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Virginia Tech slaughters Cavaliers in 31-7 romp

Demonstrating uncanny poise in the first road start of his career, redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Vick torched a beleaguered Virginia defense to the tune of 222 passing yards and a touchdown as the No. 5 Hokies cruised to a 31-7 victory over then-No. 24 Virginia before a record crowd of 51,800 at Scott Stadium.

Last November in Blacksburg, the Hokies handed the Cavs a 29-7 halftime lead only to watch Virginia record the greatest comeback in school history to escape with a 36-32 triumph.

But Saturday, it was not to be.

"I thought we were ready to play," Virginia coach George Welsh said. "They were emotional before the game. But it still comes down to execution. We made stupid mistakes."

Especially in the secondary, where repeated coverage breakdowns made Vick, who failed to throw a touchdown pass in his first two starts, look like a seasoned pocket passer.

"They kept us off balance," Virginia linebacker Shannon Taylor said. "We would think the run was coming, and they'd hit us with play action. They just threw the ball well off play action, and their receivers went and got the ball. They hurt us with the pass."

Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, Virginia scored when quarterback Dan Ellis found tight end Billy Baber on fourth and goal on a one yard touchdown pass.

But for the remainder of the game, Tech posted a shutout.

"I think probably we came in with too big of a head," guard Noel LaMontagne said. "You get a little too much ego in this game and it can hurt you, and I think that's what happened.

Tailback Thomas Jones, the ACC's leading rusher coming in, managed just 83 yards on 23 carries in the loss.

In other game-related news, University Police Capt. Michael Coleman said nine alcohol warnings were served, but there were no arrests.

Six people were removed from the game for other infractions, including using another person's student ID to get into the game, he said.

Assoc. Director of Athletics Mark Fletcher said that despite the athletic department's plan to limit student attendance to 13,000, no students were turned away from the game.

Assoc. Director of Athletics Mike Thomas said student admission was about the same as at the Wake Forest game, which was 11,102.

(Cavalier Daily Staff Writer Maria Tor contributed to this article.)

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