Things were close at halftime, but Virginia Tech was able to pull away from Purdue in the second half for the 51-24 win.
Here are the five big takeaways from the Hokies' first road game of the season:
Another big day for the offense: Brenden Motley had 220 passing yards and Isaiah Ford had six catches for 128 receiving yards.
How's that for a stat line?
It was yet another big day for the Hokies on offense as they managed 471 total yards.
Motley continues to impress as he threw two touchdown passes and no interceptions. The Hokies also continue to show just how deep they are at running back as four different players had eight or more rushes, five if you count Motley.
Offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler is also showing some creativity with his play calling. In the third quarter, the Hokies ran a reverse to Sam Rogers who ran left, then threw it back to Motley on the right side of the field. Motley took it down to the 1-yard line setting up J.C. Coleman for the punch in to give Virginia Tech the 34-17 lead.
The offense is piling up yards and points in a way we haven't seen from Virginia Tech in several years.
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Fumbling problems: As good as the stats look, however, this was not a smooth day for the offense. Motley bobbled several snaps and fumbled three times. It cost the Hokies only once when Danny Ezechukwu returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. The play gave Purdue a 14-10 lead, but the Hokies were able to overcome it with a strong second half.
Against a better defense, three fumbles and a touchdown could easily have cost Virginia Tech a loss.
The offense may be putting up some impressive numbers, but this is still clearly a work in progress.
Beamer Ball! Purdue came into this game with a true freshman punter and Virginia Tech clearly knew it. If you try to line up a freshman punter against the Hokies, you're asking to get burned by Beamer Ball and that's exactly what happened.
The Hokies came after each and every punt and it finally paid off in the third quarter as Terrell Edmunds blocked one that bounced right to Anthony Shegog who returned it for the 15-yard touchdown.
The play capped off a 27-point run for Virginia Tech that put the game out of reach at 44-17.
Penalties issues: Virginia Tech was flagged 11 times for 87 yards on Saturday, the second-straight week in which they were flagged 11 times. Heading into the week, the most penalized team in the nation was Miami (Ohio) who averaged 10 penalties per game. The Hokies are on pace to be one of the most penalized teams in the nation.
Virginia was very aggressive on special teams which led to several offsides penalties. In addition to their punter, Purdue also has a shaky kicker that Virginia Tech sought to rattle with a strong rush. It cost them a few penalties, but that does not explain them all away. This is an issue the team needs to address and fast.
For a team hoping to win their division and challenge for the conference championship, the penalties are a serious problem.
Passing the Bear: Today's win was Frank Beamer's 233rd win at Virginia Tech, moving him past Paul 'Bear' Bryant for the sixth most wins at one school in FBS history with Nevada's Chris Ault.
Whenever you can pass Bear Bryant, it's worth a note.
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