The Hokies sure picked the right time to play their most complete game of the
year. A young inexperienced group of players had worked all season to get
better, but they had not put it all together in any one game. It happened on
Saturday. Easily playing their best football of the season, the Hokies rocked
Boston College with a couple of left hooks and a right cross to pull away to a
30-12 victory and their second consecutive ACC Championship. The Hokies will
return to the Orange Bowl with a lot of confidence, a different attitude and the
opportunity to register 10 wins for the fifth season in a row.

Let’s see how they did it.

Two words best describe this game–tough and physical. Apparently, the Boston
College players made some statements during the week that added some fuel to the
Hokie fire. The Tech program prides itself first and foremost on its
toughness–nothing hits the locker room bulletin board quicker than a comment
that challenges that toughness. BC won the physical battles six weeks ago in
Chestnut Hill, but they knew on the second snap of the game in Tampa that last
Saturday would be different. On that play, Ryan Shuman and Sergio Render went
one-on-one against those two BC defensive tackles, BJ Raji and Ron Brace. Shuman
and Render squared them up, pushed both off the line of scrimmage and stayed on
the blocks until Darren Evans was tackled after a four yard gain. It was a
modest play in terms of yardage, but what happened inside set the tone for the
game, especially for the Tech offense.

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