BLACKSBURG – Josh Jackson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown and Steven Peoples rushed for two touchdowns, as No. 12 Virginia Tech blasted in-state foe William & Mary 62-17 in a non-conference game at Lane Stadium on Saturday in a game that marked the Hokies' home opener.
The Hokies (2-0) showed no hangover coming off their huge win over Florida State on Monday night, scoring on 10 straight possessions during one stretch of the game and never punting. They racked up more than 400 yards offense in the first 30 minutes alone, and not to be outdone, Tech's defense held William & Mary to 100 first-half yards and just three first downs.
Peoples scored on runs of 6 and 4 yards and Jackson scored on an 8-yard run. Jackson, who played the entire first half and one series in the second, completed 12 of 16 for 217 yards and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Damon Hazelton.
The Hokies finished with 586 yards of total offense. William & Mary had 266, led by quarterback Shon Mitchell's 208 yards passing.
Hazelton caught four passes for a career-high 107 yards for the Hokies.
GAME NOTES
• The Hokies now have beaten William & Mary 12 consecutive times.
• The 62 points are tied for the seventh-most points in a single game in program history.
• Tech defensive tackle Ricky Walker injured his left foot in the first quarter and did not return to the game.
• The Hokies' 401 yards in the first half were there most in a half since amassing 434 against Wake Forest in 2010.
• Nine different players caught passes for the Hokies.
• Nine different players ran the ball, and six different players scored rushing touchdowns.
• Terius Wheatley led the way among the tailbacks, finishing with 58 yards rushing on seven carries and scoring his first collegiate touchdown.
• Jordan Stout kicked off nine times against the Tribe – and all nine went for touchbacks.
(9/8/2018) 2018 FOOTBALL vs. WILLIAM & MARY
QUOTES TO NOTE
Head coach Justin Fuente on his team's performance on a short turnaround
"I am proud of the fact that we billed this ever since camp started as 28 opportunities, 28 practices for two games – not just one. Not just the one on Monday night. Trying to take an inexperienced group and have them handled that, the emotions of that, is sometimes challenging. Our kids did a really good job of that. Today's performance in all three phases was not perfect … there are plenty of things to work on that we'll have to improve, but that's going to be the mark of our team. Can we continue to improve?"
On pulling Deshawn McClease and C.J. Carroll after early fumbles
"I told them [his team] we'll pull people out of the Corps [of Cadets] to run the ball before we got out there and just lay it on the ground all the time. That's just poor discipline, poor attention to detail. I was not pleased with that. If you can't take care of the ball, if you can't hold on to the ball, if you can't value the ball, it's hard for me to trust you with this team … That's not winning football."
On the difference between playing Delaware last year and William & Mary this year on short weeks
"Last year in this game, we got it handed to us between the technique and scheme they ran and their physicality up front. That's pretty obvious. We reminded them of that, I promise you that, but certainly a better performance running the football and hopefully we can continue that as the season goes on."
Fuente on trying to play freshman Quincy Patterson
"Yes, that was part of what we talked about. I just didn't want to put him out there that late. Kind of just the way things unfolded. They held the ball for a long time on that one drive (9 minutes, 50 seconds), and a really good opportunity never really came about for us to put him, but it was something we talked about going in."
TWEET OF THE GAME
1-0. On to the next one. pic.twitter.com/AOEKH9Q9LR
— Virginia Tech Football (@VT_Football) September 8, 2018
UP NEXT
The Hokies resume action Saturday when they take on East Carolina in a game that serves as Military Appreciation Day. Kickoff is slated for 12:20 p.m.