MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech's special teams unit goes for a block on a field-goal attempt by Alabama place-kicker Leigh Tiffin at the end of the first half of Saturday's game in Atlanta. Tiffin missed the field-goal attempt.

ATLANTA -- Saturday night's Virginia Tech-Alabama contest at the Georgia Dome was one hot ticket.

Each school quickly sold its allotment of 31,200 tickets after Chick-fil-A Kickoff officials announced the pairing last December. The rest of the approximately 9,000 tickets available for public sale were scooped up nine weeks ago. Tickets were going for an average of $256 on StubHub [a popular ticket re-selling Web site] Saturday afternoon.

The situation was tough on Dorian Porch and Sergio Render, the two Georgia natives on the Tech roster. Like the rest of Tech's 70-player travel roster, Porch and Render each got only four tickets.

"I didn't get enough tickets," Porch said Tuesday. "I keep getting calls from people asking, 'can I come to the game?'"

Porch said many of his family members and friends were planning on making the trip, nonetheless.

"People are telling me they're just going to sit outside the stadium just to be in the excitement," said Porch, a senior starting rover from Calhoun, Ga. "They're going to set up stuff outside the stadium so they can watch the game [on television]. Man, that's how excited people are about this game."

Render, the Hokies' senior starting guard from Newnan, Ga., said it was the same deal for many of his followers.

"I wish I could have helped people out," Render said.

"I tried to get some extra tickets from some other guys on the team, but nobody had any left."

Starting debut

Tech split end Xavier Boyce made his first college start against the Tide. Boyce, a 6-foot-4, 223-pound redshirt freshman from Virginia Beach, earned the starting nod over sophomore Jarrett Boykin in the preseason. Boykin started eight games last season, catching 30 passes for a team-high 441 yards. His two touchdown catches were the lone scoring receptions for Tech's wideouts last season.

"[Boyce] played very consistent in the preseason," Hokies coach Frank Beamer said. "He's got a good, tall body, too. He's a guy we think can really help the offense."

Quick hits

Dyrell Roberts' 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter was the fifth-longest in Tech history. It was only the sixth kickoff return for a TD in Beamer's 23 seasons at the helm. ... Three of the four freshmen who made the trip played for the Hokies. Defensive back Jayron Hosley, tailback David Wilson and receiver D.J. Coles all saw action in the first half. ... The projected payoff per team for the game was $2.3 million. How strong is that? That's higher than the per-team payoff than 17 bowl games this season. ... A officiating crew from the SEC worked the game. The ACC supplied the replay-booth officials.

On deck

Tech will spend the rest of September at home, facing Marshall, Nebraska and Miami the next three Saturdays at Lane Stadium. The Tech-Marshall contest will start at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tech is 7-2 all time vs. Marshall, which nipped I-AA Southern Illinois 31-28 in its opener Saturday in Huntington, W. Va.