The Hokies offensive unit celebrates Tyrod Taylor's second half touchdown.
With two-and-a-half minutes remaining in Thursday night’s game, sophomore David Wilson blew by 11 Yellow Jackets untouched to return a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to subsequently give No. 22 Virginia Tech its first win over visiting Georgia Tech in two years.
“He’s a tough guy to catch,” Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said of Wilson. “He’s been in a couple of those, and those are two big plays in our season.”
The season started tumultuously. After losing the first two games of the season, Virginia Tech has bounced back and appears destined to compete for an Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
Wilson's kickoff came after Georgia Tech tied the game at 21. The Hokies defeated the Yellow Jackets 28-21 and took further control of the Coastal Division of the ACC.
The Yellow Jackets responded by coming within 20 yards of the endzone but could not counter with a scoring effort as backup quarterback Tevin Washington threw an interception to Hokies cornerback Rashad Carmichael in the final seconds of the game.
“I thought defensively we got a little bit used to the speed of them and did a couple of things that countered what they were trying to do against us,” Beamer said. “Offensively we didn’t take advantage of a couple things early but we did some good things too. It wasn’t a beautiful thing to watch but the score was pretty.”
And the last addition to that score was Wilson's dash.
“The kickoff return was just a killer,” said Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson. “You don’t want to squib kick and give them the ball on the 40-yard-line with 2:35 and all their timeouts left. It was supposed to be a deep right kick and we kick the ball down the middle of the field and don’t adjust.”
Down 14-7 at halftime, the Hokies scored three touchdowns, two of which were by Wilson, in the fourth quarter.
“I’m proud of our football team,” Beamer said. “I thought we hung in there and battled. We came back in the second half and got a couple of scores that were needed. We had some good tough play by our offense.”
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor found tight end Andre Smith in the endzone on a two-yard pass with six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to give Virginia Tech its first lead of the game.
Taylor completed 15 of 25 passes for 136 yards. The senior also rushed for 57 yards.
The Yellow Jackets, however, marched down the field on the following drive, with Washington completing a 42-yard pass to wide receiver Tyler Melton. It was the first Yellow Jacket completion of the contest and set up a nine-yard touchdown run by running back Orwin Smith to tie the game 21-21.
Georgia Tech amassed 346 rushing yards in the game, with running back Anthony Allen accounting for 125.
Just as he did in the teams’ meeting last season, Hokies running back Ryan Williams found the endzone to put the Hokies on the board after the Yellow Jackets scored back-to-back touchdowns in the first quarter.
Williams rushed for 30 yards on seven carries in his second game back from a hamstring injury. Redshirt junior running back Darren Evans led the Hokies with 68 rushing yards.
The Hokies found themselves in a position to tie seven minutes later until Taylor threw an interception to Georgia Tech cornerback Rod Sweeting on the 10th play of the Hokie drive.
After a 33-yard run by Anthony Allen on the following drive brought the Yellow Jackets within striking distance, heralded Yellow Jacket quarterback Josh Nesbitt threw an interception to rover Davon Morgan at the one-yard-line.
A hard hit on the play knocked Nesbitt out of the game with a right forearm injury.
With Nesbitt out, the teams traded scoreless drives for the third quarter until a fourth down pass interference call on the Yellow Jackets set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Wilson with 13:21 left in the game to make it a 14-14 game.
The Hokies are now 7-2 overall, 5-0 in the ACC and hold a commanding lead atop the Coastal Division standings.
“We have some great kids who just hang in there and battle,” Beamer said. “From where we started out to where we are right now, we control our own destiny.”
A version of this article appeared in the Nov 5 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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I could not be more proud of our Hokies for fighting back after gown down early. That is something that we have struggled with for years, so congratulations to them! Sadly I can not say I am proud of our students who rushed the field. We beat an unranked team, who had already dropped two in the conference, why are we rushing the field? It makes us appear low-rent.
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I concur with this. I was in the stands wondering why people were running down. It would've been one thing if they were still ranked. But we were supposed to win anyways as the ranked team with home field advantage. Act like we've won before!
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I think if this had been a day game, nobody would have rushed the field. Something about the Thursday night atmosphere brings out all the idiots.
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Ok I'm sick of hearing people talk about this. You guys are a poor excuse for Hokies. This was a Thursday night game, for one, which obviously makes it more exciting than usual in case you missed that, and what ever happened to people just enjoying a game and supporting their team?! It was a hard fought game. That doesn't mean that we played that great or that we shouldn't have done better but it was a battle right down to the last seconds and those kinds of games always get these reactions and they should because they're exciting. I would have been surprised if more people rushed but not that many did anyway and no one was acting overly rowdy or obnoxious.
And if you want to be a bunch of grampas talking about rank and all that nonsense, well GT came into the year ranked 16, and they beat us last year. Overall they have had a good reputation in the ACC the past few years for being tough and they were ACC champions last year. When we beat Nebraska we were ranked 6 spots above them and im betting that you 3 rushed the field then or at least wanted to.
Get off your high horses and learn how to lighten up and enjoy a game like real Hokie fans.
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I did not rush the field nor did I want to when we beat Nebraska. Frank Beamer came out and called out the fans for rushing the field. Is Coach Beamer a poor Hokie? The ONLY time I have ever felt the students had a legit reason to rush the field was when we beat #2 Miami back in 2003. We were ranked #10 and we beat a national power house and conference rival.
A good deal of people who rush the field are just trying to make it all about themselves. They want to say, "I was there on that field with the team." They are looking for a story to tell. Show some dignity, act like we have won before.
And how dare you or anyone else say people who feel this way are not Hokies. This is endemic of the new classes of students; they think they are the be all and end all of what it means to be a Hokie. You and those like you are self-centered, self-important charlatans.
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Field rushes are for those rare moments when a team accomplishes something unexpected. The only unexpected thing the Hokies have done this season is lose to JMU. In all other games our talent, experience, and coaching have led us to perform exactly as predicted. Rushing the field after barely defeating an unranked team only minimizes our past and future upsets. It's ok to go a season or two between field rushes, or even wait until we play (and beat) a team ranked ahead of us. Just ask the South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Missouri fans. They earned their moments.
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If you have such a problem ask any one of the players if they like being surrounded by their fans. You might find a few who say that they don't but the vast majority will say that they enjoy it. You guys are way too uptight about this. Football is just a game. It is not the end all be all of our college career. There are more important things in life. In the end all those people who rushed the field at any of the games will remember how they had such a great time at that game and you guys will remember sitting on your couches or in the stands whining and complaining about how everyone else enjoying themselves. You only get to be a student for four years so you might as well have fun while you're here. Grow up and get over it. Let people have fun and if you don't like it you can leave or turn off the TV next time.
Anyways this is just everyone's opinion and it doesn't matter anyone. The people who rushed had fun. The players enjoyed it. And yes the coaches looked pretty happy to see all the fans too.
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Furthermore, you really shouldn't be complaining about the students. Someone made the decision to lower the field goals and that is the signal to rush the field. It's always going to be rushed when they do that and then everyone else wants to follow their friends. Blame whoever made that decision, by the way, it was not a student.
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You've got to admit though, that it was a well-fought game, and they have beaten us the last two years, making this a pretty important rivalry game. Fans were on the edge of their seats from before the game started, so you can understand the excitement. And yes, being a night game adds considerably to that excitement, so maybe they overreacted.
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They have not beaten us twice in a row. We won in 2008.
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I think this article can be applied to football as well.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4961547
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Good lord I love this article. Thank you for bringing it back to my attention.
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Those of you that think the fans shouldn't have gone on the field go to hokiesports.com and look at the photo gallery for the game. Look at picture 135. I see fans and players all having a great time. At least they still remember that football is a game and is supposed to be fun. Those of you that care more about the fans going down on the field than the fact that the team won a hard fought, conference game need to lighten up and remember that watching and playing sports is supposed to be fun.
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THANK YOU!!!! For being able to let people enjoy themselves! We need more people like that.
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Sure it may be fun, but it makes you and all the fans look foolish on national TV. Thanks.
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And I/we care what the rest of the country thinks, why? Do you make all of your decisions of what you're going to do/not do on what other people are going to think?
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It may make people like yourself think that everyone looks foolish, but thats just you. No one really cares. There are much more important things in life and if people want to enjoy themselves for one night who the heck cares. Seriously, please grow up and get off your couches. Act like you have more important things to worry about than what the trollers on ESPN message boards will think about your school's football team.
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Yes, since it's so much fun and no one really cares, let's just rush the field after all the games! Even when we lose! Weeeeee!
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Considering:
1. We won a Thursday night game (unlike last year)
2. Stinespring didn't completely blow the game.
3. GT didn't score on that final drive and go for 2 pts to end the game like it was looking to happen.
Given those, I think rushing the field for (some) maybe mostly freshman is excused. However I've been on the field 3 times in the past 5 seasons and this game least deserved it, unless of course we have a much much lower standard of winning now after losing to JMU.
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I feel like this discussion happens every season - a few freshmen rush the field after a game we were predicted to win. I agree with the comment that said the only game so far that deserved a field rush was the Miami win in 2003.
It isn't about fans being happy, it is not about showing excitement, and it's not about celebrating a win-- it's about wanting to be on the field and using a victory as an excuse to run down there.
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you guys are unbelievable, if people want to rush the field let them. what does it have to do with you? absolutely nothing at all. quit idolizing the football players and coaches. theyre just normal people. and football is just a sport. do something better with your time than bicker about this.
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How about not giving opponents more credibility than they deserve? Don't tell me that the GT field rush was about youthful exuberance. It was about individuals caring too much about setting foot on the turf. When an orderly group of a few hundred fans walks single file down the steps and onto the field, how can you claim that everyone was so caught up in the moment that they just couldn't control themselves? That should be all the proof needed to demonstrate that this was not worthy of rushing the field.
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What is the big deal? Who left all of you skeptics as "Protocol Experts"? What anyone does as a Hokie fan is their business. As long as the respect for the school, the team, the fans, etc is honored, what does it matter? I am 63 yrs old, I love the Hokies, I jump when Sandman plays (How about the end of the game Sandman), I proudly salute when the Anthem is played, when the flyovers happen, and I get pumped when something makes me excited before, during and after the games. This game of college football doesn't need every detail analyzed, leave that to ESPN. I am proud of every Hokie Nation citizen who loves the Hokies and displays respect and excitement. As well, I respect the opinions of all those who find fault with others who do it their way.
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