The Virginia Tech Hokies defeated Pittsburgh 39-36 to take a commanding lead in the ACC Coastal division.
Make no mistake about it: this wasn’t a perfect performance from the Hokies. The Virginia Tech defense – which came into the game ranked fourth nationally in yards per carry (2.94 ypc) – struggled against the run all night long, allowing James Conner to run for 141 yards on just 19 carries. The Hokie offense had similar difficulty, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry.
While Tech definitely needs to address these issues in practice, it’s hard not to be impressed with the team’s performance on Thursday night. Quarterback Jerod Evans had the best outing of his Hokie career in this contest, completing 24 of 43 passes for 406 yards and two touchdowns. Cam Phillips also had a great night, catching six passes for 109 yards, while rushing five times for 43 yards. Of course, his best run of the evening came on the final drive of the game as he managed to elude a tackler in the backfield to pick up a first down, ending any hope of a potential Pittsburgh comeback.
The Tech defense was just as impressive. Sure, it gave up its share of yardage, but the Hokie D got the job done on crucial downs, limiting Pittsburgh to just 3 of 10 on third down opportunities. It also forced two turnovers, which is quite an accomplishment considering that the Panthers had only lost six turnovers coming into this contest.
With the victory tonight, Virginia Tech took a commanding lead in the ACC Coastal Division. Yes, it’s technically in a first-place tie with North Carolina. However, the Hokies throttled the ‘Heels 34-3, which gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker. Given that Virginia Tech’s remaining three ACC contests are against teams that have a combined record of 2-10 in conference play, it has to like its chances of winning out and advancing to the league title game for the first time since 2011.
