2011 Virginia Tech Hokies Football: Va. Tech @ Virginia

The Virginia Cavaliers had a chance to win the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division this past Saturday. They had a chance to become the first team in the division other than Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech to earn a berth in the ACC Championship Game.

Their moment of opportunity lasted a very short time. The Virginia Tech Hokies made sure of it.

In a dominating performance after a season of fits and starts, the Hokies – on point and locked in from start to finish – thoroughly thrashed Virginia to win the Coastal and punch a ticket to the ACC title tilt this upcoming Saturday against the Clemson Tigers. Virginia Tech added to its reputation as the closer in the ACC, the team that regularly wins whenever a division or league title is up for grabs at the end of the season.

If you follow the ACC with any year-to-year regularity, you know that the Hokies have had the Cavaliers’ number. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer is one of those coaches who sells his players – hard – on the importance of winning the annual in-state rivalry game. Some coaches are unable to get into their players’ heads; they’re unable to bring out the best brand of ball in the young men they teach. Rivalry game competition is a unique creature in college football; teams might want to play their best, but they often enter games with too much exuberance and adrenaline coursing through their veins. A collection of 19- and 20-year-old males must have the focus and discipline to execute; passion alone doesn’t carry the day. Virginia Tech has once again proved that against Virginia, it is always able to deliver the goods.

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Virginia Tech has lost only once to Virginia since 1998. There’s not a lot of mystery to the matter, either. Virginia Tech was the favorite, but the possibility of a big upset existed on an afternoon when a surging Virginia club had a chance to win a division title on its home field before an enthused crowd at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Instead, the Hokies silenced that throng by delivering one of their most complete performances of the season.

Virginia Tech outclassed Virginia every which way but sideways. Tech landed big-play punches (two touchdown plays of over 25 yards) and excelled whenever Virginia threatened to gain a measure of momentum. Just before halftime, Virginia was driving down 14-0, but Tech’s defense – which flourished under the direction of esteemed coordinator Bud Foster – forced a fumble from Cavalier quarterback Michael Rocco. When Tech recovered inside the Virginia 35, the last true threat of this game was snuffed out. The Hokies scored less than five minutes into the third quarter to build a 21-0 bulge, and the rout was on.

Virginia Tech has returned to a very familiar place: the ACC Championship Game. The Virginia Cavaliers were also brought back to an old spot: the losing locker room after their in-state showdown with big brother from Blacksburg.

Virginia Tech Hokies @ Virginia Cavaliers Recap