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Virginia Tech 48, West Virginia 20 October 12, 2000 by Will Stewart, HokieCentral.com 1 2 3 4 F VT-Suggs 2 run (Warley kick) Blacksburg, VA - Led by three touchdowns by Andre Davis, Virginia Tech exploded for 27 third quarter points on the way to a 48-20 rout of the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers in an ESPN Thursday night game. The Hokies (6-0, 4-0 Big East) struggled through a mistake-prone first half and found themselves down 14-7 at the break, but Tech strung together 6 straight touchdowns in the second half to destroy WVU (4-2, 2-2). The second half onslaught was led by wide receiver Andre Davis, who scored three touchdowns in a six-minute stretch in the third quarter. Davis' touchdowns came on a 30-yard reverse, a 64-yard bomb from Michael Vick, and a 76-yard punt return in which he was sprung by a crushing block by Wayne Ward. Davis' three touchdowns were preceded by a 72-yard touchdown reception by Tech tight end Bob Slowikowski to open the third quarter. All told, the explosive third quarter, which lit up the Lane Stadium crowd, vaulted Tech from a 14-7 deficit to a 34-14 lead. The Hokies outgained WVU 504 yards to 248 yards. Tech was led by quarterback Michael Vick's 233 yards passing on 10-18 completions and Lee Suggs' 83 yards rushing on 18 carries. Davis was the leading receiver for Tech with 6 catches for 127 yards and one touchdown. First Half Recap Despite spending most of the first quarter on WVU's side of the field, Tech was only able to come away with 7 points. The Hokies took the ball 76 yards in 8 plays on their first possession, capping it with a 2-yard run by Lee Suggs. The drive featured a 29-yard QB draw by Vick. The two teams traded possessions, and on WVU's third possession of the game, Lee Suggs broke through and blocked a WVU punt deep in Mountaineer territory. The ball was recovered by Wayne Ward, who carried it into the end zone, but the officials caught that Ward had stepped out on the four yard line. The out of bounds call proved to be fateful for the Hokies. Two plays later, Vick attempted to dive into the end zone, but a WVU defender put his helmet on the football, knocking it loose. The ball careened out of the back of the end zone, and WVU took possession on a touchback. WVU took possession and threw a deep ball that was defended by Eric Green and tipped to Ronyell Whitaker, who intercepted it and returned it to the WVU 41. A personal foul on the Mountaineers during the return moved the ball to the WVU 26. Tech quickly drove the ball down inside the ten yard line, but failed to score when the Mountaineers stopped Lee Suggs on fourth and two from the three yard line. The first quarter ended shortly thereafter, with the Hokies having squandered two opportunities to score. WVU controlled the second quarter. When the Mountaineers punted on their first possession of the quarter, Tech's Andre Davis attempted to field the short-hop punt, only to have it bounce off of him and be recovered by WVU on the Tech 33. The turnover gave life to the Mountaineers, who scored on a 7-yard run by Avon Cobourne. Tech responded with a drive the likes of which you won't often see: The Hokies ran 10 plays, held the ball for 4:27 ... and went 22 yards. WVU took possession on their own 37 yard line and scored in 10 plays when quarterback Brad Lewis found tight end Sean Berton alone in the end zone. The score came with just 58 seconds to go in the half, and after dominating the first quarter with little to show for it, the Hokies found themselves on the short end of the half time score, 14-7. Second Half Recap West Virginia's lead didn't last long. Virginia Tech came out of the gate with a vengeance in the second half, scoring 5 touchdowns in less than 20 minutes. Tech had 6 touchdowns on their first 6 possessions. Here's how the scoring went: First possession: Vick hits Bob Slowikowski over the middle for a short gain. Slowikowski breaks the tackle and runs into the end zone. VT 14, WVU 14. Second possession: Tech drives 81 yards in 8 plays, with Davis scoring on a 30-yard reverse. Carter Warley misses the extra point, his first missed kick of the season of any kind. VT 20, WVU 14. Third possession: After WVU turns the ball over on downs, Tech takes possession on their 36 yard line. Vick hits Davis on the first play with a bomb for a touchdown. VT 27, WVU 14. Fourth possession: After a WVU three-and-out, Davis returns a punt 76 yards for the score. VT 34, WVU 14. Fifth possession: After Ronyell Whitaker intercepts a deep pass on the Tech 9 and returns it to the Tech 22 yard line, the Hokies go on an 11-play, 78-yard drive. Jarrett Ferguson finishes off the drive with a 16-yard TD run. VT 41, WVU 14. Sixth possession: Tech drives 48 yards in 8 plays, ending in an Andre Kendrick 2-yard TD run. VT 48, WVU 14. By the time the onslaught was over, there were less than 4 minutes to go in the game. WVU's final score came when Tech's Keith Burnell fumbled on the Hokie 36-yard line and West Virginia's Ben Meighan took it in for the score. The Hokies blocked the extra point, their second blocked kick of the game. Stats and Notes Vick on the Mark: Vick's 233 yards passing were his top single game total for the year, beating out the Akron game (186 yards). He averaged 23.3 yards per completion. Suggs Closing in on TD Record: through 6 games, Lee Suggs has 12 touchdowns, one shy of the season record of 13 held by four Tech players. Barring injury, Suggs should break the record easily. Davis Back in the Books: with 6 catches for 127 yards, Andre Davis averaged over 20 yards per catch for the first time since the opener against Akron, in which he caught 2 passes for 41 yards. Davis came into the WVU game with 15 catches for 170 yards (11.3 yards per catch) and now has 21 catches for 297 yards (14.1 yards per catch). Strange Stat of the Season: speaking of Davis, through six games, he has more touchdowns on punt returns (3) than he has receiving (2). Tops in the Nation in Picks ... for Now: thanks to the Thursday night game, the Hokies now lead the nation in interceptions with 14. At least one team was tied with the Hokies at 12 going into tonight, and Tech will probably get passed this weekend. Once Again, it's Meaningless: WVU had the ball for 32:30, and Tech only had it for 27:30. Defensive Leaders: three Tech players (Whitaker, Jake Houseright, and Ben Taylor) had 8 tackles. David Pugh and Nathaniel Adibi each had a sack. Pugh leads the team with 3 sacks on the year. Let's Play At Your House: of 36 first quarter plays, only 4 took place on Tech's half of the field. Peaslee Fights Back: Tech's beleaguered punter, Robert Peaslee, had a decent game. He punted twice, for 38 yards each time. The second one came under a heavy rush. A third punt by Peaslee was nullified by a roughing-the-punter penalty on WVU. Costly Special Teams Errors: Davis' fumbled punt that led to WVU's first touchdown wasn't Tech's only costly error on special teams. Lee Suggs was called for a very questionable 15-yard roughing-the-punter penalty that kept WVU's second TD drive alive. Punt Return Yards: Tech had 152 yards on 6 punt returns. Davis led the way with 116 yards on 4 punt returns (29 yards per return), bringing his season average to 23.2 yards on 17 returns. Click here for HokieCentral's post-game analysis STATISTICS
WVU VT Att: 56,272 Individual Statistics RUSHING: West Virginia-Cobourne 19-68, Ours 3-13, J Mcmillen 1-2, B Lewis 4-1, Rego 5-minus 3, Mcbrien 1-minus 3. Virginia Tech-Suggs 18-83, Vick 11-57, Kendrick 10-56, Ferguson 3-34, And Davis 1-30, Burnell 3-7, Briggs 1-2, Easlick 1-2. PASSING: West Virginia-B Lewis 14-29-2-161, Mcbrien 1-4-0-9. Virginia Tech-Vick 10-18-0-233. RECEIVING: West Virginia-A Brown 4-50, Ivy 3-55, Ours 2-24, S Berton 2-21, Nastasi 1-9, S Terry 1-8, Cobourne 1-6, Rego 1-minus 3. Virginia Tech-And Davis 6-127, Slowikowski 2-82, Johnson 2-24.
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