The evening is cool, not cold, and there is just no real energy in the stadium. The Hoos won the toss, and gave the ball to Tech, first.

Burmeister started the game with a completely predictable slow developing run up the middle. A second down pass to Tre Turner out in the flat left Tech with a 3^rd down and 2. And Herbert gets a nice cut back for 42 yards, getting the ball deep into Wahoo territory. Virginia strung out the 1^st down play to the far sideline on another poor follow up call. A ticky tack holding call on Darrisaw killed the drive, but Brian Johnson’s toe saved something with a solid -4. 3 – 0 Hokies

Romo kicked the ball out of the end zone, and the Hoos started Armstrong on the first semi broken play run for 8. Armstrong did some weird QB sneak sort of thing for a first. The Wahoo offense looked very unconventional with lots of 3 second plays. The too soft secondary for Tech just could not cover critical space under the zone on 3^rd and long. The drive continued with the Hoos repeatedly hitting passes under the zone for critical 1^st downs on 3^rd and long. 3 – 7 Wahoos

Hokies started on their 25 with a quick RPO into the boundary flat to Mitchell for 7, and then followed it up with a lame dive to Herbert who is the object of serious keying. Burmeister get a throw off under heavy pressure to Tre Turner for a 1^st down. Burmeister lost the ball on a throw into the turf on the 1^st down, but followed up with a nice out route for a 1^st down to Tayvion Robinson. He hit Tayvion again for another first, and then useless stuff stared happening… but Burmeister kept rescuing weird situations with solid passes to out routes on scrambles. The first quarter ended with the Hokies still driving deep into Hoo territory. The Hokies kept pounding the ball with a combination of Herbert and Holston, and then got close enough to jet sweep to the end zone for Tre Turner. 10 – 7 Hokies

The Wahoos started with a QB power on first down, followed up by a solid knock down by Charmarri Conner on an out route, the Armstrong QB draw on 3^rd and 4 was snuffed so the Hoos had to punt and the Hokies notch their stop, until the punt was muffed, but this time by James Mitchell. Mistakes continued to plague the Hokies. The Wahoos got the ball back in the red zone. The Defense stepped up again, and got the stop but not far enough away to stop the field goal attempt. The Hoo kicker missed the kick and disaster was averted.

Hokies started with a quick roll out to the right and a nice eight yard gain to Nick Gallo. But followed it up with a dump run to Herbert. Burmeister hit James Mitchell for a nice 38 yard seam on a roll out. The following series was a complete conceptual failure, and the Hokies were forced to trot Brian Johnson back onto Worsham Field for another long field goal attempt. Johnson drilled it from 47, and the Hokies inched ahead by a -4. 13 – 7 Hokies

Virginia took the ball on the 25 after a touchback. They tried a flare pass out of the backfield that failed but followed up with a solid run that made up the 0 yards on 1^st down. Virginia kept hammering passes under the zone, with some success. Some interesting stunts and some coverage changes caused an errant throw on 3^rd and 6, so the Hoos punted. Mitchell did not muff that one, and Tech took over the ball on their 23 yard line. The Hokies ran a stretch counter, and Khalil Herbert accelerated down the field, untouched… for a score on 1 play for 76 yards. 20 – 7 Hokies

A miss hit football seemed to wreck the mo, though. The resulting kick out of bounds and penalty putting the ball on the 35. The Hoos started executing their quick out passing offense. Divine Deablo broke up the 3^rd and 4 pass with some serious stuff, and forced the Hoos to punt.

The Hokies looked for all the world like they were just going to burn clock and settle for the current lead at the half, but Burmeister took advantage of a blown single coverage over the top and hit Tayvion Robinson for a beautiful catch and run for 62 yards and a Hokie touchdown. 27 – 7 Hokies

The Hoos got the ball back at their 25 after a deep kick, and then ran out of clock before they ran out of field. A holding call pushed them back 10 yards to their own 42 and their final hook and ladder underneath pass to nowhere as the clock expired.

GO HOKIES!!!!