Cheers and Jeers: Virginia Tech vs. Stanford

If there's one thing Hokies know, it's how to do work down on the farm. The football boys certainly took that to heart and whooped up on the smart kids from out west 31-7 in near triple-digit temperatures Saturday at sunny Stanford. 

A lot of things went right for Tech and ended in a strong conference road win. The bounce back a week after the Miami fiasco reflects well on team leaders and the coaches. After an emotional letdown, this game had 'trap' in some form written all over it but the Hokies managed without serious concern. 
 

It's been said that, "California knows how to party" and broadly speaking this is true. This result may not have been what Stanford had in mind when hosting their first official ACC get together. The Cardinal put out a lovely charcuterie board along with a tasteful sampling of west coast wines, then the Hokies rolled up dressed for a mid-summer lake trip with a couple of kegs, then took a running jump and broke the pool table.  

The only downside really was the sweltering temperatures. The visiting sideline sat in the midday sun and roasted Tech throughout the afternoon. There's just no relief on a cloudless day like that but the Hokies must have hydrated well during the week because there weren't too many cramping issues. 

You know it's a good day when the only real complaint is, "It's too sunny outside!"

Da'Quan Felton picked a great day to break out for the season. The senior nearly equaled his season total in catches (two) and surpassed his entire yearly output with 84 yards on four carries. His 55-yard catch on a pass that was boldly threaded through two defenders by Kyron Drones was terrifying but wonderful. Hopefully, this outing means Felton has awakened and is ready to be a major factor in the offense once again. 

Kyron Drones was wildly efficient completing 14 of 19 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 17 yards which included an extremely slick touchdown run on a great read option play by the Tech signal-caller. Drones seems to be shaking off his early-season issues lately. He appeared calm and confident against Stanford with the exception a brief out of body experience where he tossed a pass alley-oop style over his head at poor Malachi Thomas. Drones has to remain even-keeled for Tech to continue its winning ways and at the moment he's in a good place. 

This space has had a lot of concerned chatter recently about the season getting out of hand. This win went a long way to preventing that scenario from becoming reality. The Hokies got back on track with a conference win and are still very much in the thick of a muddled race to play for the ACC title in Charlotte. 

Now, there's even a little bit of confidence built up after nearly knocking off a top ten team and following that up by thumping the next group on the list. Tech is still extremely capable and continues to grow as the season progresses. Not to be a downer, but we're at the halfway point if you can believe it.   

Tech sits in a nice spot headed into a bye week before a Thursday night home game against Boston College. That's about as classic a scenario as you can hope for and BC certainly looks humbled all of a sudden after starting the year with some positive results. 

For the Hokies' part, a lot of things are clicking right now. Bhayshul Tuten has scored at least one touchdown in every game this season and the number is eight in a row dating back to last year. He's got a long way to go to break the school and NCAA record held by Lee Suggs but that's still quite an impressive streak. On defense, opponents are still getting decent yardage but it's a nice feeling to hold them to only seven points this week. The Hokies have been creating turnovers  and getting sacks as well and this game was no different. The forced fumble with Stanford near the goal line was a thing of well-timed beauty. 

On a night when Miami again escaped near-disaster in the closing moments and Vanderbilt knocked off No. 1 Alabama, it's hard not to reflect on how close Tech has come to winning those games and being exactly what everyone thought they'd be this season. 

But there's still time to reach that final peak. For now bask in this week's dominant win and enjoy the bye. Hit the pumpkin farm, watch some other games, and get ready for what could be a really rewarding second half of the season.