Eric Kumah, Caleb Farley are the Hokies of the Game Against #19 Florida State

Editor

September 04, 2018, 03:00 AM

Virginia Tech made a statement to open their season with a 24-3 win on the road at soon-to-be previously ranked Florida State. The Hokies' defense put together one of their best performances of the past few years despite the fact that Bud Foster was replacing seven starters, six of whom are on active NFL rosters. Meanwhile, the Hokies' offense had some struggles, but they did have some quality performances on their way to the impressive victory.

Offensive Hokie of the Game: Eric Kumah

Eric Kumah made a difference both on offense and special teams on his way to earning our first Offensive Hokie of the Game honors of the season. Kumah led the way for the Hokies' receivers with 4 receptions for 86 yards including a 49-yard touchdown where Kumah broke multiple tackles. In addition, Kumah had a second touchdown recovering the blocked punt by Chris Cunningham for a short TD return. Kumah could have had one more touchdown, but a clear offensive pass interference cost him a touchdown before his first receiving touchdown. Kumah was steady throughout the night and has continued to take steps forward after coming along towards the end of last season. The question that remains is can Kumah build on this momentum and establish himself as the top guy over other talented receivers like Damon Hazelton and Hezekiah Grimsley. Deshawn McClease led the Hokies on the ground tonight with 77 yards on 13 carries averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Hezekiah Grimsley shared the team lead in receptions with 4 receptions for 28 yards while Damon Hazelton had 2 catches for 22 yards including a 10-yard touchdown reception on the first possession of the game.

Defensive Hokie of the Game: Caleb Farley

It's hard not to put the whole Virginia Tech defense in this category, but Caleb Farley earned the honors this week. While Farley was not perfect in this game, the redshirt freshman cornerback made some spectacular plays and had a very good debut that has helped him build an early case to be a Freshman All-American this season. In his collegiate debut, Farley had 2 tackles, 1 sack, and 2 interceptions with his second interception simply being a great show of defensive awareness. Farley came up in some big moments for the Hokies with a big interception in the first half and another big interception in the second half that completely put the game away after VT extended the lead to three scores. Reggie Floyd showed why he is one of the top safeties in the ACC this year leading the Hokies with 9 tackles while also having 2 tackles for loss. Trevon Hill stepped up and was a playmaker on the defensive line with 4 tackles and 3 tackles for loss including 2 sacks. Rayshard Ashby was very productive in his first career start with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 forced fumble. Divine Deablo was one of four Hokies with multiple tackles for loss finishing the game with 4 tackles including 2 tackles for loss. Congrats to Eric Kumah and Caleb Farley on being named the Hokies of the Game.