Hokies Put On A Show Against Syracuse (10-26-23)
By: Joey Raymond
All Photo Credit: Katie Lovell-LMS Network
Thursday Night In Blacksburg!
It’s Thursday night in Blacksburg, VA, a tradition that has been taking place since 1994. Virginia Tech holds a 23 -12 record on Thursday night. The Hokies host the Syracuse Orange this time, the first time these two teams have met on a Thursday night. Both the orange and the Hokies come into this game off of a much-needed open week. The two teams are on complete opposite trends coming into this game. The Hokies are winners of the last 2 of 3 and have a lot of momentum coming into this game, versus the Orange who have gotten Railroaded in the last 3. They’ve lost all 3 matchups by 3 scores or more. Both teams have been hit with the injury bug fairly hard. We’ll see if the Orange can bounce back, or if the Hokies continue the upward trend.
First Quarter Recap:
‘Enter Sandman’ is always hype, but tonight it’s almost next level, as the Hokies enter the stadium, and the fans reach a fever pitch. Virginia Tech wins the coin toss and defers to the second half, meaning that Syracuse will receive the kickoff to start the game. Thanks to a touchback, the Orange started the drive on the 25. The Orange struggled in the first drive, getting called for multiple penalties and punting away after a 3 and out. The Hokies’ first shot starts hot. They gain big yardage early in the drive, but then get stopped at the 26-yard line. Love comes in to kick a 43-yard field goal and nails it. Virginia Tech takes an early 3-0 lead. Once the Orange get the ball back, they again have to punt it away on another 3 and out. The Hokies on their next drive would go 10 plays, 68 yards, ending in a beautiful touchdown pass to DaQuan Felton, from Malachi Thomas, giving the Hokies a 10-0 lead after Love drills the extra point. Syracuse continues to struggle on offense, going three and out and punting once again. On the punt, Tucker Holloway returns it down to the 28-yard line, immediately having the Hokies knocking on the door of the red zone. The Hokies wouldn’t be able to turn it into a touchdown though, settling for a 32-yard field goal from Love. Virginia Tech leads late in the first 13-0. Syracuse gets the ball with just under 2 minutes left in the quarter. The Tech defense comes up big again, forcing yet another 3 and out.
Second Quarter Recap:
After a very eventful first quarter, we moved on to the second with Virginia Tech with the ball on offense. The Hokies would get a massive 38-yard run from Drones in the drive, and ultimately get into the red zone shortly thereafter. The Hokies would be forced to kick yet another field goal, as the Syracuse defense has held strong in the red zone. Syracuse would get their first, first down of the game on the first play of their drive. That would be all they get though as Powell-Ryland would get a massive sack, forcing Syracuse to punt on fourth down. The Hokies would methodically move down the field until the Hokies took a shot downfield. It works to perfection as Drones finds DaQuan Felton for a 62-yard touchdown pass, giving the Hokies a 23-0 lead after the extra point. Syracuse would gain their second first down of the game after a targeting penalty on the Hokies. They would further work down to the 25-yard line before getting stopped by the Hokies defense. They would attempt a 43-yard field goal and drill it through the uprights, bringing the score to 23-3. On the next Virginia Tech drive, the Hokies would go 6 plays, for 72 yards ending in a touchdown rush from Tuten. Virginia Tech would lead 30-3 after the extra point. Syracuse would again meet the immovable force that is the Hokies defense and go 3 and out once again. The Hokies defense would get two straight sacks to end the Orange drive. The Hokies would get the ball back with 39 seconds left on the clock. They can’t produce anything and punt it back to the Orange, giving them 3 seconds to make something happen. They just ran the ball and the clock out, taking us to half-time.
Third Quarter Recap:
The Hokies receive the ball to start the second half, after having deferred earlier. The Hokies would only make it to midfield before having to punt the ball to the Orange. The punt would put them on the 10-yard line. Syracuse would be pushed back play after play until the Hokies got a safety. The play happened because the Hokies forced a sack and fumble in the Oranges’ endzone. This stretches the Hokies lead to 32-3. Virginia Tech gets the ball and quickly has to punt, as Syracuse forces a 3 and out. Syracuse would find a groove in their next drive. They would go all the way down into the red zone and to the 6-yard line before they threw a touchdown pass to Villari. Syracuse crept closer on the score, but the Hokies still led 32-10. Virginia Tech’s next drive would go very slowly as the Hokies would look to shred some of the time off the clock. The Hokies managed to take it all the way down to the 7-yard line before kicking a 24-yard field goal to bring the lead to 35-10. Syracuse would start their drive with 8 seconds left on the clock. The quarter would end after the Hokies got another sack.
Fourth Quarter Recap:
After the sack, the Orange started the quarter on the 20-yard line. Syracuse would have to punt it away shortly after the quarter starts. The Hokies defense is putting on a clinic so far in this game. Virginia Tech’s offense would then get a turn in this fourth quarter. On the backs of Bayshul Tuten and Malachi Thomas, the Hokies would get all the way down to the 13-yard line. They’d get stopped there, forcing Virginia Tech to kick yet another field goal. This gives Virginia Tech a 38-10 lead. The Orange would open their drive with Virginia Tech getting another sack. The rest of the drive would be more domination from Virginia Tech’s defense, as the Orange was yet again forced to punt it away. Garbage time for the Hokies now as they bring in their second stringers. Pop Watson and company would gather a couple of first downs and bring the clock down to zeros as the game ends. The Hokies pull out a massive win, 38-10.
Post-Game Thoughts and What’s Next:
The Hokies continued their momentum and truly dominated in all three phases of the game. I would say that some points were left on the table, as some of those field goals should have been touchdowns. All in all, though the Hokies defense played the most sound game they have all year, with Powell-Ryland showing out to be a leader on this defense. Tuten and Thomas were the big stories on the offensive side of the football. Drones had flashes in this game but continued to be safe with the football and didn’t turn the ball over. Syracuse on the other hand looked abysmal. They ended the game with zero rushing yards, and only 138 yards in the air. The Orange went the entire first quarter without getting a first down, and the entire game without converting on third down. They would ultimately gather 10 points, but it was too little too late.
The Virginia Tech Hokies will take this win, move on, and head on the road to Louisville. The Cardinals will head into that game after playing an extremely tough Duke football team. For both the Hokies and the Cardinals it’ll be an interesting contest, as because of the North Carolina loss the second ACC championship spot is a free game. Syracuse will head home and try to figure out how to right the ship. They’ll play a Boston College team next week, a team that is better than what a lot of people thought they would be. The Eagles will come into that matchup off of an early matchup against UConn.
