BLACKSBURG, Va. –– Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the Furman Paladins was certainly one to forget for Virginia Tech as the Hokies escaped with a 24-17 win.
An exhausted head coach Justin Fuente in his postgame comments said, “I’m glad we don’t play anybody next week. [There’s] lots to work on, I’m happy in a way, [after] halftime I thought we responded. It was a tough deal; nothing was going very well, and we didn’t have much momentum. Our kids responded found a way to get the game won. At times we played well defensively and at times we played well on offense. But not nearly consistent enough moving forward.”
In the first half, the Hokies found themselves losing the turnover battle. Tré Turner fumbled quickly after catching a pass. Fuente said Turner was “inconsolable” on the sidelines after the play. Fuente said that he did his best to “build him back up.”
Later, Ryan Willis sailed a pass over wide receiver Hezekiah Grimsley’s head which landed in the arms of Furman defensive back Travis Blackshear.
These mistakes set the Hokies back as they trailed at halftime 14-3. Furman was able to score two rushing touchdowns while holding Virginia Tech’s offense to only a field goal.
Although the Hokies went into the locker room trailing and with zero momentum, they appeared to come out more focused and prepared than before.
James Mitchell scored the Hokies first touchdown of the day on a three-yard rush. True freshman Keshawn King set up the short-yardage score with a 54-yard rush, which is the Hokies longest of the season to date.
Virginia Tech linebacker Dax Hollifield forced a fumble that was recovered by DaShawn Crawford. The Hokies were able to march down the field quickly and the drive was capped off by a Tré Turner touchdown grab on a fade route.
Ryan Willis was injured halfway through the fourth quarter. Backup Hendon Hooker came in and immediately handed the ball off to Tré Turner for a 29-yard rushing touchdown on a sweep.
Furman brought the game to within one score after a 10-play, 70-yard drive ending in a field goal. The ensuing onside kick with less than two minutes to play presented a questionable call that resulted in Furman’s recovered onside kick to be negated. The re-kick was recovered by Hezekiah Grimsley. When asked about the penalty, Fuente confessed, “I don’t really understand to be honest with you.”
The feel-good story for the fanbase is undoubtedly the performance of true freshman running back Keshawn King. King had 12 carries for 119 yards including the aforementioned game-breaking 54-yard run. For a team that has been as anemic offensively on the ground as the Hokies have been to this point, King breathed new life into the offense and gave them a much-needed spark. King exited the game in the second half after a right-leg injury and was cleared to return, however, he was held out as a precaution. Fuente spoke on King, “I thought he did a great job, he’s competitive, he’s tough. He’s not the biggest guy in the world but he runs hard, he’s elusive and was really productive.”
Ultimately, this game was a difficult one for Virginia Tech. The team was faced with plenty of adversity and they responded after halftime. The Hokies will have plenty of work to do before conference play resumes on Friday, September 27th at home against Duke.
Written by Greg Atkins
