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The Roanoke Times: Press Box

with our sports staff

Virginia Tech blog

-Hokies win 33-21

-Jud Dunlevy hits his fourth field goal of the day, this one a 26-yarder that puts the Hokies up 33-21 with 4:56 remaining.

-Tyrod Taylor runs one in on third-and-goal from 5-yards out, and the Hokies extend their lead to 30-21 with 11:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. Both quarterbacks delivered again on that drive. Sean Glennon hit Josh Morgan for 25 yards on the second play of the series.

-Jameel Sewell runs one in from 2 yards out, cutting the Tech to 23-21 with 2:51 remaining in the third. Huge third-down conversion on that drive: Jonathan Stupar diving to snare a 17-yard pass on 3rd-and-12.

-Jud Dunlevy tacks on a 29-yard field goal to give the Hokies a 23-14 lead with 7:51 to go in the third. The score was set up by a blocked punt by Davon Morgan. That's Tech's second blocked punt of the season.

HALFTIME: Highly entertaining game so far, as Tech heads to the locker room with a 20-14 lead. Tech's offense continues to move the ball well, just as it did the previous three games against Georgia Tech, Florida State and Miami. Both Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor have played to their strengths, with Glennon completing 8 of 12 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown. Taylor has run for 20 yards and a touchdown while completing three of four passes for 24 yards.
Haven't heard much from Virginia's Chris Long today. That's a tribute to Tech's much-improved offensive line. I haven't given that line enough credit for the resurgence the past three weeks, but they've been as big of a difference as anything. Virginia has three sacks -- all by linebacker Clint Sintim -- but Branden Ore is getting some running room. He's got 48 rushing yards on 10 carries so far.
Defensively, the Hokies stood firm in the latter half of the second quarter. Brandon Flowers had a key interception to set up Glennon's touchdown pass to Royal, stepping in front of Maurice Covington to snare a high pass. They also put some pressure on Jameel Sewell, who is 9 of 14 for 87 yards and has been sacked twice.

-Sean Glennon hits a streaking Eddie Royal over the middle for a 39-yard touchdown, giving the Hokies a 20-14 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the first half. Glennon is closing in on 200 passing yards already.

-Jameel Sewell runs one in from 8 yards out to give the Cavaliers their first lead of the game, 14-13 with 6:35 left in the first half. The Hokies got pushed around on that drive. The Cavs' line was physical and the backs kept their legs churning to pick up extra yards. On the previous drive, the Hokies looked like they were heading in for another score when they tried a double pass involving Sean Glennon and Eddie Royal. The pass to Royal connected. Royal's pass? Not good. It was short and off the mark, an easy interception for Chris Cook.

-Big response to the Simpson touchdown. Sean Glennon goes up top to Eddie Royal deep over the middle for a gain of 56, helping set up Jud Dunlevy's 37-yard field goal with 34 seconds remaining in the first. That ups the Tech lead to 13-7.
Glennon is 5-for-5 for 102 yards.

-Mikell Simpson scores on a 27-yard run to bring UVa within 10-7 with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter. Nice block on Vince Hall by Jonathan Stupar to help open the hole. Tech's defense got a little soft in the middle on that drive, allowing a pair of 22-yard passes.

-The offense is cranking again, no matter which quarterback is in there. Jud Dunlevy tacks on a 20-yard field goal to make it 10-0 Hokies with 5:47 remaining in the first. It's early, but Branden Ore looks better than he has all year. I think we say this every week, but I think he's gotten a little bit better every week. He had an 8-yard run on that drive that would have gone for minus-2 early in the season. There was no hole on the right side of the line, but he bounced outside and picked up nice yardage. Tyrod Taylor had shifty 9-yard run that should have been a loss, too.

-Oh, that crafty Frank. Tech couldn't have started the game much better, getting a 41-yard punt return from Justin Harper -- taking the reverse handoff from Eddie Royal. Four plays and two quarterbacks later, the Hokies are in the end zone. Tyrod Taylor runs it in from 9 yards out, and with 12:12 remaining in the first, it's 7-0 Tech.

PREGAME: We're going to try something a little different today. Doug Doughty will blog from the Virginia perspective (what the Wahoos are doing right, wrong, etc.), while I will blog from the Virginia Tech perspective. Don't worry: You're just as likely to find fast-food references in my blog as his.

With about 20 minutes before kickoff, they're introducing the Virginia seniors. Largest ovation, of course, was reserved for No. 91.

So you thought Black Friday at Best Buy was a mad scramble? You should have seen the UVa students sprinting toward the prime seats when the Scott Stadium gates opened a little after 10 a.m. Won't be a lot of late arrivers to this one, I can assure you.

-- Aaron McFarling

Comments

# 1

[November 24, 2007 11:53 AM]

Bobby

If everything happens as we'd like we could play OSU in the National Title. Here's the scenario we need: Today- Uconn to beat 3 WVU 2 Kansas to beat 4 Mizzou GT to beat 7 UGA Next week: OKL to beat KSU TENN to beat LSU

I think that would work right?

# 2

[November 24, 2007 1:54 PM]

Aaron McFarling

Thanks for the comment, Bobby. Love the enthusiasm. Your scenario asks a lot, but hey, you never know. It's been a crazy year. Who would have thought LSU would lose at home last night?

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Quick thoughts

  • Poll voters get it right -

    Who knew the Virginia football program carried so much weight? Southern Cal moved up from No. 3 to No. 1 in the Associated Press media poll, and from No. 2 to No. 1 in the coaches’ poll, after its 52-7 rout of UVa in Charlottesville. “To see a team go on the road and play a New Year’s Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?” voter Stewart Mandel of SI.com told the AP. Now we all know UVa is hardly the same team that played on Jan. 1. But the voters still got this right. USC proved more at UVa than a Georgia team that beat Division I-AA Georgia Southern or an Ohio State team that beat I-AA Youngstown State. — Mark Berman

  • ACC stinks it up -

    Arkansas State won at Texas A&M. Bowling Green upset Pitt. Louisiana Tech beat Mississippi State. But the ACC laid the biggest egg of all in Week 1, reinforcing its reputation as a weak conference. Preseason ACC favorite Clemson was squashed by Alabama. ECU upset the Hokies. USC flattened UVa. Maryland only beat Delaware by a 14-7 score, and UNC had to rally to beat McNeese State. On Thursday, South Carolina shut out N.C. State. At least Wake Forest beat Baylor. But the ACC was an object of ridicule on national sports talk radio Saturday night, and rightly so. And it won’t get any better next weekend when Miami visits Florida. — Mark Berman

  • Intriguing ACC games for VT hoops -

    The 2008-09 schedule for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team was released this week, and the Hokies will begin and end the ACC portion of it in noteworthy fashion. Their ACC opener will be a Sunday night visit to Durham on Jan. 4 to take on Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski and Duke in a game airing on Fox Sports Net. Their next game features a visit to Cassell Coliseum by Virginia. And the Hokies better hope they have a good record before their final three games of the regular season, because that will be the toughest stretch of their year by far. They host Duke in an ABC game on Feb. 28, followed by a March 4 visit from Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina in an ESPN game. The regular-season finale is a trip to Florida State, where Tech always loses. — Mark Berman

  • Good showing for UVa at Olympics -

    With the Olympics over, UVa has plenty to be proud of. Ex-Cav Angela Hucles, the leading goal scorer in UVa history, now has to be considered one of the best female athletes UVa has ever produced. Not only did she win her second gold with the U.S. women’s soccer team, but she scored a team-high four goals in Beijing — including two in the semifinals and one in the quarterfinals. Ex-Cav Lindsay Shoop also won gold — one of three UVa grads to medal in rowing. And Dawn Staley was part of a winning basketball team as an assistant. As for Virginia Tech? Well, ex-Hokie Ieva Kublina had a few good basketball games for Latvia. And Queen Harrison reached a hurdles semifinal at the age of 19. London could be in her future. — Mark Berman

  • Hightower making us look good -

    Tim Hightower is making The Roanoke Times — and Division I-AA football in this state — look good. Hightower was a standout running back at Richmond last fall, helping the Spiders reach the I-AA semifinals. We chose him as the Roanoke Times’ state Division I offensive player of the year, eschewing I-A stars. Now comes word that the fifth-round draft pick will likely be Edgerrin James’ top backup with the Arizona Cardinals. Good for him. I just hope he fares better off the field than our offensive player of the year picks in 1999 and 2004, Michael and Marcus Vick. — Mark Berman

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The Press Box blog will post entries on a variety of sports at both the high school and collegiate levels in Southwest Virginia. Contributions come from staff writers of The Roanoke Times sports section.

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