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Written by Shamus Williams
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Friday, 27 October 2006 |
All week, the Virginia Tech Hokies (6-2, 3-2
ACC) heard about the changing of the guard in the ACC. They heard
about how Lane Stadium was no longer an intimidating place to play
anymore. They heard all about James Davis and C.J. Spiller being
the best running backs in the conference. Well, you can
officially scratch all of that for now after the Hokies dismantled the
10th ranked Clemson Tigers 24-7 on Thursday night.
It was an incredible effort from Branden Ore
and the entire Hokie defense that enabled the Hokies to pull this one
out. Ore ran the ball 37 times gaining 203 yards, becoming the
first Hokie back to eclipse the 200 yard plateau in back-to-back games
in school history. While Ore took care of the offense, the
defense brought a lunch pail mentality to the game, and got back to
Virginia Tech football. The Hokies held the much-heralded running
combo for the Tigers to 80 yards. The Clemson offense could only
muster 166 total yards during the game, as Tech forced the Clemson
offense to pass.
It was not always an easy game for the Hokies
though. After Clemson scored their first touchdown, a 6-yard run
by Davis, the Hokies had a fourth-and-one at their own 36-yard
line. Frank Beamer decided to roll the dice and go for it.
Sean Glennon got the 1st down, and the game seemed to go all Virginia
Tech after that. It may have been the play of the season for the
Hokies, as Beamer showed his team he had faith in them.
Too many times this season the Hokies played
to not lose the game, instead of trying to win it. Not on this
night though. Not in front of a fired up home crowd. Not on
Thursday night on ESPN. The Hokies played this game to win, and
Beamer’s call proved that.
After the first down conversion, the Hokies drove the rest of the way
down the field, on the back of Ore, and Glennon ran a QB sneak from the
one-yard line to tie the game. The Hokies owned the field
position game the rest of the half and tacked on a Brandon Pace 37-yard
field goal to take a 10-7 halftime lead.
The second half was all Virginia Tech, as
Clemson managed just a single first down in the quarter, that coming
with 1:30 remaining. Ore scored twice in the 3rd quarter, on runs
of 11 and 3, the latter putting the dagger in the Tigers’ hopes of
winning.
This game was refreshing to see as a fan and
student of the program. Nobody was as critical as I was following
the embarrassment of the Boston College game. They played with no
heart and no leadership in that game. Beamer was starting to look
a little like Larry Coker, a great coach who has no control over his
team and program.
Beamer turned it around though. Bud
Foster took the storied lunch pail away from his defense and told them
to earn it back. Beamer made his team watch national footage of
them being ripped by everyone. Thursday night, they played like a
team full of heart and leadership. It finally seemed like they
genuinely cared about winning the football game. When you play
like that, good things happen. Good things are indeed happening
once again in Blacksburg. The Hokies are in great shape to make a
return trip to Jacksonville and play for the ACC Championship.
They need a little help, but the Hokies should take a day to sit back
and enjoy this one. It was well deserved and well earned.
Beamer said it best during his post-game comments, “We did it the right
way.” The right way was the Virginia Tech way on this night!
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Virginia Tech 