Hokies Earn Second Shot at Boston College with Win Over Wahoos

Xavier Adibi (center) holds the Commonwealth Cup after defeating the Cavaliers 33-21.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRIAN SEWELL

With the Commonwealth Cup, and more importantly, a berth in the ACC Championship on the line, Virginia Tech went into Scott Stadium and pulled off its fourth straight victory over Virginia, winning 33-21.

“To come into a hostile environment, especially UVa, and come out with a victory, that’s a great feeling,” said senior Tech linebacker Xavier Adibi.  “Just looking up in the stands and seeing everyone so quiet, it was great.”

The Hokies quieted the Cavaliers crowd on their first touch when Justin Harper took the reverse pitch from Eddie Royal and returned UVa’s first punt for 43 yards.  Using both Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor, the Hokies needed only four plays to go 41 yards and took the early 7-0 lead on a nine yard keeper by Taylor.

The quarterback carousel continued throughout the game for the Hokies as Glennon looked exceptional through the air going 13-of-19 for 260 yards and a touchdown while Taylor was very effective running it down on the goal line for two touchdowns.

“They give you things that win football games,” said Tech head coach Frank Beamer.  “Today was a perfect example of getting the best out of both of them.”

After Virginia went three and out, once again Tech drove right down the field, but this time the Cavaliers defense stood strong and the Hokies had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Jud Dunlevy.  Dunlevy had a busy day making all four of his field goal attempts.

“Jud Dunlevy has had one terrific year,” said Beamer.  “[He’s] a senior coming out there [who] had an average preseason, but the kicks he made in ball games have really been outstanding.”

It took the Cavaliers three possessions to finally settle down as Jameel Sewell converted a couple of big third down passes and Mikell Simpson punched it in the end zone from 27 yards out to cut the Tech lead to 10-7.

Simpson finished the game with 81 yards on 16 carries, but he started to cramp late in the third quarter on a crucial drive with the Cavs only down by two points.

“Cramps happen, but I feel I let my team down,” said Simpson.  “We had a lot of momentum at that time, and we could have driven the ball down and taken the lead.”

Without Simpson, the Cavs offense stalled and once again the Hokies drove down the field behind the arm of Glennon.  Then, on third and goal from the five, Taylor calmly took the snap, and after a quick look at his receivers, he took off straight for the left pylon and squeezed it in for the touchdown, giving the Hokies a 30-21 lead as they never looked back from there.

Afterwards Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring jokingly said, “It was a called pass.  I want to talk to him when we get on this bus.  I don’t know how much he looked to throw it.” 

Senior flanker Eddie Royal had a gigantic game for the Hokies with six catches for 147 yards and a touchdown, but he was the goat for a couple minutes in the first half.  With the Hokies driving for the fourth straight time, the offense decided to get a little fancy.  Royal lined up in the slot, caught the backwards pass, and then threw a pass himself, but it was intercepted by Chris Cook swinging the momentum to UVa. 

“He felt bad on that pass he threw,” said Beamer.  “I think we had a guy right down the middle that was wide open.  He felt terrible about that, but he bounced back, came back and made a big touchdown catch.” 

As Beamer said, Royal responded beautifully after a costly interception by Sewell late in the second quarter.  Glennon connected with Royal for a 39-yard touchdown pass with only 12 seconds left which swung the momentum back to Tech as they went from trailing at halftime to having a 20-14 lead.

“We had the ball with 40 seconds to go in the first half, and 28 seconds later they had seven points,” said Cavaliers head coach Al Groh.  “You look back at the final score and that’s a substantial seven points that we had no chance to answer. That was like seven bonus points.”

With the Tech passing game firing on all cylinders, Branden Ore took full advantage of all the open running lanes.  Ore, who had gone 15 games without hitting the century mark, carried the ball a season high 31 times for 147 yards. 

After four long weeks of thinking about the heartbreaking loss to Boston College, Tech now gets its chance at revenge as the two will meet next week in Jacksonville for the ACC Championship with an Orange Bowl berth on the line.

“There’s not much more we can ask for,” said Glennon.  “Now we can’t complain about what happened because we get another shot at them.  The winner goes to the Orange Bowl.  It’s all on the line now and we’re real grateful to have a second chance.  I think our confidence right now is at an all time high.”