CHARLOTTESVILLE — For at least one night, Virginia Tech gave its football fans, critics and critical fans little room to gripe.
It was also the perfect time for the Hokies to produce such an effort. Their 55-17 win over Virginia at Scott Stadium checked so many boxes that the team finally started its way back to Blacksburg a little later than anticipated.
“This is a little extra,” Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten said of the Hokies’ postgame celebration, which included some extra-boisterous speeches from the coaching staff, an extended blasting of victory music in the locker room and the team returning to the middle of the stadium to take a photo requested by the game’s sponsor. “We normally turn (the music up) after a win, but this is the longest it’s been all year.”
The postgame reaction made sense just on what was at stake. The Hokies’ 22nd win in the last 24 games against their oldest and closest rival also earned them bowl eligibility.
“It is all intertwined,” said wide receiver Stephen Gosnell, whose 44-yard catch with 3:21 to play in the first quarter produced Virginia Tech’s first touchdown of the game. “For it to be UVA, I don’t think I’ve had that level of a dopamine hit in a while — you know what I mean?
“It’s definitely a great feeling knowing we get one more game with this team. This team has been resilient.”
Second-year Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry acknowledged as much, noting that few prognosticators — or protagonists — thought that could be the case when the Hokies stumbled to a 1-3 start.
“There was a lot of noise,” Pry said, referring to how things looked in September. “There’s been some inconsistency, but this group has really just hung together, and they’ve kept working. They’ve trusted the process.
“It wasn’t easy to get to this point — to 6-6. It’s a testament to a lot of people.”
That list could start with Tuten, who for the second time this season returned a kickoff for a touchdown — his 94-yard return in the third quarter following a field goal by UVA’s Will Bettridge made the score 38-3. That play was just a side-hustle for what Tuten contributed to Virginia Tech. He also rushed for 117-yards and scored the last of the Hokies’ three first-half touchdowns, a 32-yard run that made the score 24-0.
“It feels great being able to do whatever I’m asked to do,” Tuten said. “I do it the best I can. That’s (a part) of who I am and how I work. I’m ready to do more.”
Speaking of rushing, Virginia Tech’s defensive line did its own version in the form of rushing UVA quarterback Anthony Colandrea. The Hokies were credited with six sacks and eight hurries. In addition, the Cavaliers netted just 43 rushing yards. Reversing what happened a week earlier against N.C. State — when former UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong rushed for 89 yards and two TDs, while passing for 203 yards and two more scores — had been on the minds of the defenders since they watched that film last Sunday.
Colandrea had proven to have similar abilities. He had been the Cavaliers’ leading rusher the previous three weeks, averaging 63 yards per game to go along with an average of 275 passing yards. He had just 18 positive rushing yards Saturday, and it was obvious by the fourth quarter the defensive pressure had taken a toll.
“We knew that he was going to run,” said Hokies defensive lineman Cole Nelson, who had a team-high two sacks. “He’s a quick guy and really shifty out there. What (the coaches) really harped on was stopping the quarterback run — stopping the run game in general.
“… Our goal is to have at least 10 quarterback hits in a game, and we just kept putting him on the ground. As it went on, he started getting up slower every time. We saw it, too.”
The list of accolades goes on from there.
– Kyron Drones, who replaced an injured Grant Wells at quarterback on the last series of the Hokies’ Week 2 loss to Purdue and then claimed the No. 1 spot as his own, was nearly flawless, completing 10 of 22 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for another 50 yards.
– Two of those TD catches were made by his favorite receiver, former Norfolk State and Churchland High standout Da’Quan Felton, who had three catches for 133 yards. His other reception was just as critical — he picked up 15 yards on a fourth-and-2 pass from Drones midway through the second quarter.
– Drones and his receivers had so much success in part to the protection provided by the offensive line, which did not allow a sack for the first time since Week 1 against Old Dominion.
– And while UVA wide receiver Malik Washington had a banner night statistically, catching 14 passes for 114 yards, breaking the ACC single-season mark for catches in a single season, he had just one reception of more than 30 yards and did not score a touchdown.
“We did a nice job of knowing where he was,” Pry said. “And once he got the football, we were (surrounding him), taking the air out of the football and squeezing and leveraging him. … He’s a good player, he’s proven that week in and week out. But the defensive crew had a good plan.”
For those still wanting to nit-pick, don’t worry, Pry and his staff will have a few notes to share with the team when the game film is finally reviewed.
First, that postgame photo turned into a water show, when the field sprinklers turned on just as the team settled in around the Commonwealth Cup.
As for in-game issues, in the midst of the physical beating the Hokies’ defensive line put on Colandrea, the barrage became a little overzealous early in the second quarter, when Josh Fuga and Antwaun Powell-Ryland were flagged for roughing the passer on back-to-back plays. Pry was concerned about that, sort of.
“We wanted to be aggressive in this game, but we also wanted to have poise,” Pry said. “We lost our poise in a few places out there. But also, there’s a certain degree of having a temperament and mindset that’s necessary. We definitely brought that into the game.”
Besides, if the Hokies’ offense had not committed its one critical error right before that — Drones lost a fumble on Virginia’s 2-yard line as he tried to dive into the end zone on third-and-goal — those defensive plays may not have been needed.
“I’m still mad about the seven we left on the 1-yard line,” Pry said, although even that assessment came with a smile.
It was just one of those nights.
