Quick-striking Hokies crush Boston College 48-14


Daily Press

6:48 PM EDT, October 10, 2009



Saturday after throwing a 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jarrett Boykin against Boston College, quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw both arms in the air, pointed to the sky and clenched his fists.

Taylor had just put the exclamation point on No. 5 Virginia Tech's 48-14 win against BC . . . and the second quarter was just underway. Reactions like Taylor's are a reflection of an offense that resembles nothing observers of Tech football have been used to for most of the last decade. It's an offense with confidence and daring. It's a team with far too many play-makers on both sides of the ball for BC (4-2 overall, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) to have all the answers.

"You sit there and watch us throw and catch in practice and we are a lot better," Tech coach Frank Beamer said.

"The coverages are better, we run the ball better and it all kind of fits together. We're a year older, and there is nothing like experience. You take games like this and last week (at Duke), and I see us taking another step and I like that."

BC suffered its worst loss and gave up the most points since 2000, when it lost, 52-6, to Miami. Tech (5-1, 3-0) had 441 yards, led by running back Ryan Williams' 18 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown. The offensive outburst came on the heels of last week's 477 yards in a win at Duke.

It was the first time Tech eclipsed 400 yards in back-to-back games since 2005. In that season, Tech achieved the feat in consecutive games against Marshall (409 yards), Maryland (497) and BC (492).

Williams, who played less than 21/2 quarters, was the most confounding of Tech's big-play types for BC's defense. He had runs of 11, 13, 16, 25, 29 and 31 yards, escaping tackles and reversing his field on several carries.

"(Running backs) coach (Billy) Hite always says when we have the ball in our hands he's never going to coach us," Williams said. "So, my thing is I have a habit that as soon as I get the ball, I scan the whole field from left-to-right. It doesn't really matter where the play is designed to go. I'm just scanning the whole field, just looking for a hole."

Williams wasn't needed much in the second half, because Tech built a 34-0 halftime lead. Taylor, a Hampton High graduate who also played 21/2 quarters, threw two touchdowns in the first half.

His first touchdown pass came on a third-and-19 play from BC's 24-yard line where he moved around in the pocket, scampered left to elude the grasp of defensive end Brad Newman and found receiver Danny Coale alone in the back of the end zone. The touchdown put Tech ahead 10-0 with 4:50 left in the first quarter.

With Tech leading 17-0 in the second quarter, Tech opened a drive with a play-action pass that featured Taylor finding Boykin running open behind strong safety Jim Noel and cornerback DeLeon Gause. Boykin made the catch for a 41-yard touchdown to extend Tech's advantage to 24-0 with 11:58 remaining.

"That was one of the moments," said Taylor, who completed 7 of 10 passes for 126 yards. "I kind of figured (offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring) was going to call something for us to score quick. He did that. As soon as I saw the coverage, my eyes lit up. I knew that it was going to be a big play."

Tech's defense was even more nightmarish for BC than the offense. BC ran 21 plays in the first half and gained just three yards--an average of five inches per play. The Eagles, who had 11 of their 15 drives end in three plays or less, managed 163 yards for the game and didn't pick up their initial first down until the third quarter.

BC quarterback Dave Shinskie, a 25-year-old freshman who is five months removed from pitching in the minor leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays, was rocked worse than any day he could probably imagine on the mound. He completed just 1 of 12 passes for four yards and was sacked four times.

He had passes intercepted by cornerbacks Rashad Carmichael and Stephan Virgil -- one interception set up a Tech touchdown, and the other set up a field goal. Shinskie, who didn't get his completion until early in the third quarter, was replaced by Michael Marscovetra late in the third.

"Even though he's 25 years old, it was the first time a team has gotten to him that way," said Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, whose unit held BC to 29 carries for 45 yards. "We did it without bringing pressure sometimes, and we were able to bring pressure, too...We do some unique things coverage-wise that's different from a lot of people. You get a guy worrying about the rush, and all of a sudden you're changing coverages on him play after play after play. You can create a lot of confusion for a guy, a lot of troubles for a guy."