Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech quarterback Ryan Willis threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns to lead Virginia Tech to a 41-20 nonconference victory over Marshall at Lane Stadium on Saturday.
With the win, the Hokies moved to 6-6 overall on the season and became bowl eligible for the 26th consecutive year. Marshall, which has lost to Virginia Tech nine consecutive times, fell to 8-4.
The game served as a makeup game for both schools because of the effects of Hurricane Florence in mid-September. Virginia Tech's game against East Carolina and Marshall's game against South Carolina, both scheduled for Sept. 15, were canceled.
The Hokies, who have won two straight to close the regular season, got started quickly against the Thundering Herd, as defensive tackle Ricky Walker forced Marshall quarterback Isaiah Green to fumble on Marshall's first play from scrimmage, and Tech's TyJuan Garbutt recovered. That play ultimately led to a field goal by Brian Johnson, and the Hokies never trailed.
Willis threw four touchdown passes in the first half to four different receivers. He tossed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Hezekiah Grimsley that gave the Hokies a 10-0 lead, and after Marshall scored on the final play of the first quarter, Willis dominated the second period, throwing touchdown passes of 45 yards to Tre Turner, 7 yards to Steven Peoples and 32 yards to Eric Kumah. The Hokies led 31-6 at the break.
Willis completed 18 of 26 for 312 yards, with four touchdowns. The Hokies finished with 454 total yards.
Marshall tailback Brenden Knox paced the Thundering Herd, rushing for 204 yards on 27 carries and scoring a touchdown. The Thundering Herd finished with 452 total yards.
TWEET OF THE GAME
🦃 - 41
— Virginia Tech Football (@VT_Football) December 1, 2018
🐃 - 20#26Straight pic.twitter.com/B2rVjiCGMK
QUOTES TO NOTE
Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster
(On Ricky Walker making the big play at the start of the game)
"It's awesome. I'm happy for him. Obviously, that play gets the quarterback thinking about the rush a little bit, but I'm happy for Ricky because he's a guy, he's put so much into this program. He's been a big factor in our turnaround even though this year was not the year that, as a senior, you'd want. But he's been a big part of the last couple of years and turning this thing around and being part of the transition. I'll say this about that group of seniors – they've handled this whole situation with class and bought in and were a big part of this turnaround. I'm hoping we're going to get a bid, and I'd be extremely happy for these seniors. When things didn't look their best, we battled and kept working and coming to work every day, and those guys were a big part of setting the example. I couldn't be happier for those and particularly a guy like Ricky Walker, who has meant so much to our defense and to this football team and this program."
(On having to win the last game to become bowl eligible for the fourth time in the streak)
"The thing that we had on some of those teams was that we were pretty good on defense. One of those years, we shut out a team [Wake Forest in regulation] and got beat. But this year was a trying year from the standpoint that we were so young and so inexperienced. I don't know that I've been in a situation … I think after the 1999 season when we played for the national championship, we lost maybe eight or nine starters off that team defensively, but we had a bunch of guys that had played and finished games and that type of thing. This was probably the first year where we had so many first-time players … It's been a learning experience type of season … It's been a challenging season, I'll say that, but the thing I'm really proud of with our kids is that they came to work every day. As a coach, you want them to learn and be better right now. Some years, we've had those guys with that type of ability. This year, we grew inch by inch instead of by leaps and bounds, but they improved. It's not how you start, but how you finish, and we finished strong and hard, which is how we needed to. That's a compliment to our kids, particularly our seniors. Yeah, we didn't win nine or 10 games, but this is a year that might be one of your more rewarding ones because of what you had to overcome and the hard work that you had to put in and to lean and to fight and keep coming to work every day when people were doubting you. That's not always an easy thing to do, and I thought our kids did a great job of responding."
GAME NOTES
• For the fourth time during the Hokies' bowl streak, they won their final game of the season to become bowl eligible (2012, 2014, 2015, 2018).
• The Hokies moved to 22-5 under head coach Justin Fuente when scoring first.
• Willis now has 22 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions on the season. His four touchdown passes were a career high and he has thrown at least two touchdown passes in seven of his nine starts this season.
• Dalton Keene tied a career high with five catches.
• Kumah's 32-yard touchdown reception marked his sixth of the season and the eighth of his career.
• Grimsley's 46-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter marked the first touchdown reception of his career. The sophomore from Williamsburg, Virginia had scored a rushing touchdown in the Hokies' 34-31 overtime victory over Virginia the previous Saturday.
• Peoples' 7-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter marked his first receiving touchdown of the season and the fourth of his career.
• Holston's 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the longest rush of his career. The sophomore from Stockbridge, Georgia now has scored two touchdowns in his career.
• Deshawn McClease's 54-yard reception in the second quarter was a career long.
• Tech right tackle Yosuah Nijman missed his second straight game with an injury. Silas Dzansi made his second straight start.
(12/1/2018) 2018 FOOTBALL vs. MARSHALL
UP NEXT
The Hokies now await their bowl destination. Tech has won four of its past six bowl games, though the Hokies lost 30-21 to Oklahoma State in last year's Camping World Bowl.