2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE - HokieSports

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech
posted 27 points in the first
quarter and played all but six of
the 82 players who dressed on
its way to a 44-3 victory against
William & Mary. It was the first
football meeting between the two
schools since 1985.
Tech took advantage of
William & Mary turnovers and
excellent field position to score
three touchdowns and a pair of
field goals during the first 15
minutes of the game.
Eddie Royal then added a
60-yard punt return for another
touchdown just 64 seconds into
the second quarter. Despite the
William & Mary
Hokies Jump on Tribe Early, Roll to 44-3 Win
scoring flurry, the Hokies finished
with just 287 yards of total
offense and 12 first downs, one
fewer than the Tribe.
The defense contributed five
sacks and three interceptions,
one of which cornerback Brandon
Flowers returned 49 yards for a
touchdown. William & Mary was
held to just 5 yards rushing on
28 attempts, but managed 257
yards through the air.
Tailback Branden Ore scored
twice for the Hokies, running
in from 2 yards out and taking
a screen pass from Tyrod Taylor
34 yards for a TD just before the
half.
Eddie Royal approaches the end zone during a 60-yard punt return,
one of his two punt-return touchdowns during a season in which he
became the ACC’s all-time leader in punt return yardage.
Hokies-Tribe Game Notes
• The last time Virginia Tech scored a defensive touchdown and special teams
TD in the same game was against Georgia Tech during the 2005 season. The
Hokies got two interception returns for touchdowns in that game, to go with a
touchdown return on a blocked field goal.
• Freshman quarterback Tyrod Taylor tossed his first collegiate touchdown pass, a
34-yarder to tailback Branden Ore. Taylor also had a 45-yard run during the game,
the longest for a Tech quarterback since Bryan Randall broke off a 75-yard run
against Syracuse in 2003.
• Linebacker Purnell Sturdivant posted two interceptions, the first of his
Tech career. Sturdivant also had a career-high eight tackles and the first two
quarterback sacks of his collegiate career.
William & Mary 0 3 0 0 — 3
Virginia Tech 27 14 3 0 — 44
GAME 4
Lane Stadium/Worsham Field • Blacksburg, Va.
Sept. 22, 2007 • Attendance: 66,233
VT (11:58 re 1st) - FG Dunlevy 25
VT (7:37 re 1st) - FG Dunlevy 27
VT (4:47 re 1st) - Ore 2 run (Dunlevy kick)
VT (3:56 re 1st) - Flowers 49 interception return (Dunlevy kick)
VT (0:17 re 1st) - K. Lewis 8 run (Dunlevy kick)
VT (13:56 re 2nd) - Royal 60 punt return (Dunlevy kick)
WM (5:07 re 2nd) - FG Pate 22
VT (2:13 re 2nd) - Ore 34 pass from Taylor (Dunlevy kick)
VT (7:51 re 3rd) - FG Dunlevy 38
Team Stats WM VT
First Downs 13 12
Rushes-yds. 28-5 38-133
Passing yds. 257 154
Return yds. 8 198
Passes 19-46-3 15-27-0
Punts-avg. 11-38.1 8-43.1
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yds. 3-25 11-95
Time of poss. 29:57 30:03
Sacks-by 4-25 5-42
Individual Leaders
Rushing — WM, Schonder
9-42, Viola 10-17, Archer 1-(-1),
Potts 1-(-9), Team 1-(-17),
Phillips 6-(-27); VT, Taylor 5-52,
2007 REVIEW
K. Lewis 10-43, Ore 10-25, Holt
4-10, Pickle 2-8, Cheeseman
4-6, Team 1-(-1), Glennon
2-(-10).
Passing — WM, Phillips
17-40-3-243, Potts 2-6-0-14;
VT, Taylor 6-13-0-72, Glennon
5-9-0-49, Holt 4-5-0-33.
Receiving — WM, Atchison
5-81, Archer 3-39, Nicholas
2-63, Mack 2-30, Varno 2-10,
Viola 2-4, Dohse 1-16, Falbo
1-10, Schonder 1-4; VT, Ore
4-48, Smith 2-39, Wheeler 2-15,
Boone 1-14, Drager 1-9, Luckett
1-9, Hyman 1-8, K. Lewis 1-6,
Whitaker 1-5, Perez 1-1.
Purnell Sturdivant, who had two interceptions and eight tackles against the
Tribe, makes one of his two sacks here against W&M quarterback Jake Phillips.
2007 VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL 59
2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE