Virginia Tech (6)..... 7 17 28 0 - 52 Virginia.............. 0 0 7 7 - 14 Scoring Summary: 1st Quarter 05:55 VT - Morgan 8 yd pass from Vick (Pace kick) 2nd Quarter 11:31 VT - Brandon Pace 32 yd FG 07:30 VT - Humes 1 yd run (Pace kick) 01:24 VT - Royal 24 yd pass from Vick (Pace kick) 3rd Quarter 11:44 VA - Lundy 9 yd run (Hughes kick) 08:16 VT - Humes 9 yd run (Pace kick) 04:51 VT - Ore 7 yd run (Pace kick) 02:31 VT - Humes 3 yd run (Pace kick) 00:00 VT - Ore 31 yd run (Pace kick) 4th Quarter 08:29 VT - Lundy 11 yd run (Hughes kick)
It’s safe to say that Saturday went about as well as possible for the Virginia Tech football team. After the Hokies smashed archrival Virginia 52-14 in Charlottesville, Georgia Tech pulled a shocking upset of the Miami Hurricanes 14-10 in the Orange Bowl. Tech’s victory and Miami’s loss puts the Hokies one game ahead of the Canes in the ACC standings. If Virginia Tech defeats North Carolina next Saturday in Lane Stadium, they will represent the Coastal Division in the ACC Championship Game.
The Hokies dominated the Cavaliers from start to finish in this contest. Tech jumped out to a 24-0 lead at halftime and led by as much as 52-7 in the second half. The Tech offense racked up 503 total yards, including 333 on the ground. The VT defense did their part as well, limiting Marques Hagans and the UVA offense to just 254 yards. Rover Aaron Rouse intercepted Hagans twice in the second half and defensive end Darryl Tapp had two sacks.
Tech quarterback Marcus Vick rebounded from his dismal performance against Miami with a very efficient day against Virginia. Vick completed 15 of 21 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once late in the game when the outcome was already decided. Vick also had 32 yards rushing on nine carries.
The Hokies did a lot of damage on the ground to the UVA defense in the second half. Billy Hite’s backfield had two running backs gain over 100 yards. Redshirt freshman Branden Ore had 115 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns. Senior tailback Cedric Humes carried the ball 17 times for 113 yards and three touchdowns. Tech inserted r-freshman George Bell on the final drive of the game, and he had 74 yards on 12 carries. As a further demonstration of the dominance of the Hokie offensive line, Virginia recorded just one tackle for loss on the day.
Sophomore wide receiver Josh Morgan led the Hokies in receiving with five receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown. Eddie Royal added three catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. Virginia Tech rarely threw the ball in the second half, preferring to just run out the clock with the running game.
Senior linebacker James Anderson and sophomore linebacker Vince Hall led the Hokies in tackles with ten each. Anderson had one tackle for loss, while Hall had 1.5 tackles for loss. Hall also recorded a sack. Darryl Tapp had six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. The Virginia Tech defense as a whole recorded nine tackles for loss, three sacks and two interceptions.
Recap
After both teams went three and out in their first possession, the Virginia Tech offense took over on their own 22 yard line with 10:55 remaining in the first quarter. Vick began the drive by completing a 14 yard pass to Eddie Royal to give the Hokies a first down. Tech methodically moved the ball downfield, and Vick hooked up with junior wideout David Clowney for a 35 yard gain to the UVA 15 yard line. On third and goal from the eight yard line, Vick found Josh Morgan for a touchdown to put the Hokies up 7-0 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
After stopping Virginia again, the Hokies began another scoring drive that spanned the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter. VT began the drive at their own 23 yard line. Branden Ore had a 19 yard run up the middle to spark the drive, but it stalled after right guard Jason Murphy was flagged for a personal foul penalty. The Hokies were forced to settle for a 32 yard field goal from Brandon Pace, which put Tech up 10-0 with 11:31 remaining in the half.
Later in the quarter, the Hokies caught a lucky break. The Virginia defense forced Tech to punt, and Nic Schmitt booted a 45 yarder to the UVA six yard line. Cavalier tailback Michael Johnson tried to field the punt but dropped it, and it was recovered by Tech�s Roland Minor at the UVA one yard line. The VT offense returned to the field and Cedric Humes promptly carried the ball over the goal line to extend the Hokies’ lead to 17-0 with 7:30 left in the half.
The Virginia offense tried to get something going on their next possession. On the arm of Marques Hagans, the Hoos moved the ball from their own 20 yard line into Virginia Tech territory. A three yard run from Wali Lundy on second and ten took UVA to the Tech 37 yard line, bringing up third and seven. Hagans third down pass to Emmanuel Byers was incomplete, and Al Groh elected to go for it on fourth down. Hagans attempted a pass to Fontel Mines, but it fell incomplete also, ending the Cavalier threat.
The Hokies would make UVA pay for giving them a relatively short field. Vick hit two big pass plays in a 6 play, 62 yard touchdown drive. The first was a 21 yard pass to Josh Morgan to the UVA 25 yard line. Two plays later Vick found Eddie Royal on an out pattern, and Royal broke a tackle and scored from 24 yards out. Brandon Pace added the extra point and Virginia Tech took a 24-0 lead into halftime.
Virginia received the opening kickoff of the second half and attempted to make a rally. Marques Hagans began the drive with a nine yard pass to Emmanuel Byers, and on the next play found Fontel Mines for a 21 yard pass play to Tech 41 yard line. The Hokies only allowed one yard over the next three plays, and once again Al Groh decided to go for it on fourth and nine from the Tech 40 yard line. This time the gamble paid off. Hagans was pressured, but managed to find his way out of trouble and scramble for the first down. Wali Lundy would later score from nine yards out to make the score 24-7 Virginia Tech with 11:44 left in the third quarter.
Any thoughts of a Virginia comeback were erased on the ensuing Virginia Tech possession. Cedric Humes took the handoff on the first play of the drive and rumbled down the right sideline for a 41 yard gain to the UVA 39 yard line. After a nine yard pass to Josh Morgan and a two yard run by Vick, Tech had the ball at the UVA 28 yard line. Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring elected to go with four straight running plays to Cedric Humes, who eventually scored from nine yards out. The Hokies now led 31-7 with 8:16 left in the third quarter, and the rout was on.
On UVA’s next possession, Marques Hagans was intercepted by Virginia Tech’s Aaron Rouse, who returned the pick all the way to the Cavalier 32 yard line. Six plays later, Branden Ore found the end zone from seven yards out, making the score 38-7. But Rouse wasn’t done. He intercepted Hagans again on Virginia’s next possesion, and the Hokies got another touchdown off of the turnover when Humes ran it in from the three yard line. The Hokies now led 45-7 with 2:31 left in the third quarter.
After forcing another UVA three and out, the Hokies took over at their own 36 yard line. On the first play of the drive, Branden Ore ran 22 yards to the UVA 42. Three plays later he scored from 31 yards out on a run around the right side. Ore carried the ball on all four plays of the driving, gaining 64 yards and scoring a touchdown. With Ore’s touchdown, the Hokies were done scoring for the day, taking a 52-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Wali Lundy would add an 11 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, creating the final score of 52-14.
With the victory, the Hokies move to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the ACC. With a victory over UNC next week, Tech will clinch a spot in the ACC Championship Game on December 3. A victory over the Tar Heels would also give Virginia Tech their seventh 10-win season since 1995.
STATISTICS
VT UVA
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First downs 26 17
Rushed-yards 55-333 30-114
Passing yards 170 140
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 3-10
Return yard 15 89
Passes 15-21-1 17-30-2
Punts 4-36.5 4-45.2
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-49 1-7
Time of possession 38:23 21:37
Att: 63,344
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Virginia Tech, Ore 15-115, Humes 17-113,
Bell 12-74, Vick 9-32, Hyman 1-1. UVA, Lundy 15-67,
Snelling 6-28, Hagans 9-19.
PASSING-Virginia Tech, Vick 15-21-170-1.
UVA, Hagans 17-30-140-2.
RECEIVING-Virginia Tech, Morgan 5-56, Royal 3-47,
Clowney 3-42, Trott 2-10, Ore 1-10, Humes 1-5.
UVA, Byers 5-54, Snelling 4-26, Mines 3-40, Lundy 3-10,
Williams 2-10.
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