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Box Score | Game Film

Blacksburg, VA — It was no secret that if the Hokies were going to win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, they’d have make a lot of adjustments on both sides of the ball. Well, they did … and it worked. The Hokies forced three Ramblin’ Wreck turnovers and gutted out an impressive 20-17 slobber-knocker against ACC Coastal Division rival Georgia Tech and its triple/speed option offense.

This was more than just a football game, or even a conference game. Saturday’s contest was a watershed game that could either make or break the Hokies entire season. Facing intense fan criticism all week for the offense’s less-than-impressive start, the Hokies were feeling the pressure and said publicly that they needed to respond. It was the first time during Beamer’s 15-year consecutive bowl games/winning season streak that he’s faced this kind of criticism and earlier in the week, he made it clear that he’d had enough.

During the week leading up to Saturday’s game, the Hokies’ practices were much tougher than most. Beamer came down from his tower to personally oversee the offense along side offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, who earlier in the week challenged his offense’s collective manhood and said it was time for the guys that have been here three or four years to start playing like it. Whatever they said or did the last week worked. The Hokies looked like a much improved team on both sides of the ball. That’s not to say there isn’t still room for improvement (Beamer’s words), but the win today was just what this team needed to bolster its wavering confidence.

Breaking Down the Offense

It wasn’t pretty and the numbers aren’t necessarily mind-blowing (247 yards of total offense), but when you figure the Hokies were playing one of the best defensive fronts they’ll likely face all season, the Good Tech’s offense put together a very impressive game.

The Hokies pounded out 199 yards rushing and 48 yards passing. The passing totals might not be impressive, but with the offensive line playing its best game of the year and opening up some big holes, combined with Darren Evans’ power running and Tyrod Taylor’s elusiveness and quick feet, the Hokies didn’t need much out of the passing game.

Evans, a redshirt freshman, rushed for 94 yards on 19 carries and score a touchdown, to lead the Hokies ground game. Taylor (soph.) rushed for 74 yards on 15 carries and a 2-yard TD run. Virginia Tech’s offensive line deserves a lot of credit for their much improved play. Evans had some big runs thanks to some great blocking up front. Also, the o-line did a great job of moving Bad Tech’s defensive lineman where they wanted them to go to open up the holes. It would seem that the o-line is much more comfortable playing with just a dedicated QB in the pocket … or in Tyrod’s case, where ever he decides to run.

A big reason the Hokies won this game was because the offense took care of the ball by not committing a single turnover. It would appear that Bryan Stinespring’s offense made the necessary adjustments to get their game going against a very tough defense.

A couple of quick observations: 1) Although Kenny Lewis, Jr., got the start at RB, Darren Evan got the majority of the work in the backfield and it would appear that the redshirt freshman has emerged as No. 1 tailback. 2) Victor Macho Harris caught one pass for -1 yards. 3) Redshirt senior QB Sean Glennon didn’t play a single snap. He didn’t hold a clip board or call in a single play. He didn’t even seem to be involved in the game plan at all.

Said Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, “Sean Glennon is a good, good quarterback and he’s been a great quarterback for us and a great team player for us. I feel for him. I really feel for him.

“But Tyrod fits where we are as a football team and I’m all about team and how many wins we can get. You have to put those pieces together and Tyrod right now is one of those pieces. He’s a major piece.”

Breaking Down the Defense

Again, it wasn’t about the numbers, because they were beyond ugly. It was about making the right plays when they needed to and Bud Foster’s defense did just enough to keep Bad Tech’s dangerous triple/speed option offense in check. Despite giving up 278 yards rushing, the most since LSU racked up 297 last year, Bud’s lunch pail defense forced three turnovers and stopped the Jackets on two late fourth quarter drives to preserve the 20-17 win.

The Hokies got some great defensive line performances from a plug-and-play rotation that did an impressive job of disrupting plays. John Graves (91) and Cordarrow Thompson (95) led the charge for the d-line up the middle while Nekos Brown got his first start at DE opposite of Orion Martin, who had another monster game (though the stats don’t really show it). Jason Worilds and Demetrius Taylor also saw a lot of time on the line. No matter who up front, they were firing off the snap and clogging up the gaps and wreaking havoc on the line. The Wreck got most of its yards on the outside with their incredible speed option, but they didn’t get much up the middle.

The key to the game (as with most games) was the turnover margin. The Hokies’ D forced three Yellow Jacket turnovers. Georgia Tech was moving the ball at will on their first drive of the game, but LB Brett Warren stripped the ball loose from QB Josh Nesbitt at the Hokies’ 35 and Victor Macho Harris recovered. The second turnover came in the second quarter with Georgia Tech on its own 43; Nesbitt coughed it up and Virginia Tech’s Taylor fell on it. The last turnover was a Cody Grimm interception in the third quarter that was created by Cordarrow Thompson, who was getting good pressure on Nesbitt.

The defense recorded its second sack of the season courtesy of LB Purnell Sturdivant. They also recorded two QB hurries. On the surface it doesn’t look that great, but against the triple/speed option, you’re not going to see a lot of sacks or QB hurries. Overall, Bud’s defense did an outstanding job against a very difficult-to-defend offense. Bend but don’t break.

Breaking Down the Special Teams

Beamerball just keeps getting better with each game. For the third game in a row, the Hokies blocked a kick. And for the third game in a row, redshirt sophomore defensive tackle John Graves got the block. It’s the first time in Beamer’s era that a player has blocked a kick in three consecutive games. Graves is also the first Hokie to block three kicks in a season since Jim Davis did it in 2004. No player has ever blocked four kicks in a season. It was also the 120th blocked kick in the Beamerball era.

Then there is the punting game, which was solid, but uneventful until the final seconds of the game when Brent Bowden pooched a punt inside the Jackets’ five yard line with just :25 seconds on the clock. The Jackets, with no timeouts left, were unable to score again and the Hokies held on for the 20-17 win.

Freshman kicker Dustin Keys also had another strong game going 2 for 2 on his field goal attempts. Though the yardage of his two FGs (25 and 21 yards) are considered “chip shots” by kicking standards, Keys made both of them under a lot of pressure in the fourth quarter. The first gave the Hokies a 17-9 lead. After the Wreck tied the game at 17 with a TD and 2-point conversion, Keys was asked to kick the eventual game-winner with 4:37 left and he nailed it. Kudos to the young guy.

What does it all mean, Basil?

Frank Beamer can tell his critics, present company included, to shut it. He said “trust me, we’ll fix it” and it looks like he came through. So, for the time being, the “fire Bryan Stinespring” tidal wave has died down a bit. But, like Beamer said (with a nervous laugh) in his post-game interview on ABC when asked about UNC next week, “Yeah, I’ll tell ya, every week’s a new adventure for us right now … I think we took a step forward today.”

The term is often overused, but this was truly a statement game in every sense of the word for the Hokies. The heat was on and the players and coaches were feeling it. But, anyone who was at the game today would be the first to tell you that the fans put all that nonsense behind them turned Lane Stadium into the infamous and noisy road venue that visiting teams have come to fear and loathe. I was proud of the fans for rallying around Beamer, his coaches and the team.

You could tell that after the game, Beamer was physically and emotionally drained. I think this win was one of the more stressful in recent years for him.

“This was work tonight,” Beamer said. “You know, they say have fun, but this was work.”

Beamer said several times in his post-game interviews that he’s extremely proud of his team and he should be. This was one of the hardest fought games I’ve seen the Hokies win in a long time. This is the kind of win that can define a season, that you can look back on at the end of the year and say, “yep, it all started there.” Let’s hope that in three months we can look back and say that about this game against the Ramblin’ Wreck.

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