Fireworks lit up the night sky in Blacksburg for Virginia Tech?s Thursday night game against No. 13 Boston College, but on the field it was the Hokies? smooth, efficient offense that shined.
The No. 3 Hokies took down the Golden Eagles of Boston College 30-10 with a sharp looking attack that was backed up by another dominating performance by the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation.
Tech?s first two drives of the game showed a lot of promise, but only resulted in six points, as the Hokies were twice forced to settle for short field goals. On the defensive side of the ball, the Hokies looked cool and confident early on, but on BC?s third drive, senior quarterback Quinton Porter showed that the Tech defense was susceptible to the big play.
On BC?s only scoring drive of the first half the Golden Eagles landed a 33-yard screen to sophomore running back L.V. Whitworth, and scored two plays later on a 29-yard strike to senior wide-receiver Will Blackmon.
Trailing 7-6, the Hokies seemed unfazed. Though they started off sluggishly in the red-zone, Tech came out with guns blazing in the second quarter, driving down the field twice and netting two touchdowns.
?I just said ?We?re gonna be okay,?? said redshirt junior quarterback Marcus Vick. ?I think the offense was going with a lot of confidence.?
By game?s end, Vick had amassed 332 total yards with only six of his 28 attempts hitting the turf.
Though they went into the locker room with a 20-7 lead, early mistakes caused concern for the Hokies.
A block in the back penalty left the Hokies deep in their own territory to start the third quarter, and a staunch defensive effort by the Golden Eagles stymied the Hokies momentum and eventually led to a short field and a field goal for the BC offense.
After driving down the field on their next possession, the Hokies again faltered. Redshirt freshmen running back Branden Ore fumbled into the endzone for Golden Eagle touchback.
Luckily for Ore, Tech?s defense was able to stop the BC attack, forcing a three and out. On the ensuing drive, a 29-yard return by sophomore Eddie Royal set up a 31-yard field goal by Brandon Pace, one of three on the night for the junior placekicker, pushing the score to 23-10.
For the rest of the game, the Hokies played controlled the clock, putting an exclamation point on their victory when senior defensive end Darryl Tapp forced an interception that was returned by sophomore linebacker Vince Hall for his second touchdown of the season.
Though Tech moved the ball extremely well, there were some concerns about the effectiveness of the Hokie offense inside the 20-yard line, as they visited the redzone seven times and only walked away with touchdowns twice.
?I?m not concerned, I think we?re a good redzone team,? said head coach Frank Beamer. ?We have a quarterback who can make plays in the redzone and pick up critical first downs, and I think we have receivers that can make good plays.?
Tech?s receivers indeed made several plays for Vick tonight. Sophomore Josh Hyman led the Hokies with five catches for 58 yards and junior David Clowney amassed the same amount of yards with his three receptions.
Tech returns to the field on Nov. 5 for a date with the University of Miami. Blacksburg?s sky will likely be illuminated by fireworks due to a 7:45 p.m. kickoff, but it is yet to be determined who will light up the field.
