I was at the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome on New Year's Eve and thought I would do a recap on the game. This should be on the Score Atlanta website later today, but if not I have it right here for you guys on the Atlanta Sports Guy Blog. So here's the unedited version.
It’s safe to say that if Virginia Tech lost to the Tennessee Volunteers at the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome, they would probably not come back to the city of Atlanta as they have lost two games here in the city this season (once to Alabama in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff game and again to Georgia Tech). But thanks to the strong running of freshmen running back Ryan Williams who ran for 124 yards and two scores and Tyrod Taylor who threw for 209 yards, the Hokies blasted the Vols 37-14 in the New Year’s Eve Classic.
With the win, the Hokies win their 10th game of the season and they are only one of two teams to win 10 games the last six years (Texas is the other team).
“I think that it’s only us and Texas that have won 10 games for the past six years is very special,” head coach Frank Beamer said after the game.
Virginia Tech got the scoring started early in the first quarter when Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton’s pass was intercepted by Rashad Carmichael which set up a Williams 1-yard touchdown.
“Coach did a great job of drawing up plays for (Ryan) Williams,” said Taylor. “He’s a great back. I knew he had potential when I saw him play in high school.
The Hokies were able to increase their lead early in the second quarter when Taylor threw a 42-
yard strike to Danny Coale which led to a Williams 3-yard touchdown to make the score 14-0.
But Tennessee was able to strike back on the ensuing drive as Crompton threw a 40-yard pass to Denarius Moore and that led to a Montario Hardesty 4-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7.
Later in the quarter, Virginia Tech looked to get another score but Taylor’s pass was picked off by Janez Jackson and that led to a Crompton 3-yard touchdown pass to Moore and the game was tied at 14 right before halftime.
With nine seconds left before half, Virginia Tech had the ball at their own 33-yard line and Taylor was able to complete a 63-yard pass to Jarrett Boykin and that left the Hokies with one second on the clock which led to a Matt Waldron 21-yard field goal to put Virginia Tech up 17-14 at the half.
“That was such a huge play,” Beamer said. “They’re thinking we’re going in tied at the half and the next thing you know we’re up by three.
The second half was all Virginia Tech as Taylor scored on a 1-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to give the Hokies the 24-14 lead. Williams did the majority of the work on that drive as he carried the ball nine times for 78 yards.
“Ryan Williams is a really great player,” said Tennessee defensive end Chris Walker. “Their Running backs are great.”
The reason that Walker mentioned the entire running back corps is Williams went down with an ankle injury and had to leave the game late in the third. So in came John Oglesby who help led the Hokies on a 9-play, 60 yard drive that led to a Waldron 46-yard FG to give Virginia Tech the 27-14 lead. In the fourth, David Wilson came into the game for the Hokies and carried the ball seven times for 33 yards including a 3-yard touchdown run to put the score 34-14.
Tennessee finishes the year at 7-6 and were able to win their last four of six games. But head coach Lane Kiffin was not happy with the outcome of the game and realizes he has a lot of work to do in the off season.
“Very disappointed in the outcome today,” Kiffin said. “We need to go get some more players and find a special teams coach.”
Virginia Tech on the other hand looks to be in good shape for 2010 as they will have players such as Williams and Taylor coming back and try to compete for the ACC title. But for now they are happy with the win at the Chick-fil-A bowl and finally getting a win in Atlanta.
“We were going to keep coming back until we got it right,” Beamer said about coming to play game in Atlanta. “We hope to come back many more times.”
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