Story of the Statlines: VT vs NC State
The Story
Despite the losing streak for the Hokies, it seems like they are closer than ever to breaking it than they are right now. But alas, what was once a 21-3 lead for the Hokies in this game turned out to be a mirage, which quickly turned bad for Tech. The offense seemed to run out the big plays, which allowed them to have such a big lead. Short drives in the fourth quarter combined with lackluster special teams and a tired defense do not make for a well written story of the game.
1. The Hokies score 21 points in the third quarter
Two big parts of the offensive explosion for the Hokies in the third quarter came from the likes of Dae'Quan Wright and Kaleb Smith. These players' big chunk plays helped the Tech offense get going after halftime and put them in a good position to win. We now know the final outcome of the game, of course, but this offense showed its big play potential for the first time in a while. Grant Wells also threw in some scrambles, including a 20-yard TD run, to make the score 21-3 at the time. He also completed the majority of his completions in the third quarter.
2. Kaleb Smith posted 3 receptions for 141 yards and a TD.
It's been no secret that Kaleb Smith is having a career year for the Hokies. He has 569 receiving yards, which is a little more than triple the second leading receiver for the Hokies, Da'Wain Lofton, who has 175. With Smith averaging 18.4 yards per catch, you can see that he is the only solidified passing option for Grant Wells so far this season. He continued to prove that Thursday night against the Wolfpack. He's not the fastest receiver, but Smith knows how to go upstairs and grab the football.
3. VT goes 1-11 on third down conversions
It's not everyday that you see a team score 21 while only converting on one third down, but the Hokies did exactly that last Thursday night. They used some penalties to grab some first downs against the Wolfpack, but only one was converted by the Hokies themselves. They relied on big chunk plays in order to put points on the board instead of long methodical drives. The only downside to this was that once the Hokies' gameplan was figured out after the third quarter, they had not put up enough points to win the football game.
