BLACKSBURG, Va. – Tobias Oliver’s first college start at quarterback went better than even he could have expected.
The Georgia Tech backup ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets ran all over Virginia Tech for a 49-28 Atlantic Coast Conference victory Thursday night.
“I’m a little banged up, but I feel pretty good,” Oliver said after carrying the ball 40 times. “Tomorrow morning I’ll feel it.”
Starting quarterback TaQuon Marshall, who sustained an upper-body injury during the previous game, did not play.
The Jackets (4-4, 2-3) finished with 465 yards – all on the ground. Jordan Mason also scored three times as Georgia Tech won its third straight against the Hokies and third straight in Lane Stadium – without completing a pass.
There was no need to throw.
“He played his tail off,” Jackets coach Paul Johnson said of Oliver. “He practiced all week. TaQuon was cleared to play, but he only got a couple of days of practice.”
Virginia Tech (4-3, 3-1), which led 21-14, faded after its defense forced a punt in the second quarter and Sean Savoy muffed it, setting the Jackets up for a tying 12-yard touchdown drive.
“That was huge,” said Jalen Johnson, who recovered the fumble. “The offense was rolling, and we got the ball back.”
Hokies coach Justin Fuente said the play wasn’t the only problem, but it was a big one.
“It certainly was a big play, no question, but I don’t feel it was the only play,” he said.
Georgia Tech scored the next 35 points and became the third team to score at least 45 against Virginia Tech this season. Old Dominion (49) and Notre Dame (45) are the others. Virginia Tech hadn’t given up at least 45 points to three teams since 1973 when Houston (54), Alabama (77) and Memphis (49) all did it.
Virginia Tech gave up its most rushing yards since SMU totaled 500 in 1973.
The Hokies had talked all week of keeping the Jackets from dominating the time of possession.
The Hokies’ first drive lasted 1:34, ending with Ryan Willis’s 46-yard pass to Tre Turner, and their second took 58 seconds, ending with Damon Hazleton’s 41-yard catch.
In between, the Yellow Jackets went 75 yards in 12 plays and followed Virginia Tech’s second score with an 11-play, 75-yard march to tie it at 14. Oliver kept the first drive alive with a 15-yard scramble, and Qua Searcy gained 9 yards on fourth-and-1 from the Jackets’ 34 on the second drive.
The loss also cost the Hokies their grip on first place in the Coastal Division as they dropped into a tie with Virginia for the lead.
The Jackets had a 20:34 to 9:26 time of possession advantage in the first half and an overwhelming 42:18-17:42 edge for the game. Virginia Tech gained 323 yards, but Fuente said “the valve shut off” after three crisp drives to start the game.
“They got good Georgia Tech,” Johnson said of his team. “This year it’s been good Georgia Tech and bad Georgia Tech.”