Drones handles the rain, leads Virginia Tech to 41-20 win over No. 23 Tulane in the Military Bowl
Kyron Drones ran for 176 yards and a touchdown and also threw for two TDs as Virginia Tech withstood a second-half downpour to beat No. 23 Tulane 41-20 in the Military Bowl on Wednesday.
Drones fumbled three times in the slippery conditions, but the Hokies (7-6) only lost one of them. The sophomore quarterback passed for only 91 yards, but he and Bhayshul Tuten were tough to stop on the ground.
Tuten finished with 136 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries to help Virginia Tech snap a four-game losing streak in bowls.
Tulane (11-3) was without star quarterback Michael Pratt. Both Kai Horton and Justin Ibieta played in his place, but Ibieta was carted off in the second quarter with an apparent leg injury. Makhi Hughes rushed for 88 yards.
An unforced fumble by Drones gave the Green Wave an early lead when Tyler Grubbs scooped up the ball and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. After a muffed punt gave Virginia Tech the ball at the Tulane 11, Drones ran for a TD on the first play to put the Hokies up 10-7. Drones also lost the ball on that run, but he was ruled to have reached the end zone first.
Tulane had first-and-goal from the 1 when Horton was hit by Pheldarius Payne as he tried to hand off. The Hokies recovered that fumble to stave off a great scoring opportunity.
Virginia Tech took a 17-10 lead on Drones' 1-yard scoring pass to Harrison Saint Germain with 8 seconds left in the half.
Then the rain really seemed to pick up, but it didn't affect Virginia Tech's running game that much — as long as the Hokies held onto the ball. Jaylin Lane lost a fumble in the first minute of the second half, and Tulane took advantage of that short field, tying the game on a 6-yard scramble by Horton. But Drones broke loose for a 51-yard gain on the next drive, and Tuten's 9-yard scoring run put the Hokies up 24-17. Drones threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Benji Gosnell early in the fourth, and after Tulane lost its third fumble of the day, Tuten scored on a 12-yard run to make it 41-20.
LATE TUESDAY: Jason Bean threw for 449 yards and all six of his touchdown passes to two receivers, and penalty-plagued Kansas outlasted UNLV 49-36 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Jayhawks were flagged 18 times for 210 yards, including four personal fouls. They made up for it with an explosive offense that produced 591 total yards at Chase Field, home of baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. Luke Grimm had four catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Lawrence Arnold added six catches for 132 yards and three more scores. UNLV's Jayden Maiava threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
Extra points
NFL: Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid says he has talked with Travis Kelce after the star tight end's sideline outburst in which he chucked his helmet toward the benches during a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas. Reid didn't elaborate on what was said during the conversation. Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast earlier Wednesday that he “reacted in a bad way” to the way the Kansas City offense continued to underperform. The Chiefs have lost three of their past four games to fall to 9-6, leaving them still in need of a win to clinch the AFC West. They play the Bengals on Sunday.
NBA: The NBA has approved the sale of controlling interest of the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban to the families that run the Las Vegas Sands casino company. The deal was approved just shy of a month since the families of Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont announced their intention to buy the club. The purchase is in the valuation range of $3.5 billion. Patrick Dumont will be Mavericks governor. He is Adelson's son-in-law and president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands. Adelson is the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Cuban is expected to maintain control of basketball operations. There's no indication the club would leave Dallas.