I gotta admit, at halftime I had flashbacks of another close game against a
big underdog from Ohio and the MAC. In 1997, Miami (OH) came into Lane Stadium
and knocked off the undefeated Hokies, setting the stage for a late year
collapse that ended with a blowout loss to UNC in the Gator Bowl.

But that Tech team didn’t have this defense. And that team didn’t have Tyrod
Taylor. The true freshman QB impressed, made big plays, and showed everyone why
there has been a buzz around Blacksburg since the first day he stepped on
campus. So after bumbling along a bit in the first half, the Hokies put it all
together in a dominating second half to pull away from the Ohio Bobcats 28-7,
giving Frank Beamer his 200th career victory.

Much of this analysis will focus on Taylor’s first start at QB and some of
the new things we saw out of the offense. But I can’t ignore the rebound
performance from the defense. It was the fast, suffocating defense that we have
seen so often over the years. There are a couple of things that need to develop
further, but the defense appears to be back on track.

More on that in a bit. First, the offense.

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