Two scores during the final four minutes of the second quarter allowed Virginia Tech to regain the lead and eventually secure a 36-13 win over Liberty, Saturday afternoon, at Lane Stadium.
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The Flames are moving to a no-huddle attack led by dual-threat quarterback Stephon Masha.
Tech’s new starting quarterback Jerod Evans saw success early in the game.
Fuente, replacing retired Hall of Famer Frank Beamer, is eager to get started. “That was big”, Foster said. “. They’ve got a talented team”.
Liberty is hoping to run 80 plays per game after averaging 67.9 during Gill’s first four seasons in Lynchburg, and it can get a pretty good lesson in tempo by staring across the sidelines Saturday. A sound physical defense.
For much of the first half, neither team converted on shot attempts, but after 33 minutes, senior forward Lindsay Agnew received a cross-field assist from junior midfielder Nikki Walts and scored the first goal of the game, putting OSU ahead 1-0 through one half.
“Coach always tells us every game is a one game season so we are going to prepare for that game the same way we prepared for Liberty”.
“It’s one thing to go play the season opener”.
“I’m not a coach anxious about if he’s going to get hurt, if he’s going to get banged up, or that kind of thing”, Gill said. “My gut reaction is some good some bad”. So there’s a little bit of anxiousness that comes with that.
“It is exciting, it really is, but at the same time we know that we have to go out and execute”. “We will be a better football team from this ball game”.
“They made more plays than we did, but we’ll bounce back”, Liberty coach Turner Gill said.
OSU women’s soccer players celebrate during a game against IN on September 26, 2014.
PACE OF PLAY: Fuente wants the Hokies to play fast, and he plans to shuttle players in and out constantly to keep them fresh.
Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente downplayed any personal satisfaction derived from his team’s season-opening performance, but needless to say, he enjoyed most of what he witnessed in his debut as the Hokies’ head coach. Shoring up the line play has been a focus for Bud Foster and his defense, while Masha’s running ability helped inspire Liberty’s move to the faster-paced no-huddle attack. The Hokies trailed 13-10 in the second quarter before Evans threw touchdown passes to Isaiah Fordand Bucky Hodges on the Hokies’ last two possessions of the first half to give the Hokies the lead for good. The Hokies used their home field to their advantage, finishing with a 458-to-160 edge in total offense. The largest crowd the Flames have ever played in front of was 57,950 at West Virginia on September 5, 2009.
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The two teams combined for six turnovers during the first 30 minutes of play with each team committing three giveaways.
