It wasn't always pretty offensively, but a dominant performance from Virginia Tech's first team defense provided by an offense that turned enough long drives into touchdowns helped the Hokies cruise to victory against Wofford.
Virginia Tech beat Wofford with the Hokies improving to 2-1 and the Terriers falling to 0-3 though the Terriers did score their first points of the season.
Tech's first team defense was the star of this game as they continued their impressive start playing 3 quarters before Brent Pry felt comfortable enough with the margin to pull them out. Over their 8 drives, the Hokies held Wofford to only 93 yards of offense with the Terriers only getting to the 50 at best on any of their drives and not into Tech territory. The second team defense didn't hold up as well with the Terriers getting a coverage bust on DJ Harvey to get into the redzone before finishing it off with a Nathan Walker TD run.
Virginia Tech's offense had plenty of long drives in the first half, but struggled to punch it in getting stopped on a 4th and 1, and then having a sack stall them out into a field goal before stalling out right before the red zone on their third drive settling for a field goal again. Eventually, Tech got their offense going on the finishing drives end of things with their first touchdown drive ignited by a spectacular Jadan Blue leaping catch on 3rd and 18.
Tech's averages weren't bad as they averaged 6 yards per pass play with the passing attack looking pretty good at least in terms of the receivers. The Hokies as a whole outgained Wofford 475-199 though 310 of those came in the first half with Tech's offense not looking great
Grant Wells made some nice throws while also locking in on one receiver a decent amount which slowed Tech down some. Tech's running game wasn't great but wasn't too bad either without Keshawn King and Malachi Thomas with Jalen Holston and Chance Black having some moments while Bryce Duke, in his brief glimpses, looked like he might be the best of those 3. Tech's offensive line also continues to be a concern with a lackluster game with that combination leading Tech to averaging only 3.2 yards per carry.
However, the worst news for Tech came on the injury front with Silas Dzansi suffering an injury during the second half and not returning to the game. His status is unknown at this time.
Grant Wells put up some strong numbers as he was 26-35 for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns on a day where he made some nice throws, but was a little late on a couple throws and locked in on a single receiver a few too many times that either led to pass breakups, missed bigger plays, or shortened gains to open targets. It was up and down for Wells as a whole with some good moments and some not as good moments though he largely avoided any throws that were turnover risks outside of 1 where the Wofford DB was able to jump it to just get there to break it up.
Tech's receivers were improved today headlined by Christian Moss who could be poised for a larger role after a great first half with 5 catches for 50 yards. Jadan Blue found his rhythm as a Hokie with 4 catches for 61 yards including a pair of spectacular catches. Nick Gallo also was reliable as an underneath receiving tight end with 5 catches for 52 yards while Stephen Gosnell added 3 catches for 43 yards.
Jalen Holston was okay with 16 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown plus 3 catches for 15 yards though he struggled to break tackles when he had chances for some bigger runs, and Chance Black had only 45 yards on 15 carries. Bryce Duke looked the best of the 3 with a 27-yard touchdown catch on a wheel route plus 6 carries for 25 yards while looking to most explosive of the bunch.
Tech put up 3 sacks today and got a decent amount of pressure with CJ McCray looking good again finishing with only a strip sack plus a QB hurry but being in the right spot plenty while Cole Nelson and Brion Murray added sacks. Chamarri Conner and Jalen Stroman each had 6 tackles to lead the way for the Hokies.
Tech's defense was strong overall, but the offense was uninspiring to say the least with some good improvement on the receiving corps front and a solid day from Grant Wells, but still plenty of room for improvement from Wells along with questions about the offensive line and RBs without King or Thomas.
