Virginia Tech Runs All Over No. 23 Tulane In Military Bowl Win

By: David Cunningham | Managing Editor

Kyron Drones and Virginia Tech ran for their most yards of the season against No. 23 Tulane on Wednesday. (Ivan Morozov)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — In a game that featured eight fumbles, Virginia Tech held on to the ball long enough in its 41-20 win over No. 23 Tulane in the 2023 Military Bowl in a steady downpour at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

In head coach Brent Pry’s second year, the Hokies (7-6, 5-3 ACC) won their first bowl game since 2016. It’s the first time since 2015, the final season under hall-of-fame head coach Frank Beamer, that Tech won its final two games.

In wet conditions, the Hokies controlled the clock against the Green Wave (11-3) by moving the ball on the ground. They amassed a season-high 362 rushing yards, the majority of which came from quarterback and game MVP Kyron Drones (176) and running back Bhayshul Tuten (136). They’re the first Tech duo to rush for 100 yards since Braxton Burmeister and Raheem Blackshear did so at Virginia in 2021.

The first score came from Tulane, though, when Drones fumbled on third-and-10 on Tech’s first drive of the game. Linebacker Tyler Grubbs scooped it up at the Hokies 21 and returned it to the house, giving the Green Wave an early lead.

The Hokies responded, however. John Love converted a 35-yard field goal on the next possession, one of his two on the day (he ended the season with 15 straight makes), and Drones had an 11-yard rushing touchdown as the first quarter winded down to give Tech the lead. The play was reviewed because the ball came out as he crossed the plane, but the officials stood by their original call of a Drones touchdown.

After Valentino Ambrosio converted a 49-yard field goal with 4:10 remaining in the second quarter, tying the game at 10, the Hokies ripped off an 11-play drive in four-and-a-half minutes, capped off by a one-yard pass from Drones to tight end Harrison Saint Germain — his first career touchdown — with eight seconds left in the half.

Virginia Tech wide receiver Jaylin Lane fumbled on the second play of the second half, which the Green Wave recovered. Kai Horton, who saw the majority of snaps at quarterback for Tulane after Justin Ibieta left the game with an injury, leveled things with a six-yard scamper to make it 17-all.

The tide soon turned for good in the Hokies’ direction, though. They outscored Tulane 24-3 after that.

Tuten had a 9-yard rushing touchdown before Love knocked through his second field goal of the day.

Drones hit Benji Gosnell for a 10-yard strike with 12:38 remaining, the second tight end to score for Tech, and Tuten capped it off with another touchdown, this time from 12 yards out.

Squeezed in between all of that was a 20-yard field goal from Tulane’s Ambrosio, the team’s lone response.

Virginia Tech posted 453 yards of total offense, averaged 6.4 yards per play, 7.2 yards per carry and scored in all seven red-zone trips. In addition, it held the ball for 33:09. It was also the fourth straight game the Hokies held an opponent below 200 rushing yards. Tulane picked up 133 yards on 33 attempts (4.0).

Box Score: Virginia Tech 41, No. 23 Tulane 20 

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  1. I’m with you Lance all the way. I still objectively question Coaching staff judgement a bit….why didnt our staff see and decide that Drones was clearly the better QB over Wells. The fanbase knew and saw it. It took injury and no other option for them to realize what they had and to commit and sculpt our offense a different but better way to use the RPO. Without the injury I think our Coach and Staff might not have made any corrections until our 6 or 8th straight loss purely out of loyalty to Wells? That is Very scary. Glad we avoided that multiverse scenario. Looking VERY forward to next year!

    1. There’s plenty of reasons to question our Coaching staff. My guess however, is that based on the system we’d been running in the early part of the season, a more pass dependent offense, it’s hard to argue that Drones was the better fit for that system. In fact, I honestly think Wells would look improved in our new offense. He’s quicker than Drones and a more accurate passer so the offense could actually show more explosiveness.

      I’ll give the edge to Drones however on the basis that he’s younger, therefore higher upside, more durable, and most importantly he doesn’t turn the ball over nearly as often; which is critical for a ground focused ball control offense.

    2. Wells started out the year very well and until Jennings went down, the offense looked much improved over last year. It took a little longer for Lane and Felton to work into rhythm and Wells habit of holding it too long in the pocket showed up again. Once he got hurt it made it easy to start the transition a little earlier to Drones. He’s got a great future but still needs to work on his delivery and accuracy. If Jennings stayed healthy, Wells might have had a much better last year here at Tech.

    3. we had a returning QB who played pretty well with a sub-par group of skill players. we had just added a bunch of good WR and a good RB… and Wells was probably executing well in practice. It all added up to build with the returning QB and prep Drones to take over in 2024

  3. Felt great! The Offense continued their recent run of scoring 30 or almost 30 (28 vs. NC State) in most games.

    I wish Grant Wells all the best. However, I think we have found our QB!

    I already look forward to 2024!

  4. -well executed, awesome result with inky game on at the time
    -GREAT turnout, making it a home game
    -compliments and accolades from the announcing crew over and over
    -defense looked complimentary with the offense

    EXCELLENT audition for the Big10/SEC once they blow up the ACC!

    1. Good point- whether or not the ACC ends tech needs to solidify its marketability. Team performance is key but also fan commitment. Looking good.

      1. What makes you think FSU did not get into the playoffs because they are from the ACC? I don’t believe that was the case. I think it was more of the committee wanted Alabama in, and did not care who got displaced. Especially since next year 12 teams will be selected.

    2. You are thinking the right way. Tech…whether we or the university has recognized it or not is auditioning. We need to keep winning and increasing our Football Brand and Football value because the ACC is likely over. The Playoff Committee has started the countdown clock on the ACC. But dont ignore the BIG 12.
      Something tells me we could be a better fit in the BIG 12 the BIG 10. Juat wish the ACC Commission, Presidents, and ADs could have been less conservative or more progressively forward thinking so our league and our traditions could have been protected and preserved from harm. They have failed the ACC fan base.

  7. Hey .. are the Cheeto-encrusted dolts still calling for Whit and Bowen to be fired post season?!?!?
    Bahahahahahahahahaha.
    Sorry, but the nuts who’ve been calling for heads for 16+ months now should actually BURY THEIRS. For good.
    This last 2 seasons are a testament to patience, building culture, letting coaches coach and tuning out the noise. Here’s what we know from alllllllllllll the bogus posts here and elsewhere:
    – Brent Pry can sell the hell outta’ Hokie football, build culture, recruit and coach.
    – Bowen CAN scheme, game plan and call a good to great game in real time. Dare I say we could have a dangerous O next year.
    – Whit was, is and will continue to be one of the top 15 AD’s in the country.

    4. Don’t get too comfortable, some people are never happy and once we have a bad game or something to complain about they’ll be back.

    5. Phoenixhokie why don’t you drop it already? You do this after every W. Instead of cheering all the great improvement we saw over the season you can only fire shots at those who aren’t as optimistic as you are. It doesn’t mean they want Tech to fail. Pretty sure everyone is happy with the outcome of this season. Go Hokies!

    6. See this is why it is always fun to be a Hokie fan. It takes only a glimmer of hope to peak excitement; and condescension.

      If we review the facts closely, we didn’t actually beat a single team with a winning record during the regular season; period. Our best case for proof of concept is a win against a gutted Tulane team who’d previously beat who? (I’ll wait).

      Did we make progress? Yes. What happened in the latter part of the season is we stopped getting worse. As for next year, with a loaded schedule full of FCS opponents and weak ACC teams, the question will still remain if we’re becoming a quality football program unless we beat Clemson and or notch 10 wins.

      As mentioned in another reply, enjoy the win. And nothing wrong with optimism, just saying that we are far from concluding on the system and the regime that will return our Hokies to national relevance (assuming that’s still the target).

      1. WOW … can some one give Hokie Truth a happy pill. He needs to calm down. A cardiologist once told me that when you get angry your blood pressure goes up, and blood is pumped into the wall of your heart. When that happens the blood turns into scar tissue, And, ultimately a heart chamber explodes.

        Live long and prosper Hokie Truth.

        2. I think we just have a slightly different perspective on how to help the team. A coach once told me, “you only have fun when you win”. I think this is true for most people.

          I’m sorry about what happened to your father. And thank you for the well wishes.

  8. Bravo Hokies!! What a great way to end the season. We have a lot of good momentum to carry into the offseason! As ugly as the weather was, the announcers couldn’t say enough nice things about the Hokies AND the fact that our fans turned the game into a home game for Tech!

    If anybody other than Hokies watched this, they saw that we looked DAMN good in all aspects..play, coaching and play calling (under the circumstances) and the crowd…All in all, a DAMN good day for Virginia Tech!

  9. It takes a total team effort to win a game like this…but I’m especially thankful and proud of those guys, who were riding the fence, decided to stay at Tech.

    2. I’ve loved the playcalls the last part of the season but, a backwards pass in a downpour? A pass in the redzone on 3rd and 5 when your running game is lights out….and a downpour? Still got it done.

    3. I mean, you say that like he was coaching well at the beginning of the season lol…the calls for him to be fired were after 3 straight games (and a whole season before that) of terrible offensive scheming and play design. Of course the calls for him to be fired quieted down – his scheme completely shifted for the better and he started actually doing his job well.

        1. Ditto and ditto, still wonder a little about the judgement and consistency. Let’s not get the checkbook and contract extensions out yet. Need to see more consistency. Sure looking forward to next season.

    4. Bowen was saved when Pry gave more responsibility to Davis so pat yourself on the back elsewhere and enjoy the win here.

  13. The rebuild is in full swing!!! Lots of positive momentum heading into next season!!!😃👍

    1. #12 Stephen Gosnell. Hope not a serious knee injury. Hurt early in game and never rerturned.

      Good team win and “building block” for 2024.

    2. A great ending to a season highlighted by growth. We saw Drones and Tuten grow into themselves. The O-line grew into themselves. The Offensive Coordinator grew into himself. The Hokie Defense grew into themselves. Identities were established. Hokie football’s running philosophy was established. All-in-all, this season was a giant step forward! Go Hokies! And, David, keep up the great work!

  21. It’s so good to finally close out a season on a winning note, improving every game down the stretch. The future looks pretty darn good,

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