After a tough loss at Old Dominion, Virginia Tech bounced back in a big way with a 27-10 victory over Boston College at Lane Stadium to give Brent Pry his first win as a head coach. While there were plenty of standouts especially on defense, 2 players stuck out the most to earn our TLP Hokies of the Game honors.
Offensive Hokie of the Game: Keshawn King
Keshawn King may have only played for some of the first half before suffering an injury that had him out for the rest of the game, but King's presence made the difference on Tech's way to victory.
King had a 65-yard rushing touchdown that was not only built on great blocking but also decisive running from King with the perfect combination of decisiveness, explosion, and speed. He also added a 5-yard reception while finishing with 64 rushing yards. The good news with King is that he's also only "day to day" injury-wise according to Brent Pry with Tech needing a healthy King with West Virginia looming in less than 2 weeks.
Tech wanted to get Connor Blumrick a larger role and he delivered with a team high 5 catches that went for 46 yards while being a consistent receiving threat for the Hokies. Kaleb Smith also was solid off injury with a team high 50 receiving yards plus a touchdown on 3 catches.
Defensive Hokie of the Game: TyJuan Garbutt
Boston College's offensive line may have serious issues, but TyJuan Garbutt's breakout may have arrived after an absolutely dominant performance where he did his best Bruce Smith impersonation.
All 3 of Garbutt's tackles were for loss with a sack among them plus 4 QB hurries, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup. Tech got loads of pressure on Phil Jurkovec all night with Garbutt leading the charge and doing so against both Boston College offensive tackles.
He also was dominant both as a run stuffer and a pass rusher playing a big role in the Hokies only allowing 4 rushing yards to the Eagles both with his stuffs of RB Pat Garwo and his ability to force Jurkovec to be constantly on the run. Garbutt has shown loads of potential over the years but after a normal offseason following his second season as a starter and first since 2019, Garbutt is showing signs that he may be poised for a big 2022.
Dax Hollifield had another strong game tonight leading the Hokies with 8 tackles including 1.5 for loss with a sack among those. Both CJ McCray and Cole Nelson had a sack with McCray having 4 total tackles and Nelson having 2. Armani Chatman had an early interception plus 3 tackles including 0.5 for loss while Dorian Strong had 4 tackles plus a pass breakup.
