Revived Va. Tech runs past Clemson
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Branden Ore shredded Clemson for 203 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Virginia Tech held the No. 10 Tigers to 76 yards in the last three quarters in the Hokies' 24-7 victory last night.
Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), beaten soundly in its last two ACC games by Georgia Tech and Boston College, showed the Tigers what it felt like.
"It's just so satisfying to have a great team win," said Hokies coach Frank Beamer, whose team has been criticized recently for having three arrests off the field and a slew of unsportsmanlike penalties on it.
"We did it the right way."
Clemson (7-2, 4-2) had just three first downs in the last three quarters, and the third one came in the final minute, not long before the final gun sounded and Hokies fans streamed onto the field, surrounding the team and celebrating around midfield.
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, his team suddenly behind the one-loss trio of Boston College, Wake Forest, and Maryland in the ACC's Atlantic Division standings, said he knew coming into raucous Lane Stadium his team would have to play well, but didn't.
"This is not the first team Virginia Tech has done this to," he said.
Ore carried a career-high 37 times for his second consecutive 200-yard performance. He had 207 five days earlier in a rout of Southern Mississippi, and this time upstaged the Tigers' vaunted two-back tandem of James Davis and C.J. Spiller. They came into the game averaging 185 yards between them, but finished with just 71 yards on 22 tries.
The Hokies, leading, 10-7, at halftime, padded their lead early in the third quarter after Xavier Adibi intercepted Will Proctor's pass at the Clemson 35. Ore did the rest, carrying on five consecutive plays, the last an 11-yard, second-effort run for the TD.
Later in the period, he essentially put the game away, breaking off a 21-yard run to get the ball inside the Clemson 5, then carrying two more times to get it to 24-7. Sam Wheeler also had a big play in the drive, a 41-yard reception from Sean Glennon.
Glennon came in expecting to yield to Ike Whitaker at times to boost the running game, but it never happened. Glennon finished 9 for 15 for 108 yards and ran for a TD.
Clemson ran just 12 plays -- for 21 yards -- in the second quarter as Virginia Tech kept the ball for nearly 10 minutes. Brandon Pace's 37-yard field goal with 11:36 left in the half made it 10-7 and was his 14th consecutive successful field goal.
Clemson was in great position to at least tie it when C.J. Gaddis stripped the ball from a scrambling Glennon and Gaines Adams recovered for the Tigers on the Tech 25.
Three plays later, however, Proctor never got the handle on the third-and-9 snap and Hokies defensive end Barry Booker jumped on the loose ball to end the threat.
