Virginia Tech football: Penn State flips 2025 WR commit Matthew Outten

It’s been a tough 48 hours for the Virginia Tech football team and head coach Brent Pry. On Saturday, the Hokies lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Vanderbilt Commodores. The result was disappointing, considering the hype and excitement that has followed the Hokies throughout the offseason.

On Monday, Pry and the Hokies received more bad news. Four-star wide receiver Matthew Outten, who initially committed to Virginia Tech earlier this summer, flipped his commitment to Penn State. The Norcom High School (Portsmouth, Va.) product was one of the three four-star wide receivers committed to Tech in the 2025 recruiting class.

It’s easy for fans to think that losing to Vandy while Penn State dominated West Virginia helped flip this commitment to the Nittany Lions, but PSU never stopped working on Outten. Pry’s former boss, James Franklin, has been working on Outten since June and was finally successful.

I guess Outten wasn’t “1000% committed” after all, as he said on X after his commitment to the Hokies.

You can’t blame Outten for choosing Penn State over Virginia Tech right now. The schools are at different places right now. Last weekend’s results likely played no part in his change of mind.

It’s a bad look for the Hokies: Another top prospect from inside Virginia choosing to leave the state. Outten is a terrific prospect. If there is any silver lining in losing Outten’s commitment, the Hokies still have two four-stars (Micah Matthews and Snoop Peterkin) committed. Don’t forget, the Hokies also have a couple of terrific freshmen receivers currently on the team, Brodie Adams and Chanz Wiggins. It still stings, though.

The Hokies look to get back on track when they host Marshall this weekend.