Virginia Tech gets back on track with thumping of Western Carolina
By Matt Shetler
The second time around was much better for the Virginia Tech Hokies.
After dropping their season opener to No. 1 Alabama, Frank Beamer’s squad was glad to see Western Carolina on the schedule and Virginia Tech made easy work of the Catamounts.
Trey Edmunds ran for two touchdowns and Detrick Bonner returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown as the Hokies were all over Western Carolina 45-3 on Saturday.
It took a while for Virginia Tech to get going as their offense came out sluggish in the first quarter. Bonner’s 37-yard return for a score gave the Hokies a 7-0 lead after the first quarter before Logan Thomas caught fire.
Thomas shook off a 5-for-26 performance last week against the Crimson Tide to lead Virginia Tech on touchdown drives of 87 and 69 yards in the second quarter.
Edmunds capped off the first drive with a one-yard touchdown and Thomas hit D.J. Coles with a 19-yard touchdown pass to finish the second.
However that’s as good as Thomas would be on the day as he finished the game only 17-of-31 for 200 yards and a pair of interceptions in the end zone.
The Virginia Tech defense came to play though as they limited the Catamounts to only 162 yards of total offense.
After taking a 21-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, the Hokies got second half touchdown runs from a pair of redshirt freshmen. Chris Mangus had a 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to make it 28-0 and Joel Caleb scored from 13 yards out for the final touchdown.
The performance was nice for Virginia Tech, but it has to be taken with a grain of salt as it came against a team who has lost 12 straight overall and 28 in a row against FBS competition.