In one of the biggest games of the weekend, Virginia Tech could not protect home field and the Hokies undefeated start under James Franklin is over.

In a wild back-and-forth affair in Blacksburg, Pittsburgh defeated Virginia Tech 35-33, though Hokies kicker John Love had a chance to win it as time expired, but his kick missed, giving the Panthers a huge win.

Here are our instant takeaways from tonight's loss.

Did John Love really miss the kick?

John Love is one of the best kickers in the country and it looked like nailed the game-winning kick and it seemed like most of the college football world thought that too.

Turnovers killed Virginia Tech

After racing out to a 24-14 lead, Virginia Tech could not stop turning the ball and giving the Panthers favorable field position. Despite out-gaining Pittsburgh 499-295, the Hokies lost this game because of turnovers. A -4 turnover margin is going to give any team a loss in most situations and that is what happened to James Franklin's team.

Ethan Grunkemeyer had by far his sloppiest performance of the season. While there were some excellent throws and plays that showed you why he has real NFL upside, there were several bad throws and recklessness holding the ball in the pocket that led to three turnovers of his own and nearly another on the final drive of the game.

Virginia Tech looked like the better team for large stretches of this game, but they were done in by turnovers.

Quick Start

You could not have imagined a better start for Virginia Tech in this game.

The Hokies scored on their first two offensive drives, and not even five minutes into the game, they led 14-10. A quick 4-play, 75-yard drive got things started, and then after the defense forced a three-and-out, a 6-play, 77-yard drive put Virginia Tech in front and given the atmosphere and the stakes of the game, this looked like a statement that was coming for Virginia Tech.

But that was not the case.

Disaster 3rd Quarter

For as good as the start to the game was for Virginia Tech, things started to spiral quickly from that point.

After going up 14-0, Pitt would proceed to go outscore the Hokies 35-10 to take a 35-24 lead in the fourth quarter and there was no momentum for Virginia Tech, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

In the third quarter, Virginia Tech was outgained 87-27 and fumbles by Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jeffrey Overton Jr set Pitt up in great field position. After all the momentum that they were able to create to start the game, the third quarter decisively went to the Panthers.

Resiliency

After going down 35-24, it looked like Pittsburgh was going to find a way to win the game convincingly. Credit to the Hokies for finding a way to come back and get back in the game.

A safety by the defense cut it to nine and then a quick scoring drive for the offense got the Panthers lead down to two. Virginia Tech held Pitt to 4.8 yards per play and the defense came up with some clutch stops during the game. It was not good enough to win, but it was far from the reason they lost today.

Big picture

This is a big loss when it comes to the ACC Championship picture.

The Hokies have a tougher schedule than the Panthers and now Pittsburgh has the tiebreaker. Virginia Tech still has to navigate matchups against Miami, Clemson, and SMU on the road, not to mention a home game against Virginia. Pitt does travel to Miami in three weeks, but they avoid SMU, Clemson, and Virginia. They have a road trip to Louisville, but that does not look as daunting as it did earlier in the season.

There are still seven games left to play for both teams, but this is a loss that could really hurt Virginia Tech in their quest to make it to Charlotte in Franklin's first season.