Blacksburg, VA - Behind strong offensive performances from QB Bryan Randall and tailback Kevin Jones, plus a stingy second-half defense, 8th-ranked Virginia Tech scored the last 14 points of the game to put away 20th-ranked Texas A&M 35-19 in rain-soaked Blacksburg.

Going into the game, the story was Hurricane Isabel, which was expected to hit Blacksburg with two inches of rain and winds up to 40 miles an hour. Coming out of the game, the story was a career-high 188 yards rushing by Jones on 30 carries, and multiple clutch plays by Randall, who converted key third and fourth downs against the wind in the fourth quarter.

Though it rained for most of the game, heavy at times, the weather wasn't much of a factor. A bigger factor was the play of Jones and Randall, who went 9-of-13 for 63 yards, with one interception and a 10-yard TD pass to Jeff King. Randall shined in the fourth quarter in particular, leading the Hokies on an 11-play, 80-yard drive for a TD that extended a small 21-19 VT lead to a 28-19 cushion.

That score came with 8:20 to go in the game, and the Aggies muffed a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff, which the Hokies recovered on the Texas A&M 33-yard line. Tech scored in six plays from there to go up 35-19, the final margin.

The game was a seesaw battle in the first half, which ended with the Hokies leading 14-12. Every time Tech took a lead, going up 7-0 and 14-3, the Aggies responded. Tech drew first blood on a short 28-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard TD run by Jones. The drive featured an 18-yard gain by Jones on a fourth and one.

A&M responded with a 13-play, 62-yard drive in which the Hokies stiffened at the end and held the Aggies to a 22-yard field goal. That made it 7-3, and the Hokies came right back with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a 10-yard pass from Randall to a wide-open King to put the Hokies up 14-3 early in the second quarter.

Texas A&M dominated the remainder of the second quarter, outgaining the Hokies 149-11 from the King TD to half time. The Aggies sandwiched two 12-play scoring drives around a three-and-out by the Hokies. First A&M drove 51 yards for a 20-yard field goal that made it 14-6. Then, after a 47-yard Vinnie Burns punt pinned the Aggies at their 2-yard line, they put together their best drive of the game, a 12-play, 98-yard affair that led to a 2-yard run by Courtney Lewis with 1:15 to go in the first half. After a failed two-point conversion, the Hokies ran out the clock and took a 14-12 lead into half time.

Half time was good for Tech, as the Hokies made adjustments both offensively and defensively that enabled them to dominate the second half. The Hokies opened the second half with a six-play, 76-yard drive, all on the ground, and Jones scored from two yards out to put Tech up 21-12. Texas A&M was whistled for two straight pass interference penalties to help the Hokies score.

While the Hokie defense held A&M, Tech turned the ball over twice in the third quarter, the second of which led to an Aggie score. VT's first turnover came when Randall threw an interception, his first of the year, in A&M territory, and when the Aggies punted on the ensuing drive, DeAngelo Hall muffed it, giving A&M possession on the Hokie 24-yard line. From there, A&M scored in just three plays, with QB Reggie McNeal executing a beautiful fake handoff and hitting wideout Tim Van Zant with a 15-yard TD pass just behind Tech free safety Jimmy Williams.

That made the score 21-19, Hokies, early in the fourth quarter, and Virginia Tech put together a masterpiece of a drive. Working against a hard wind, the Hokies drove 80 yards in 11 plays, with the key play being a 13-yard scramble by Randall on third and 6. Randall finished off the drive with a 12-yard option keeper, scoring untouched.

The Hokies tried a pooch kick on the kickoff, and the ploy worked perfectly, as A&M return man Byron Jones was unable to reach the ball and field it cleanly. It bounced off of Jones and rolled to the sideline, where the Hokies recovered on the Aggie 33-yard line.

Tech scored in six plays, with the highlight being an 11-yard slant pass to Ernest Wilford on fourth and 2. Jones scored from 11 yards out on a nicely blocked off-tackle run, his third TD of the day, and the Hokies had a 35-19 lead with 5:33 to go. Between the two drives, Tech had possession of the ball for almost nine straight minutes in the fourth quarter.

If there was any doubt left in the game, Garnell Wilds removed it by picking off a deep pass by McNeal that sailed well over the intended receiver's head. It was the 12th straight game with an interception by the Hokies.

• The Hokies ran 23 plays to just 3 by Texas A&M during the critical fourth quarter stretch that saw VT outscore the Aggies 14-0 and put the game away.

• The Hokies had 273 rushing yards on 47 carries (5.8 per carry) and overall, they outgained Texas A&M 336-272, including a huge bulge of 227-56 in the second half.

• After holding the ball just 10:01 in the first half, the Hokies had it for 19:16 of the second half, in which the Aggies went just 1-for-7 on third down conversions.

• Rover Michael Crawford led the Hokies with 14 tackles (5 solo, 9 assists), the highest total for a Hokie defender this season.

• Crawford wasn't even the top tackler in the game. That honor went to A&M safety Jaxson Appel, with 17 tackles (8 solo, 9 assists).

• Tech's ratio of 47 rushes to 13 passes (78% rushes) was their most lopsided ratio of the season thus far.

• Randall's 63 yards passing were his career low as a starter, but his 13 attempts were not a career low as a starter. He passed just 7 times against Boston College last season (4-for-7, 86 yards) and 11 times against Virginia last year (5-for-11, 85 yards).

• Jones' 188-yards rushing topped his previous best of 181 yards (on 37 carries) against Virginia in 2001. It's the first time Jones has rushed for over 100 yards since he gained 132 against Rutgers on October 19, 2002, breaking a streak of eight games without 100 yards rushing (he didn't play against Syracuse in 2002).

• The Wilford Watch: Ernest Wilford caught 1 pass for 11 yards. He now has 85 receptions for his VT career, 36 behind career leader Antonio Freeman (121 catches). Wilford, who stands alone in ninth place on the VT career receptions list, needs to average 3.6 catches per game over Tech's last ten games (including the bowl game) to tie Freeman.

• Jeff King's TD reception is just the fourth by a VT tight end in the last three years (28 games). It's King's second of his career. He caught a TD pass against Arkansas State in 2002, and Keith Willis caught a TD pass against Virginia in 2002. Willis also caught a TD pass against Rutgers in 2001.

• The Hokies have not given up a sack all year, a streak of three games, and they have outsacked their opponents 9-0. The Hokies surrendered 37 sacks in 2002 (2.6 per game). The Hokies only had one game in 2002 (Temple) in which they didn't give up a sack.

• The Hokies' next game is against UConn on September 27th. Game time is noon, with the game to be broadcast as an ESPN+ Big East Game of the Week.

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