Story of the Statlines: VT vs GT

The Hokies' season so far this year can be compared to a book that you want to stop reading but can't because you still want to see the ending. The game this past Saturday proved to be another heartbreaker in a packed house at Lane Stadium. There are many parallels between this game and the one against NC State, one of which was another double-digit lead blown and a loss. Although this season has not been what Hokie Nation wanted, there are still some positives to move forward with.

Special teams this season for the Hokies' has been a huge question mark up until this week. Tech has been looking for the right guy for punt and kick returns all season, and they may have found him in Tucker Holloway. A freshman from Andrews, NC, Holloway showed that he has the ability to be the main return guy for the Hokies for the rest of the season and beyond. He took advantage of his opportunity against Georgia Tech by breaking the VT record for most return yards by a single player, passing the record of 164 yards set by Antonio Freeman back in 1994 against Pitt. Holloway’s ability to field every ball kicked to him and follow his return team’s blocks is all you ask from your punt/kick returner. Expect Holloway to be the guy again next week as he hopes to build off of his record-setting game.

During the loss this past Saturday, Virginia Tech had a turnover differential of -3, which included two fumbles and an interception from Grant Wells, as well as a fumble from Keshawn King. Many of the turnovers for the Hokies were crucial, with three of them happening in Georgia Tech territory and the last one coming on the final drive of the game. Overall, the Hokies need to take better care of the football, whether that's by making better decisions on where to throw the ball or just by keeping two arms around the ball at all times. Momentum is massive when it comes to closing out a football game, and the Hokies handed all their momentum away with their turnovers, which in turn handed Georgia Tech the win.

A name that Hokie fans haven't heard much from in the last couple games is Keshawn King. King received his most amount of carries as well as rushed for the most amount of yards so far this season since week one, when he had 19 carries and 111 rushing yards against ODU. He has been a bit of a mystery in this offense and hasn't been utilized to the best of his abilities, but he has shown he has what it takes to be a solid back for this Tech squad. He did have a costly fumble in the red zone but should get more carries next week against Duke.