Virginia Tech Beats Georgia Tech 26-17

After three-straight home losses, Virginia Tech went on the road to Atlanta and put together a strong performance to gain a much-needed victory at Georgia Tech.

The Hokies beat the Yellow Jackets 26-17 to improve to 4-4 on the season and 2-2 in ACC play while the Yellow Jackets fell to 3-5 overall including 2-4 in conference.

Once again, Tech's offense found their rhythm with a run-first approach combined with a solid passing day from Braxton Burmeister and a big day from Tre Turner with Tech putting up 491 yards of offense compared to 366 for Georgia Tech. Tech's 6.3 yards per play average may not be as spectacular but the Hokies were also able to put together some solid long drives mixed in with some big plays.

However, Tech having only 1 touchdown in 4 red zone appearances with 3 field goals continues to show that their red zone offense remains an issue.

The Tech defense bounced back this week holding the Yellow Jackets to only 17 points while keeping them under 400 yards after they put up 40 points in Charlottesville last week. The Hokies also forced 2 turnovers though the rush defense left plenty to be desired allowing 6.1 yards per carry with Jahmyr Gibbs averaging over 5 yards per carry excluding his 61-yard run.

Tre Turner was Tech's biggest star performer as the Hokies' top receiver had arguably the best game of his career with 7 catches for 187 yards including a 69-yard touchdown to open the scoring. His 187 receiving yards were a career high and the fifth most for a Hokie since the beginning of the Frank Beamer era.

Tech's rushing duo of Malachi Thomas and Raheem Blackshear shined once again as Thomas led the charge with 103 rushing yards on 25 carries while Blackshear had 83 yards on 14 carries while averaging almost 6 yards per carry.

Braxton Burmeister had a solid day overall going 15-25 for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns while running for 46 yards. Tayvion Robinson was productive with 4 catches for 27 yards including a touchdown while Nick Gallo had a 27-yard reception and Blackshear had 2 catches for 5 yards

Alan Tisdale was one of the top defensive standouts for the Hokies with a team-high 12 tackles including 2.5 for loss plus a QB hurry. Amare Barno made his presence with 4 tackles including a sack plus a QB hurry while Armani Chatman had the game-sealing interception plus a tackle with Jaylen Griffin having two tackles including a strip sack fumble.

While the end does continue to be near for the Justin Fuente era, it's clear that the Hokies are ready to fight to the end regardless of what objectives may be no longer obtainable. Meanwhile, Fuente's adjustment to spend more time with the first team offense instead of the scout team offense appears to be paying off but also too little too late.