It was a dominant performance from start to finish for Virginia Tech on their way to a 37-17 victory over UVA in the 105th edition of the Commonwealth Cup. There were plenty of strong performances, but two Hokies clearly stood above the rest to earn our Hokie of the Game honors.
Offensive Hokie of the Game: Pop Watson
After showing promise in his three-quarter appearance against Duke last week, Pop Watson shined in his first career start, leading the Hokies to a dominant 37-17 victory over UVA.
Watson went 14-21 for 254 yards and one touchdown while running for 65 yards on nine non-sack carries. Watson showed plenty of arm talent in this game most notably, hitting on three 35+ yard passes all of which were primarily due to air yards rather than short plays with an overwhelming majority of yards after the catch. He also showed some tremendous elusiveness as a runner, having a couple scrambles that even had some fans making Mike Vick comparisons, which is an obvious stretch but shouldn't take away from his impressive runs.
While Watson's time to be the full-time starter may not come till 2026 depending on what Kyron Drones does, he showed tonight that he has the potential to be a really good starting quarterback for the Hokies.
Bhayshul Tuten had another strong night with 18 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns including a 58-yard touchdown to seal the victory. Meanwhile, Jaylin Lane was also quite good with four catches for 91 yards including a 66-yard touchdown plus three carries for 17 yards.
Defensive Hokie of the Game: Antwaun Powell-Ryland
Antwaun Powell-Ryland delivered another standout performance in his final home game of his career, giving UVA fits from start to finish in this game.
Powell-Ryland had three sacks and a forced fumble in this game, making his presence known with a sack on the first play of the game. With his performance, Powell-Ryland now has 16 sacks on the season which puts him only 0.5 sacks behind the national sack lead currently held by Boston College's Donovan Ezeiruaku.
Powell-Ryland has been a consistent force throughout the year for the Hokies and was once again a force in this one, giving a UVA pass blocking unit that has struggled all season plenty of fits. With another multi-sack game, Powell-Ryland is continuing to make himself more money as his NFL Draft stock continues to rise.
Caleb Woodson was all over the field in this game with nine tackles while Aeneas Peebles shined in his final collegiate home game with three tackles including 1.5 for loss. Jaylen Jones added five tackles, an interception, and a pass breakup while Mansoor Delane had four tackles and an interception.
