Brenden Motley carried the rock and took a beating from the NC State defense. “We really needed to beat an superior football team”, coach Frank Beamer stated.
Advertisement
The Hokies avoided their third home loss in four games. Sophomore linebacker Airius Moore said the Wolfpack was too undisciplined on defense and not aggressive enough.
The stars were Motley, the backup forced into action since the opening week, and Ford, who draws plenty of defensive attention. “I couldn’t not get open, and “Mot” was finding me”. He threw for 158 yards, the three touchdowns and did not throw an interception.
“The opportunities are always there”, Motley said. Three plays later, Litton hit Ryan Yurachek for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 17-10 with 25 seconds left in the half.
Ford became the first Hokies receiver with three touchdown catches in a quarter in Beamer’s 29 seasons.
The Wolfpack (4-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) dropped its second straight league game after rolling through September.
Kyle Bambard booted a 33-yard field goal with 9:52 left in the quarter to put N.C. State up 3-0. To think that he can only get better from here is a scary thought.
“We as a football team – players and coaches – talked about it. a few games are just bigger than others, and this one was absolutely big and critical”. Running back Matthew Dayes rushed for 66 yards.
Travon McMillian added his first career touchdown with a 59-yard run in the fourth quarter for the Hokies.
Brissett did run for 39 yards but couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm in the passing game. The Hokies registered two more stops the rest of the way, with Brandon Facyson knocking down a fourth down pass in the end zone, and Adonis Alexander picking off Brissett with 1:20 remaining.
Then came another State three-and-out, and another Hokie TD drive, this one 71 yards in 12 plays, capped by Ford’s third TD catch in just over 11 minutes.
Woody Baron (#60) and the Hokies got after Jacoby Brissett, sacking him four times. After the first quarter, NC State gained just 125 yards the remainder of the game, giving them just 270 yards for the game.
When Virginia Tech didn’t have receivers running free through N.C. State’s loose coverage in the secondary, the Wolfpack was getting flagged for either holding or pass interference. His 5-yard catch put Tech up 14-10 with 5:54 left in the second quarter and he scored again on a 2-yard touchdown reception with 18 seconds left until halftime.
Virginia Tech hits the road next Saturday, traveling to Miami. On third-and-goal from the 2, he found Ford for the third time, making it 21-10. The pair teamed up for 3 second-quarter touchdown passes Friday. night, pulling the Hokies out of a 10-point hole & leading them to a 28-13 success in that was like a soothing salve on open wounds suffered this season, & a couple of festering one from current seasons, too.
Advertisement
Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand.
