Morgantown, WV - Virginia Tech went to Mountaineer Field and came completely unglued, falling 28-7 to West Virginia in a game -- as the old saying goes -- that wasn't even that close. In the process, the Hokies turned the ball over four times, committed 13 penalties for 116 yards, and generally lost their composure.

The Hokies were outgained 426 yards to 211 and gave up 264 yards rushing on 59 carries by WVU. Quincy Wilson led the way for the Mountaineers, gaining 178 yards on 33 carries and scoring a rushing touchdown. Wilson was joined by fellow tailback Kay-Jay Harris, who had 77 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. Between them, the two running backs averaged 5.3 yards a carry and found running room all night, often right up the middle of the Virginia Tech defense, in an eerie replay of Tech's defensive collapses at the end of the 2002 season.

Meanwhile, the Hokies got a poor performance from QB Bryan Randall on the road. Randall was 14-of-22 for 146 yards, but he threw three interceptions, fumbled several snaps, and threw an option pitch behind tailback Kevin Jones that Jones couldn't handle, resulting in a turnover. Randall threw three interceptions in all, and the Hokies as a team had five fumbles, losing one.

Randall wasn't alone, as no Hokie on the field had a good night. Most surprising were the penalties. Virginia Tech's 13 penalties included five personal foul penalties, and there were three more penalties that were either declined or were offset by WVU penalties. The Hokies were the Big East's least-penalized team coming into the game, averaging just 5.3 penalties and 43.9 yards per game.

The game was also marred by an incident that will receive a lot of coverage in the coming days: in the third quarter, head coach Frank Beamer got into a verbal exchange with receiver Ernest Wilford on the sidelines, and ESPN cameras caught Beamer slapping Wilford on the helmet. Wilford showed shock, and then turned around and walked away in anger.

Things started out fairly well for the Hokies, who had the ball first. Despite three penalties on their opening possession, Tech moved the ball from their 26 to WVU's 25, eating up nearly seven minutes in the process. But Randall threw his first pick of the night, to WVU safety Brian King, who had previously victimized Randall in the end zone at the end of last year's 21-18 loss. King intercepted Randall on the WVU 10, killing the drive.

WVU promptly marched 90 yards in 12 plays, scoring from 7 yards out on a run by Kay-Jay Harris to make it 7-0.

Randall threw an option pitch behind tailback Kevin Jones on Tech's next possession, and the Mountaineers recovered the ensuing fumble on the Hokie 36-yard line. WVU scored in just three plays, with Quincy Wilson running it in from 5 yards out for a 14-0 lead.

The Hokies settled down and threatened to score in the second quarter, but Carter Warley missed a 39-yard field goal with 6:02 to go in the half. The snap and the hold were clean, but Warley pushed it outside the uprights.

Virginia Tech then got their biggest break of the game when Wilson fumbled on the VT 25 on the next possession. Vegas Robinson recovered for Tech, ran the ball to the 50, and fumbled when he was tackled, but Vincent Fuller was there to pick it up and race the remaining 50 yards for the Hokie TD. TV replays showed that Robinson was clearly down on the ground when the ball popped loose, but the play, VT's 8th non-offensive touchdown of the season, stood. The two teams went into half time with WVU leading 14-7.

Tech stuffed WVU on the opening possession of the second half, but the Hokies were unable to move the ball themselves. They got another break when WVU punt returner Adam Jones muffed Tech's punt and fell on it at the Mountaineer six-yard line, burying WVU deep in their territory and giving the Hokies hope.

But two plays later, Rasheed Marshall hit Travis Garvin with a 93-yard TD pass, the longest in WVU history. Garvin beat VT Rover Michael Crawford deep, and free safety Jimmy Williams didn't help because he bought the play-action fake on the play. Garvin caught the ball in stride, outran Crawford to the end zone, and put WVU up 21-7 with 10:56 to go in the third quarter.

That play broke the Hokies' back. Randall threw his second interception on Tech's next possession, and would later throw his third on Tech's only second-half foray into WVU territory. From the time WVU went up 21-7, they ran the ball on 30 of their next 33 plays and tacked on another touchdown when Rasheed Marshall took it in from 4 yards out late in the third quarter.

The loss drops the Hokies to 6-1 overall, 2-1 in the Big East. Tech must regroup in time for a visit from #2 Miami on November 1st. West Virginia is now 3-4, 2-1 in the Big East.

• Tech's 13 penalties were the most since they had 15 at Boston College last season.

• The Hokies only ventured into WVU territory four times in the game, just once in the second half.

• Kevin Jones, after rushing five times for 34 yards on VT's opening possession, had just six carries for 23 yards the rest of the way. He finished with 11 carries for 57 yards, breaking his string of consecutive 100-yard rushing games at four.

• The #3 Hokies are the highest-ranked team WVU has ever beaten.

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