Hokies snap seven-game slide with late comeback
LYNCHBURG — If Saturday does indeed mark the end of Virginia Tech’s football season, the last chapter had plenty of satisfaction.
The Hokies did something they hadn’t done all season — come from behind in the fourth quarter. They then finished the job with another rarity — coming up with key defensive stops in the final minutes to upset host Liberty 23-22 at Williams Field, snapping their seven-game losing streak.
Yes, upset is the correct term. The bowl-eligible Flames were favored by as many as 10 points prior to kickoff and scored 15 straight points in the middle of the contest to take a 22-17 lead into the fourth quarter. Such events have been a bridge too far all season for the Hokies (3-8), who had not scored a fourth-quarter touchdown since Oct. 15 against Miami and were 0-5 in their previous road games.
But when sixth-year senior Jalen Holston added to the most productive game of his career by scoring his third touchdown of the game with 7:46 to play, the Hokies took a 23-22 lead. That was all the defense needed as it stifled the Flames (8-3) on their last three drives, forcing two turnovers and ending the other possession on downs.
“There was a good plan for [Holston] this week and he had to go out there and do it,” said Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry, who said he and Holston had a brief chat after last week’s loss at
Duke when they pledged to each other that they still had each other’s back. “Those guys have to go out there and earn the right to get the ball handed to them. And he did that.”
While no decisions have been made, the Hokies know and have accepted that Saturday could be the end of their trying 2022 season. Next week’s Commonwealth Cup showdown with Virginia at Lane Stadium is up in the air as the Cavaliers continue to grieve over the tragic shooting last week in Charlottesville that resulted in the deaths of three UVA football players — Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry — and seriously injured a fourth player, Mike Hollins.
“What UVA is dealing with right now is way bigger than football,” said senior defensive end TyJuan Garbutt, who had two of the Hokies’ five sacks and forced the turnover on Liberty’s final drive of the game. “You never know when it’s going to be over. You never know what might happen in your career.
“I know it might hit me that this was it once I lose this high. But we’ll see.”
With that in mind, Virginia Tech put a few twists into its game plan Saturday. Among them:
* The Hokies’ special teams gave their offense another set of downs by successfully executing a fake field goal to pick up a first down deep in Liberty territory in the second quarter. That led to Tech’s second touchdown of the game.
* They showed a complete commitment to running the football, rushing for a season-high 176 yards, led by Holston’s careerhigh 99.
* And in a move Pry has often teased but never actually followed through on, he surrendered his play-calling duties on defense to defensive coordinator Chris Marve. That decision also turned out well. The Hokies held Liberty’s offense to just one touchdown and 13 points — the lowest production for the Flames this season.
Liberty’s other nine points came from a 97-yard kickoff return by Shedro Louis and a third-quarter safety when Wells was sacked in the end zone by the Flames’ Kendy Charles.
That left Pry to completely focus on being the head coach, which meant he was completely free to chat strategy with quarterback Grant Wells and Holston on how to approach the final minutes, when Tech had taken possession on the Liberty 14-yard line with 2:49 to play.
The plan was executed exactly as Pry wanted, although there was one casualty: Holston’s last carry left him 1 yard short of his first career 100-yard game, and just yards away from a four-touchdown game.
Maybe that part of Saturday’s story was flawed for the Hokies, but Holston said it was all about the big picture.
“[Coach Pry] was saying he knew how bad I wanted to get it, but getting the first down and getting down was the most important thing,” Holston said.