It may be fall now, but it didn't feel like it on a hot 90-degree in the Bay Area, a perfect setup for a lethargic performance as we saw from the Hokies in the heat at Vanderbilt in week 1. Instead, the Hokies delivered a workmanlike performance and show why their talent outclasses Stanford by a good amount, even if the Hokies' sluggish start to the season had made this seem like a closer game on paper than you would've thought.
Virginia Tech took care of business and cruised past Stanford 31-7 to improve to 3-3 on the season including 1-1 in ACC play while the Cardinal fell to 2-3 on the season including 1-2 in ACC play.
The methodical tempo from Stanford was reminiscent of what the Hokies faced in their opener at Vanderbilt. However, the Hokies were sharper on offense with a pair of 65+ yard touchdown drives in the opening half on three true first half possessions. Meanwhile, the defense was bend but don't break in pitching their third first half shutout of the Brent Pry era, with a forced fumble by Mose Phillips inside the 5 stopping Stanford's best scoring chance.
The points total may not have been spectacular for the Hokies but this was a very solid offensive day especially with the methodical tempo that led the Hokies to having nine drives total including only four in the first half, one of which came with less than 18 seconds to go. To turn half of the true drives that you had into touchdowns is quite the encouraging performance, and that's also not including a field goal on the last of those drives where the Hokies were simply trying to run out the clock.
Tech averaged a very good 6.1 yards per play in this game including the final drive where they were simply trying to run out the clock. Meanwhile, Stanford only averaged 4.1 yards per play on a day where the Hokies' defense was solid even if they bent a decent amount on two drives prior to the first team defense being pulled along with most of the second team defense at the very end.
With Stanford ranking as the 124th best pass defense in the country, this felt like a 'get right' opportunity for Kyron Drones and the Hokies' passing attack. That was truly the case today as Drones was very effective through the air going 14-19 for 201 yards and two touchdowns while running for 17 yards and a touchdown. Drones was fairly sharp with his accuracy in this game hitting some tight windows and though he did have a couple not as sharp decisions, this was a very good performance by Drones.
After having only 11 catches for 77 yards in his first 5.5 games, Da'Quan Felton found his rhythm in the second half with four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. This game included his two longest catches of the season, the 55-yard touchdown catch and a 17-yard catch that opened the second half just prior to the touchdown, both of which Felton did plenty of work to earn lots of extra yardage.
Bhayshul Tuten was slowed down but was still productive with 73 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Meanwhile, Jaylin Lane was once again strong with three catches for 29 yards plus a 24-yard carry while Stephen Gosnell had three catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Ayden Greene added two catches for 25 yards while Benji Gosnell had two catches for 10 yards.
On the defensive side of things, Kaleb Spencer continues to stick out when he gets his chances with four tackles including two for loss with a sack and a forced fumble. Spencer continues to be the biggest surprise among the transfers for Tech and rightly is earning significant playing time.
Mose Phillips had another strong performance with four tackles including one for loss plus a forced fumble. Meanwhile, Sam Brumfield led the Hokies with seven tackles including 0.5 for loss while Keonta Jenkins had four tackles including one for loss plus an interception.
After a heartbreaking loss but a performance where the Hokies looked like the team many thought they could be for the first time this season, Tech followed that up with a dominant performance where they simply outclassed Stanford. For a Tech team that has been pretty inconsistent for much of the season, this should be considered a welcome development to see the Hokies string a pair of games of overall quality play prior to the bye week.
This is also an encouraging performance from a passing attack that had been struggling throughout September. Now it's fair to note that this a poor Stanford pass defense, but this is the type of game that this group can certainly build on especially going into a bye week.
The Hokies get a chance to rest up before an important Thursday night clash with Boston College where they'll look to set the tone for a second half surge and run at an ACC Championship appearance.
