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.
“The eyes were just bigger,” Chancellor said. “He was expecting the hit as soon as he got the ball.”
UVa head coach Al Groh called the play an “unfortunate circumstance.”
“It was more than two plays in the game, but certainly those were two where the game fell apart on us,” Groh said.
Recovering the ball at the Virginia 25 yard line, Chancellor returned the ball to the 10 yard line to put Tech in the redzone. Two plays later, Williams put in a four-yard run to make the score 21-13, and he added another score early in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run.
Williams nearly had a fifth score when he was stripped at the Virginia 10 yard line by cornerback Ras-I Dowling following a 51-yard run down the right side. However, Tech sophomore Jarrett Boykin recovered the fumble in the end zone, pushing the lead to 35-13.
Freshman tailback David Wilson ended the scoring on the evening, running in a 10-yard touchdown with 2:43 left in the game, which gave the Hokies the 42-13 edge.
The game had some late fireworks, including a brief scuffle between players on both sides with 2:29 left in the fourth quarter. A fumble recovery by defensive end Chris Drager sealed the game with 1:45 left in the game.
The loss for UVa is crushing for Groh, whose Cavalier squads have lost their last six against the Hokies. In the post-game press conference, Groh expressed disappointment for his graduating seniors.
“I feel badly that we couldn’t do a little bit more for them today,” Groh said.
He ended his press conference by reciting the Dale Wimbrow poem, “Guy in the Glass.”
Tech head coach Frank Beamer showed support for the beleaguered UVa coach, noting that after the game Groh congratulated his team on the win.
“He’s a good football coach, and he runs a good program,” Beamer said. “They do it the right way. He’s a good, good person.”
Beamer recognized the special bond he has with the team.
“This might be the most-together group I’ve ever had,” Beamer said.
He expressed excitement about the upcoming bowl game.
“Whoever we are playing against, we are going to be ready to play a great ballgame,” Beamer said.