his postgame news conference. According to NCAA rules, kicks above the goal post must be fully inside the post to be declared good. Kicks that go higher than the post are also not subject to replay review. There was no conclusive angle shown on the ESPN broadcast from underneath the uprights. Footage of the kick from the TV broadcast and other angles from fan-filmed clips left viewers divided on social media. Many argued that the kick appeared to be good with some even hitting out at the ‘horrible officiating.”By every measure of ‘good’, it’s there. Wild,’ one college football fan wrote on X, as another added: ‘It looked just inside as it went over!!!!”Looked good to me. WOW,’ said a third as another asked, ‘As a neutral, is that not good?!’ The attempt left fans split online as many argued that the kick looked good from certain angles Hokies head coach James Franklin admitted that he was unsure if the kick was good or not’No skin in this game, that looked like a made field goal,’ insisted another. Meanwhile, one questioned: ‘With all the technology in the game, why isn’t there cameras on the ends of the goal posts looking straight up?’ However, others disagreed, claiming that the officials had made the right call. ‘So you can all see better from TV than the official right under the goal post? Nah,’ one user wrote, hitting back at fans arguing that Love made the kick. ‘NO GOOD!!!,’ claimed a second, replying to a video filmed in the stands. ‘kinda looks good, but it would be interesting seeing it from the refs position of ground level, right underneath that goal post, to see if the ball hooked before or after crossing the ‘imaginary’ extended goal post,’ another user said. Pittsburgh trailed 14-0, but scored 21 unanswered points at one point to come from behind and then held on, all despite losing starting quarterback Mason Heintschel to an injury on the fourth play of the second half. Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer throws a pass during the second halfVirginia Tech controlled much of the first half, but the Hokies started unraveling when Cameron Lindsey’s interception of Ethan Grunkemeyer led to a 22-yard touchdown pass from Heintschel to Cataurus Hicks with 31 seconds left in the half, cutting the Virginia Tech lead to 24-21.That was the first of four turnovers for the Hokies, and the Panthers turned those into 14 points.Hokies head coach Franklin admitted following the game that he was unsure if the kick was good or not. ‘To be honest with you, from my angle, I don’t know,’ Franklin told reporters. ‘I think John Love is the best kicker in the country. I had so much confidence that that thing was going to go through. From my angle, I couldn’t tell you one way or another… The end of the day, they said it didn’t go through so everything else, doesn’t really matter a whole lot’