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LANE STADIUM • BLACKSBURG, VA. • SEPTEMBER 17, 2016 • ATTENDANCE: 60,054
Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans tied a school record with five
touchdowns passes and the Hokies’ defense recorded the team’s first shutout
since 2012, as the Hokies blanked Boston College 49-0 on Saturday in Tech’s
ACC opener.
Tech moved to 2-1 overall on the season and 1-0 in the ACC. The win
marked the second consecutive for the Hokies over BC (1-2, 0-2 ACC) and
the seventh in the past nine meetings. The shutout marked the first by Tech
since it beat Bowling Green 37-0 in 2012. It marked the Hokies’ first shutout
of an ACC foe since 2011 when they won 38-0 at Virginia. The shutout marked
Tech’s first ACC shutout at home since it won 17-0 over UVA in 2006.
Virginia Tech’s defense put forth a dominating effort, holding the Eagles to
124 yards. The Hokies forced a three-and-out on 10 BC possessions. Evans’
five scoring tosses tied the mark held by former quarterback Bryan Randall,
who threw five touchdown passes in Tech’s 50-42 triple overtime loss at
Syracuse in 2002. Offensively, the Hokies amassed 476 yards, including 223
on the ground. Marshawn Williams, playing in his first game since tearing his
ACL in 2014, led the way with 81 yards.
Evans threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Travon McMillian on the Hokies’
second possession to open the scoring and then added touchdown passes of
8 and 30 yards to Isaiah Ford. The latter came with 1:42 left in the first half and
gave the Hokies a 21-0 lead, which they took into the locker room.
GAME NOTES
• Greg Stroman’s 29-yard punt return set up Ford’s 30-yard touchdown
reception. It marked Stroman’s longest punt return of the season and the
seventh of his career of 20 yards or more.
• Bucky Hodges hauled in two 17-yard receptions on the same possession
in the second quarter and that led to the 8-yard touchdown pass to Ford.
• Evans’ 36-yard pass to Cam Phillips on the Hokies’ first possession of the
second half led to the 7-yard touchdown pass from Evans to Cunningham.
• Leading 28-0 and facing a fourth-and-1 from the BC 20, Tech went for
it and Evans gained 12 yards on a keeper leading to his TD pass to Sam
Rogers for a 35-0 lead.
• Evans’ 47-yard pass to Ford on Tech’s final possession of the third quarter
led to McMillian’s 7-yard touchdown run and gave the Hokies a 42-0 lead.
BOSTON COLLEGE
0 0 0 0 -
0
VIRGINIA TECH
14 7 21 7 - 49
VT (9:17 - 1st) - McMillian 15 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (1:15 - 1st) - Ford 8 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (1:42 - 2nd) - Ford 30 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (11:42 - 3rd) - Cunningham 7 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (7:15 - 3rd) - Rogers 4 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (2:25 - 3rd) - McMillian 7 run (Slye kick)
VT (10:33 - 4th) - Motley 26 run (Slye kick)
TEAM STATS VT
BC
First downs
25
6
Rushing yds.
50-223
28-44
Passing yds.
253
80
Return yds.
105
46
Passes
16-27-1
9-29-1
Punts-avg.
6-36.7 13-41.3
Fumbles-lost
0-0
1-1
Penalties-yds.
7-55
12-93
Time of poss.
35:15
24:45
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing —
VT: Williams 15-81, Evans 9-48, Motley 2-37, McMillian 12-36, Rogers
3-15, Reid 3-11, Click 2-1, Team 2 (-3), McKenzie 2 (-3); BC: Jones 5-17, Towles
5-17, Rouse 2-8, Wade 2-4, Hilliman 10-2, Walker 1-0, Willis 3 (-4).
Passing —
VT: Evans 16-23-1 253, Motley 0-3-0 0, Click 0-1-0 0; BC: Towles
9-28-1 80, Wade 0-1-0 0.
Receiving —
VT: Ford 4-91, Hodges 4-48, Phillips 2-53, Carroll 2-39, McMillian
2-11, Cunningham 1-7, Rogers 1-4; BC: Sweeney 2-30, Garrison 2-14, Smith 2-14,
Walker 1-13, Callinan 1-5, Jones 1-4.
LANE STADIUM • BLACKSBURG, VA. • SEPTEMBER 24, 2016 • ATTENDANCE: 63,712
Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans threw three touchdown passes and ran for
a score, and the Hokies made three big plays on special teams, as they scuttled
the East Carolina Pirates 54-17 in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon.
The Hokies (3-1) scored on their final five possessions of the first half, including
all four of their second-quarter possessions. They jumped out to a 38-0 halftime
lead, overwhelming East Carolina (2-2) and snapping a two-game losing streak
to the Pirates.
Evans completed 13 of 20 passes for a career-high 282 yards and rushed for
a career-high 97 more. He entered the game having thrown an ACC-best 10
touchdown passes and has thrown just one interception on the season. He threw
touchdown passes of 24 yards to Isaiah Ford, 13 yards to Travon McMillian and
45 yards to Cam Phillips.
Three of the big special teams plays came in the first half. Greg Stroman scored
the Hokies’ first touchdown on an 87-yard punt return in the first quarter, and a
blocked field goal led to a touchdown pass from Evans to Ford. Phillips blocked a
punt by East Carolina punter Worth Gregory in the second quarter, and the Hokies
took advantage, scoring on a 13-yard pass from Evans to McMillian.
ECU quarterback Philip Nelson had 362 yards passing and two touchdown tosses
to Jimmy Williams. The Pirates had 443 yards of offense, but committed the three
special teams mistakes, fumbled once and were sacked six times.
GAME NOTES
• Stroman’s punt returned tied for the third-longest punt return in the modern
era (post-1950) and the second career punt return for a touchdown.
• Stroman became just one of 10 Hokies since 1987 to score three or more
touchdowns on defense or special teams in his career.
• Ford caught four passes for 117 yards and a TD. The touchdown reception
marked the 21st of his career, leaving him one shy of Antonio Freeman’s
school record.
• Tech’s two blocks marked the first time the Hokies had blocked two kicks
in the same game since a win over Marshall on Sept. 21, 2013.
• The Hokies scored at least 49 points in back-to-back games for the first time
since 1999 when they scored 58 against Rutgers and 62 against Syracuse.
EAST CAROLINA
0 0 14 3 - 17
VIRGINIA TECH
14 24 9 7 - 54
VT (10:38 - 1st) - Stroman 87 punt return (Slye kick)
VT (1:46 - 1st) - Williams 6 run (Slye kick)
VT (10:31 - 2nd) - Ford 24 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (9:06 - 2nd) - McMillian 13 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
VT (4:40 - 2nd) - Slye 20 FG
VT (1:05 - 2nd) - Phillips 13 pass from Evans (Slye kick)
ECU (14:49 - 3rd) - Williams 75 pass from Nelson (Verity kick)
VT (4:51 - 3rd) - Team Safety
VT (4:27 - 3rd) - Evans 55 run (Slye kick)
ECU (3:17 - 3rd) - Williams 70 pass from Nelson (Verity kick)
VT (12:21 - 4th) - Motley 1 run (Slye kick)
ECU (6:32 - 4th) - Verity 27 FG
TEAM STATS VT
ECU
First downs
18
16
Rushing yds.
45-167
35-81
Passing yds.
295
362
Return yds.
156
57
Passes
15-23-0 17-34-0
Punts-avg.
6-45.3
6-38.3
Fumbles-lost
0-0
1-1
Penalties-yds.
4-28
5-43
Time of poss.
30:03
29:57
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing —
VT: Evans 10-97, Rogers 9-29, Motley 5-26, McKenzie 4-11, McMillian
9-10, Williams 3-8, Ford 1-1, Team 4 (-15); ECU: Scott 14-69, Summers 10-34,
Anderson 2-5, Team 1 (-1), Nelson 7 (-11), Gregory 1 (-15).
Passing —
VT: Evans 13-20-0 282, Motley 2-2-0 13, Ford 0-1-0 0; ECU: Nelson
17-34-0 362.
Receiving —
VT: Ford 4-117, Bradshaw 3-25, Hodges 2-47, Phillips 1-55, Cun-
ningham 1-13, McMillian 1-13, Rogers 1-12, Deablo 1-8, Wilson 1-5; ECU: Jones
10-115, Williams 3-179, Johnson 2-44, Bishop 1-14, Scott 1-10.
BOSTON COL L EGE 0
V I RG I N I A TECH 4 9
EAST CAROL I NA 1 7
V I RG I N I A TECH 5 4
GAME THREE
GAME FOUR