Virginia Tech unleashed a fury of Beamerball on Appalachian State, overwhelmed the Mountaineers with an avalanche of big plays early in the game and coasted to an easy 66-13 victory. The Hokies are 1-0 for the first time since 2007, and they’ll head to East Carolina next weekend to try and make it 2-0 for the first time since 2006.
David Wilson got the party started early, scoring on a 20 yard touchdown run on Virginia Tech’s first offensive play from scrimmage. Tech got the ball on the Appalachian State 20 after Antone Exum recovered a botched handoff on a read option that was fumbled away by the Mountaineers.
It was a big day for Wilson, who scored three touchdowns. He later had scoring runs of 19 yards and three yards, and finished with 16 carries for 162 yards for the game. He was fast, explosive, and difficult to tackle, as expected. Josh Oglesby added 46 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, and Tech rushed for 256 yards as a team.
Logan Thomas was hit or miss in the passing game, completing 9-of-19 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He threw a touchdown passes to tight end Randall Dunn and wide receiver Jarrett Boykin. Thomas also had several passes dropped by receivers, including a deep ball to Marcus Davis that likely would have gone for a touchdown.
Davis made up for that drop, catching three passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He caught touchdown passes of 22 yards and 63 yards from r-freshman quarterback Mark Leal. Leal was very sharp as Tech’s #2 quarterback, going 6-of-9 for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He also had one pass dropped that would have gone for a first down.
Overall, the Tech offense racked up 518 yards of total offense, a solid day at the office, especially considering the passing game wasn’t in sync.
They were aided by a Tech defense that forced four turnovers, including three interceptions. Jeron Gouveia-Winslow, Eddie Whitley and Derek DiNardo all intercepted passes for the Hokies.
Tech limited Appalachian State to 297 yards of total offense, and well over half of that came against the backup defense late in the game. The Hokies smothered All-American quarterback DeAndre Presley, who went just 7-of-18 for 89 yards, with two interceptions. James Gayle had a sack for the Hokies, and Bud Foster’s starting unit looks very fast.
Special teams did their part as well, as Jayron Hosley had a 55 yard punt return that set up a Tech touchdown, while Tony Gregory blocked a punt that was recovered in the endzone by Kyle Fuller for a touchdown.
Thanks to the avalanche of offense, defense and special teams, the Hokies held a 38-0 halftime lead, and were up by as much as 52-0 in the second half before the starters gave way to the backups.
Tech returns to action next Saturday when they travel to East Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30pm, and the game will be televised by FSN. Check your local listings for TV coverage in your area.
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