Sunday, September 07, 2008
Hokies labor for win
After scoring just three points in the first half, Virginia Tech uses a third-quarter flourish for its first win.
Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor (5) runs down the field and away from Furman's Brandon Williams during the first half Saturday. Taylor was in on the majority of offensive plays for the Hokies.
Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech's Kenny Lewis Jr. (right) leaps above Furman's William Middleton (1) and scores the first touchdown of the game on a third-quarter pass from Sean Glennon.
Virginia Tech's Darren Evans (right) is tackled by Furman's William Middleton after picking up a first down Saturday at Lane Stadium.
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Photo by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor (5) runs down the field and away from Furman's Brandon Williams during the first half Saturday. Taylor was in on the majority of offensive plays for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech 24, Furman 7
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Virginia 16, Richmond 0
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BLACKSBURG -- Looking back now, it's hard to believe Virginia Tech was ranked 17th in the country nine days ago.
A week after being upset by East Carolina in the season opener, the underperforming Hokies found themselves engaged in an unexpected dogfight with Division I-AA Furman on Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium.
Finally showing some bark and bite midway through the third quarter, Tech scored three touchdowns in a span of 212 minutes to make certain it wouldn't lose to an I-AA club for the first time since a 1985 loss to Richmond in Lane.
Oh, the final score? Tech 24, Furman 7.
This one was ugly. Make that double ugly.
Furman (1-1) couldn't do anything against Tech's defense in the first half, recording one first down, running 10 times for 1 yard, and producing 31 total yards. Despite having an enormous edge in field position in the half and 151 total yards, the Hokies didn't score until Dustin Keys' 22-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in the half. The misfiring Hokies had a drive stopped on fourth-and-1 when Kenny Lewis Jr. was stopped at the Furman 5 and another scoring threat wiped out by a penalty. Later, another foray into Furman territory ended with a Sean Glennon interception.
Tech had squandered a first-and-goal at the Furman 10 before settling for Keys' chip-shot 3-pointer.
"At halftime, a lot of guys were speaking up, saying 'this is pretty ridiculous, we're up 3-0 to a team which we should lead 30-0 right now. ... The worst part about it is they're not doing anything to beat us, we're beating ourselves,'" Glennon said. "If we didn't come out and start going [in the second half], tempers might have started flaring and people might have started getting frustrated."
On their first offensive series of the second half, Tech finally started to do something about all the nonsense.
Following a zig-zagging 50-yard scramble by sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor to the Furman 14, Glennon came in the game when a gassed Taylor waved himself off the field. On third-and-six from the 10, Glennon rolled left, and with Furman linebacker Hunter Twitty in his face, hit Lewis with a sidearm fastball for a touchdown.
It was sweet vindication for Glennon, who had been booed by some fans when he replaced Taylor.
"That doesn't bother me, they're going to do what they're going to do," Glennon said of the fans. "I threw a touchdown three plays after they booed me, so hopefully that shut them up a little bit.
"It's not the whole crowd, and I realize that. A lot of people try to say the Hokie fans, it's a group of Hokie fans that are anti-Sean Glennon. I'm just going to keep playing football whether they're booing or cheering. That small group that is, maybe they're jealous they're not out there."
Leading 10-0, the Hokies were treated with another doggie biscuit when Furman fullback Brantley Kendall was hit by Tech's Cody Grimm and fumbled on the first play of the visitors' ensuing possession at the Paladins' 31.
Two plays later, Lewis exploded through a big hole up the middle for a 23-yard TD run to make it a 17-point game.
Two plays after a Stephan Virgil interception and return to the Furman 9 on the Paladins' first play on its next series, Darren Evans scored on a 3-yard run to make it 24-zip.
Boom, boom, boom. Twenty-one points in 2 minutes, 29 seconds. Game over.
Tech did almost all of its offensive work on the ground, running 48 times for 261 yards. The Hokies threw only 13 passes for 68 yards.
Taylor, who had his redshirt taken off this week after the ECU loss, ran for 112 yards on 14 carries.
He played 39 snaps in which Tech amassed 238 yards; Glennon 22 snaps for 91 yards.
When asked if he planned on taking any beef to Hokies coach Frank Beamer and QBs coach Mike O'Cain, Glennon on said: "No, I'm going to trust that they'll use me the way I feel like I need to be used on this team. I just want to keep my head down and work hard, and do the best while I'm in there. Maybe if it comes to the day I'm not playing, then maybe I'll have something to say."
All Beamer can say right now is the unranked Hokies have only one way to go. And that's up.
"We have to get better," Beamer said.
"We are a team that has to improve each and every week and, hopefully, we'll be there at the end."
