BLACKSBURG-For a while, it looked like the improbable was going to happen. The battered and bruised Virginia football team faced its archrival, a top 10 team, on the road, without its starting quarterback. The all-everything QB for the opponent had left with an injury. And Virginia was winning.
But it wasn't meant to be for the Cavaliers (6-5). No. 6 Virginia Tech (10-1) stormed back after the return of quarterback Michael Vick to claim a 42-21 victory.
"As a team we were just up for the game, and we just came out pounding the ball," Virginia running back Antwoine Womack said. "I knew they were going to make some changes on defense, and they did and they stopped us for the second half."
There was hope early on. On the Cavs' first possession, Womack's 53-yard dash set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Tyree Foreman. Just like that, it was 7-0, and Virginia was thinking upset.
On the ensuing possession, Vick aggravated an ankle injury that had bothered him for the past month, and the Hokie offense sputtered. However, Virginia's James Johnson fumbled a punt, and Virginia Tech capitalized with a touchdown run from Jarrett Ferguson to tie the game.
"The kicking game hurt us," Virginia coach George Welsh said. "It helped turn it around. The fumbled punt and they got that punt return, those two things made a big difference but then our offense went to sleep after that."
The narcolepsy didn't start immediately after Ferguson's touchdown. The Cavs bounced back with a 24-yard run by Womack to claim the lead again at 14-7.
However, Vick's return spelled doom for the Cavaliers. The Hokies scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, two from running back Lee Suggs, to take a 28-14 halftime lead.
The Cavalier offense never got going in the second half, and they never came closer than 14 points after the break. Overall, the Hokies outgained the Cavaliers, 461-328.
"You never know going into a game what's going to work and what isn't going to work for sure," Welsh said. "Then we couldn't sustain the running game and we didn't have a good night throwing and catching."
Virginia freshman quarterback Bryson Spinner, starting in place of the injured Dan Ellis, struggled in his third college start, his second against a top 10 team. He completed 9 of 20 passes for 157 yards. Welsh put in Ellis for a series in the second quarter, hoping for a spark, but he was ineffective. Ellis ended up 0-for-4 in his last regular season game.
Most of the Cavs' offense came from Womack, who finished with 146 yards on 20 carries.
"I can't take all the credit for that because I've got big hogs in front of me pushing every play," Womack said. "I've got my fullbacks, Pat Washington and John Duckett, they're blocking their hearts out for me. I just can't take all the credit."
Suggs made the difference for the Hokies with 22 carries for 116 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He also caught a touchdown pass just before halftime that put the momentum squarely in the hands of the Hokies.
Even with the loss, Virginia will still go to a bowl for the third year in a row, the athletics department announced yesterday.
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