Virginia Tech football didn't put together its best performance of the season on Thursday against West Virginia, in hopes of retaining the Black Diamond Trophy, but a few players shined at Lane Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd.
Stats with Salas
Wells-Smith Connection
To begin the second quarter, quarterback Grant Wells, who finished with 193 yards in the air and a passing touchdown on 16 completions, threw a perfectly-placed ball in the back-right corner of the end zone to receiver Kaleb Smith, who turned his body at the last second and completed the tough catch to put the Hokies (2-2) on the board.
The catch marked Smith's second touchdown of the season and puts him in the lead for the most on the team. The Bumpass, Virginia native also has a team-high 201 receiving yards, following his five-catch, 70-yard outing versus the Mountaineers (2-2). The touchdown catch itself was a 28-yarder, marking Smith's seventh game of having at least one 25-yard catch in a contest, showcasing his ability to stretch the field.
Ross Staying Consistent
It hasn't taken long for kicker William Ross to make a name for himself on this squad, with the redshirt junior being perfect on his tries for both PATs (9-for-9) and field goals (6-for-6). The last time a Tech kicker made his first six field-goal attempts was Brian Johnson during the 2018 season.
Ross, who was at Coastal Carolina and then South Carolina most recently before heading to Blacksburg, drilled a 44-yarder in the third quarter to make it a 16-10 ballgame. Of his six field-goal attempts on the year, five of the six have been 40-plus yarders.
Forcing Turnovers
One thing that has taken a little bit to get going is the defense for Tech forcing multiple turnovers a game. Quick changes of possessions due to forcing miscues can alter the momentum of the game, and the Hokies did just that in the early part of the second quarter.
With the Mountaineers driving and already passed midfield, defensive back Jalen Stroman got his hands on WVU running back Tony Mathis, who coughed it up and defensive back Dorian Strong fell on it quickly for the fumble recovery. Tech, which has played four games so far, has caused four turnovers on the season, with three of those being fumble recoveries and the other turnover being an interception.
Bringing The Wood
There were a good amount of defenders for Tech to tally career highs in tackles, including Stroman (8), linebacker Jaden Keller (7), defensive back Ny'Quee Hawkins (7) and defensive lineman C.J. McCray (5).
Meanwhile, defensive back Chamarri Conner, who wore the No. 25 jersey Thursday a part of the Frank Beamer "BeamerBall" legacy, had a game-high 11 tackles, including four of those stops being solo. His 11 tackles marked a season high for him and ties his career high, which he's done two other times, with those instances coming against Boston College (Oct. 17, 2020) and Miami (Fla.) (Nov. 20, 2021).
300 Club
With his seven tackles against West Virginia, linebacker Dax Hollifield surpassed 300 tackles in his career. Below is a list of the total tackles leaders since 1987.
| Player | Total Tackles |
|---|---|
| George DelRicco | 427 |
| Vince Hall | 404 |
| Ken Brown | 353 |
| Scott Hill | 343 |
| Ben Taylor | 338 |
| Andrew Motuapuaka | 333 |
| Cornell Brown | 321 |
| Jamel Smith | 317 |
| Jimmy Whitten | 308 |
| Randy Cockrell | 307 |
| Brandon Semones | 307 |
| Dax Hollifield | 303 |
| Mikal Baaqee | 299 |
| Chuck Clark | 296 |
| Rayshard Ashby | 294 |
| Torrian Gray | 294 |
| Xavier Adibi | 291 |
Scorigami
The 33-10 final score was the second scorigami of the season. Scorigami is the art of building final scores that have never happened before. More on scorigami.
Uniform Tracker
The Hokies wore maroon helmets, maroon jerseys and white pants for the first time this season.
| Helmet | Jersey | Pants | Date | Opponent | Location | Result | 2022 Record | Record since 1987 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maroon | White | Maroon | Sept. 2, 2022 | Old Dominion | Norfolk, Va. | L, 17-20 | 0-1 | 34-32 |
| White | Maroon | White | Sept. 10, 2022 | Boston College | Blacksburg, Va. | W, 27-10 | 1-0 | 9-1 |
| White | Maroon | White | Sept. 17, 2022 | Wofford | Blacksburg, Va. | W, 27-7 | 2-0 | 10-1 |
| Maroon | Maroon | White | Sept. 22, 2022 | West Virginia | Blacksburg, Va. | L, 10-33 | 0-1 | 121-44 |
Up Next
Tech will get a couple of extra days of rest before it heads to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for an ACC matchup with Coastal Division foe North Carolina (3-0) Saturday, Oct. 1. The Tar Heels play host to Notre Dame (1-2) this Saturday at home at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
The last time Tech and UNC played each other was a then-top-10 upset for the Hokies, downing Carolina 17-10 at Lane Stadium on Sept. 3, 2021. The Hokies forced three interceptions and converted on six third downs, while holding UNC to just two successful third-down tries.