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Hokies Football: #17 Virginia Tech Upset By Syracuse 31-17

For the first time since 2003, the Virginia Tech Hokies and Syracuse Orange faced off with the Hokies being huge favorites coming off three-straight 30+ point victories against a 2-4 Syracuse team. However, the Carrier Dome has been a house of horrors for the Hokies in the past and it proved to be that again. Virginia Tech came out very flat against a fired up Syracuse team that took advantage as the #17 Hokies lost 31-17 at Syracuse. The Hokies showed some life in the third quarter but never had the energy and got beat by a weaker team tha brought a whole lot more energy. The Virginia Tech defense struggled immensely against the very fast-paced Syracuse offense giving up 561 total yards and 32 first downs in what was one of the worst defensive performances statistically for Bud Foster. The Hokies were unable to adapt at all to this Baylor-style offense that got off an incredible 100 plays in this game. The Hokies were able to get some big snaps and an interception but an exhausted defense struggled a ton down the stretch and Syracuse QB Eric Dungey took advantage through the air and on the ground. The good news for the Hokies is that they won't face an offense as up-tempo as Syracuse at all the rest of the season. Offensively, the Hokies weren't too bad getting 468 total yards of offense but the Hokies just had a couple of costly turnovers including a Jerod Evans interception in the Syracuse end zone. Virginia Tech's running game did show some improvement but a failure to finish drives proved costly. Jerod Evans had a mixed day as he went 20-for-33 for 307 passing yards for 2 touchdowns and 1 interception plus 11 carries for 61 rushing yards. Isaiah Ford was pretty good with 8 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown while Bucky Hodges had 5 catches for 79 yards and Cam Phillips had 3 catches for 83 yards as the receivers were the one unit that definitely played pretty well overall today. Virginia Tech overlooked Syracuse and didn't bring enough energy to win against a now 3-4 ACC team. However, Virginia Tech is still a good football team that controls their own destiny in the Coastal.
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