Hokies vs Deacons: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A pair of old foes meet again in Blacksburg as Wake Forest pays a visit to Lane Stadium for an early afternoon affair. The schools do have a few things in common. One is proximity. At just 115 miles away, Winston-Salem is the closest ACC town to Blacksburg; it’s a shame the schools haven’t met more often recently. Wake Forest’s stadium, Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium (formerly Truist field, BB&T Field and Groves Stadium) is the same design as the original Lane Stadium. And Bill Dooley spent six years on the Demon Deacons’ sideline after his time in Blacksburg was done.  

Virginia Tech holds the all-time series lead, 26-13-1, and the series is a unique one. After playing consecutively from 1916 to 1919, the teams took a 35-year break. The next meeting in 1954 began an era where the Hokies and Demon Deacons played 28 times in 31 years through 1984. They burned up Route 8 for 21 of those contests, with Roanoke (twice), Norfolk and Richmond accounting for the remaining four. 

And that was it, until the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004. 

Our walk down memory lane will focus on the eight ACC-era contests. Typically the better team, the Hokies went bowling in seven of the eight years these teams played and won six of the eight matchups.  The Deacons wound up with winning records in just two of the eight years the teams played. The games have featured lopsided Tech wins, some stellar defensive efforts and a game that set college football back 50 years. Let’s get after it.

This was Tech’s inaugural ACC season, one that saw them shake off tough losses to Southern Cal and NC State to finish the regular season 10-2 and win the ACC. The Hokies were coming off a big win over #6 West Virginia. Wake was 3-2 coming into the game on their way to a 4-7 season. 

A few squandered early opportunities and a defensive struggle for most of the game kept this a low-scoring affair. After Wake tied the game at 10 with 6:15 remaining, Bryan Randall led the Hokies on a 78-yard touchdown drive. Randall completed one pass on the drive, a 24-yarder to tight end Jeff King, used his own legs to cover 45 of those yards and let running back Mike Imoh do the rest of the work, including a seven-yard score with 2:10 left. The Tech defense bent but didn’t break as the Deacons got as far as the Hokie 5-yard line before rover Mike Daniels knocked down a fourth down pass to seal it. 

Imoh led all rushers with 100 yards on the ground. Justin Hamilton (58), Randall (46) and Cedric Humes (10) rounded out the rushing attack. The Hokie defense was led by linebacker Mikal Baaqee (13 tackles) and the defensive line’s four sacks (Jonathan Lewis with two, Darryl Tapp and Jason Lallis with one apiece). 

Wake coach Jim Grobe had the Deamon Deacons rolling in 2006. They entered the game 9-1 and #14 in the country, and they’d go on to win a school record 11 games and an ACC Championship. But it was the 19th-ranked Hokies who shined on this Saturday. 

Quarterback Sean Glennon outdueled his Wake Forest counterpart Riley Skinner by throwing for 252 yards, including touchdown tosses to Eddie Royal and Josh Morgan.  A jarring hit by Aaron Rouse led to a Xavier Adibi 35-yard fumble return for a score and the Hokie defense held the Demon Deacons to just 62 yards on the ground. 

This game marked the eighth of nine contests this season that the Hokies held their opponent to 10 points or less. 

Homecoming 2010 found the Hokies in the midst of an 11-game winning streak on their way to an ACC Championship. They averaged an impressive 38 points per game over that stretch, including a high-water mark 52 in this game against the Deacons. Wake Forest was simply overmatched here.

Jayron Hosley returned a punt 58 yards to the Wake 9-yard line less than a minute into the game to set up a short touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor to future 9000-yard passer Logan Thomas. Behind Taylor’s 292 yards, plus 157 combined rushing yards by running backs David Wilson and Darren Evans, the Hokies scored touchdowns on seven of their eight first half possessions and never looked back.

The lone bright spot for Wake Forest was running back Josh Harris who scampered for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Dyrell Roberts (134 yards), Danny Coale (103) and Jarrett Boykin (62) were busy in the passing game for Tech.

On a beautiful October evening in Winston-Salem, the Hokies spotted the Demon Deacons a 10-0 first quarter lead before getting the offense in gear. Tech started the game with five punts (the first four the 3-and-out variety), then scored on six of their remaining eight possessions.

Logan Thomas completed 17 of 32 passes for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns. David Wilson ran for 136 yards and a score, and Jarrett Boykin had seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. The Hokie defense had nine tackles for loss, and, after giving up an early long touchdown pass, didn’t allow Wake Forest across the 50 until late in the third quarter. 

There are ugly games. Then there’s a game so ugly, a transcendent meme is born for all the world to use for years to come. The shine of the Hokies’ early-season win at Ohio State had long worn off by the time this late-November matchup kicked off. Following that win in Columbus, Tech lost five of their next eight entering this contest and sat at 5-5. The Deacons came into the game 2-8 on the season and 0-6 in the ACC, losing their conference games by an average of 20 points per game. 

Sixty minutes of regulation featured 18 punts, ten sacks, four turnovers and three missed field goals and gave us this.

Staying on brand in overtime, the teams combined for three yards in four total possessions until a 39-yard Mike Weaver field goal mercifully ended the pain for everyone.

It wasn’t until two years later that we found out Wake Forest radio broadcaster and former player Tommy Elrod, disgruntled by not being retained by new head coach Dave Clawson, had leaked gameplan information to coaches at several schools, including the Hokies. The ACC fined Louisville and Virginia Tech for their part in the shenanigans, which were attributed to Shane Beamer (who by then had moved on to Georgia) and he was also fined. Clearly it wasn’t the defensive plan that was shared.  

On Celebrate Bud Foster Day in Blacksburg, the Hokie defense honored the legendary defensive coordinator by holding #22 Wake Forest’s offense largely in check. The Demon Deacons entered the game 7-1 and averaging 38 points per game. But Tech had a great game plan in this one. The Hokies started each of the first two quarters with long field goal drives that chewed up 16-and-a-half minutes of game clock. Wake Forest ended the first half with six drives totaling just 8:28 in time of possession. 

Quarterback Hendon Hooker threw for 242 yards and ran for another 69 and a touchdown. Deshawn McClease had 59 yards rushing and a pair of scores. Receivers Damon Hazelton, Tre Turner and James Mitchell all had big days as well.

For their part, the Hokie defense was pretty stout. They ended the game with seven tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions and seven quarterback hurries in the penultimate home game for Coach Foster, who had announced his retirement at the end of the season. Two weeks later, in his final home game, Foster’s defense would send him out with his 34th career shutout on Senior Day against Pitt.

A forgotten game, played in the middle of a forgotten season beset by Covid-made empty stadiums...The Hokies outgained the Demon Deacons 433-316, but too many self-inflicted wounds were their undoing. Quarterback Hendon Hooker threw three interceptions, all to freshman walk-on Nick Anderson, and Tech was flagged 10 times for 112 yards. 

Christian Beal-Smith was a problem for the Hokie defense as the Wake running back ran for 129 yards. Virginia Tech’s lone touchdown came on a nifty pass and catch from Hooker to tight end James Mitchell. Khalil Herbert, a future NFL running back no one ever actually saw play for Tech, had 103 total yards from scrimmage. Future Hokie wide receiver Donavon Greene had a 36-yard grab for Wake Forest.

Kyron Drones threw for 321 yards against the Deacons, a career-high at the time and eclipsed only once since (322 in the 2024 season-opening loss at Vanderbilt). Middle Tennessee State transfer Jaylin Lane had his first 100-yard receiving day for the Hokies, and his two touchdowns were instrumental in Tech’s ability to put this game away. 

Defense was big for the Hokies. They limited Wake’s ability to run the ball, making them one-dimensional, then they teed off. Antwaun Powell-Ryland had four (of Tech’s seven) sacks, a forced fumble and recovery. Keonta Jenkins had 12 tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles.