Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Ryan Williams (center) scored a first-half touchdown on a pass from Ju-Ju Clayton. Williams also ran for 86 yards on 10 carries as the Maroon team won 13-7.

Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Tyrod Taylor gets touched by Demetrius Taylor (56) short of a TD.

Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Dyrell Roberts (left) catches a 3-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor in front of Rashad Carmichael during the first half.

BLACKSBURG -- Much more often than not, Virginia Tech spring football games are ruled by Bud Foster's perennially tough defense.

Not this time, though.

Playing in front of the largest crowd -- estimated at 41,000 fans -- ever to witness a Tech spring game, Tech's offense stole much of the thunder from the defense, riding big days from youngsters Ryan Williams and Dyrell Roberts in the 32-minute contest at Lane Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Williams, a redshirt freshman tailback, ran 10 times for 86 yards and took a middle-screen pass 56 yards for a touchdown the first time he touched the ball. Roberts, a sophomore flanker, caught four passes for 65 yards, including a 40-yarder in which he broke multiple tackles, and returned a kickoff 41 yards.

That said, the game was fittingly decided by one of Foster's bunch. With 2:54 left, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Antoine Hopkins scooped up a fumble forced by a savage hit by senior safety Kam Chancellor and lumbered 20 yards for a touchdown to lift the Maroon squad to a 13-7 victory.

But it was the young guns on coordinator Bryan Stinespring's offense that had a juiced throng even more jacked by the time it merrily filed for the exits on the sun-splashed day.

"It's the most offensive playmakers I've seen in my years here," junior cornerback Rashad Carmichael said. "Those guys on the other side of the ball, man, they're ready. The defenses trying to defend them this year had better be ready, too."

Williams, who redshirted last season, punctuated his fabulous spring by taking a short dump pass from Ju-Ju Clayton on the Maroon's first play from scrimmage and racing to the end zone to give the Maroon a 6-0 lead. He later ripped off a 36-yard run.

"Oh, man, it didn't take long," a grinning Williams said. "It was fun playing in front of all those [fans], and I hoped that I proved that I deserve to be on the field somehow.

"When I get on the field and it's my opportunity to shine, I want to be the big 'X' factor. When it comes to crunch time, I want people to depend on me. I feel like I'm a clutch person. I feel I know I can always make big plays, and I know what I'm capable of doing."

Tech coach Frank Beamer liked the dynamite that Williams supplies.

"I think explosiveness is kinda the word for [Williams]," Beamer said. "He runs with quickness but the pile there kinda kept moving a couple of times. One guy doesn't usually bring him down."

Roberts, who caught 17 passes for 227 yards last season as a freshman, seems to be ready to really rock and roll now. After catching a 17-yard pass on an out pattern from Tyrod Taylor, Roberts broke two tackles and turned it into a 40-yard gain. Three plays later, Roberts made a leaping grab on a corner-fade pattern for a 3-yard TD pass that was the White's only score.

Roberts said the huge crowd fueled his fire.

"It's fun playing in a lot of people," he said. "You know when you're coming into the spring game and they say almost every hotel around Blacksburg and Christiansburg is sold out, you know there's going to be a whole lot of people and it motivates us. I just wanted to go out and showcase my ability." Roberts said the fans have strong reason to be excited about this fall. The Hokies figure to be ranked in the top 10 of most preseason polls and have been tabbed by some as a "darkhorse" national title contender. "[The players'] expectations are as high as ever," he said. "We know if we put the work in, we've got a good chance of going as high and far as we wanna go. It's no limits to what we can do."

The Hokies' special teams were the one big downer on the day.

The two squads combined to miss an extra point and a field goal, and neither punter averaged 40 yards a punt. Part of that, though, was caused by the snaps, which were poor at times. Punter Brent Bowden had a snap sail over his head, fumbled another snap and had a boot partially blocked.

"We need to have a talk with that special-teams coach," said Beamer, poking fun at himself .

"I know it was sloppy today. What that tells me is that we need to settle on people and get them in there working. In the spring, you work everyone, but it's not going to be that way in the fall. We're going to make some quick decisions and go and make sure we're better special teams-wise than we were today."