Eagles no match for No. 5 Hokies, 48-14

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP)—Virginia Tech settled a few scores with Boston College with one of its most complete games in years.

“We haven’t had one like this in a while,” coach Frank Beamer said after the fifth-ranked Hokies ended a three-game losing to streak against the Eagles with a 48-14 victory Saturday.

Virginia Tech (5-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) hounded Boston College 25-year-old freshman quarterback David Shinskie all day and pounded the ball on offense with Ryan Williams and an improving passing game.

Tyrod Taylor threw for two early touchdowns, Williams ran for 159 yards and a touchdown and the Hokies gave defensive coordinator Bud Foster little to complain about for a change.

The Eagles (4-2, 2-2) had two first downs and 28 yards after three quarters.

“It’s good that finally all our hard work paid off because we’ve been down on ourselves,” linebacker Cody Grimm said. “We’ve been working hard and playing what we thought were some good games and having some plays that killed us. For it all to come together is awesome.”

Eagles coach Frank Spaziani said: “We had some manners laid on us.”

The game was no fun for Shinskie, the former minor league pitcher who said this week he was looking forward to playing in the raucous atmosphere of Lane Stadium.

That didn’t last long as the Hokies hit him hard for the first time on the second play. He finished the half 0-for-9 with two interceptions, one of which Rashad Carmichael returned 22 yards for a TD, and his team trailing 34-0.

“I don’t know what I was seeing back there,” he said of Foster’s shifting defense. “They switch up their looks a lot. It just felt like they were swimming around the ball.”

Williams, the ACC’s top rusher, carried on five straight plays for 46 yards on the opening drive, leading to Matt Waldron’s 31-yard field goal.

Taylor took over next time, hitting Williams with a 23-yard pass over the middle on third-and-8. Three plays later, after a sack made it third-and-19, Taylor scrambled behind the line, broke an ankle tackle, then found Danny Coale wide open in the end zone.

Williams set up the next score with a 31-yard run and scored on the next play, and after Boston College benched its whole offense for one series, leading to another punt, the Hokies took over at the Eagles 41. Taylor hit Jarrett Boykin in the end zone on the next play.

It was 24-0 after just over 18 minutes and the Hokies didn’t let up.

Taylor’s scoring pass to the 6-foot-2 Boykin took advantage of his size.

“As soon as I saw the coverage, my eyes lit up,” Taylor said of Boykin’s third TD catch. “You could throw him the ball at any given time and I’m pretty sure he’s going to catch it.”

Taylor finished 7-for-10 for 126 yards.

The Eagles, coming off wins against Wake Forest and Florida State with Shinskie at quarterback, looked nothing like a team in the ACC’s Atlantic Division race. Shinskie looked every bit like a freshman despite his age.

“The quarterback is in the third game,” Spaziani said. “All os us had a tendency to anoint someone, but we have a long way to go. … We still have to get a lot better.”

Shinskie finished 1-for-12 for 4 yards and watched most of the second half.

At halftime, Virginia Tech led 34-0 and had 293 yards; the Eagles had 3.

Boston College’s initial first down came in the third quarter, and Shinskie’s first completion came a few plays later, followed quickly by a false start penalty and a sack for a loss of 9 yards.

The Eagles finally scored with 10:55 left when Michael Marscovetra hit Colin Larmond Jr. with a 48-yard TD pass against backup defenders.

Virginia Tech answered on the next play as Ju-Ju Clayton hit Marcus Davis for an 80-yard touchdown pass, and David Wilson added a 1-yard dive for the Hokies’ final touchdown.

Marscovetra hit Lars Anderson on a short TD pass with 33 seconds to go.