Collegiate Times

Charlottesville, Va ― A dominating effort from freshman tailback Ryan Williams along with a strong second-half performance propelled the Virginia Tech Hokies to their sixth consecutive win over the University of Virginia with a score of 42-13.

Williams led the Tech offense with a career-high 182 yards rushing to go with four touchdowns on the day.

For the second week in a row, Williams reached the end zone four times and became the second Tech player to score four touchdowns in back-to-back games. Lee Suggs accomplished the same feat by scoring five times against the University of Central Florida and then four times against UVa in 2000.   

Williams, who ended the regular season Saturday with 20 scores on the season, broke the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman touchdown record.

“I just try to help this team the best I can to win,” Williams said. “That’s the only thing I’ve really wanted.”

Williams spoke of his work to become a leader on the offense.

“I try to be more vocal when I can,” Williams said. “I feel they feed off that energy.”

The game was tightly contested for the first half. UVa quarterback Jameel Sewell, who missed the 2008-09 season because of academic ineligibility, scored on a 15-yard rush to give the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead with 9:27 left in the first quarter. Sewell ended the game with a career-high 104 yards rushing.

Tech responded quickly, tying the score on the following possession and ending with the first of Williams’ four touchdowns. After an early second quarter field goal from UVa kicker Robert Randolph, Williams found the end zone again on a 20-yard score to give Tech the lead 14-10. Another Randolph kick put the score at halftime at 14-13.

Taylor connected on several long passes in the first half, including a 41-yard strike to redshirt sophomore Danny Coale and a 38-yard completion to sophomore Dyrell Roberts. The junior quarterback ended the game with 185 yards passing to go with 35 rushing yards and an interception. Coale had a career-high 135 yards receiving on six catches for the game.

In the second half, the Hokies put away the Cavaliers for good with Tech scoring 28 unanswered points and shutting out the UVa offensive attack. The turning point of the game came in the form of a missed pitch from Sewell to tailback Mikell Simpson, which was recovered by senior free safety Kam Chancellor.

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