Virginia Tech weathers the rain, runs wild over Tulane in emphatic Military Bowl Victory
Raza Umerani
Staff Writer
December 27, 2023
Kyron Drones did it all for Virginia Tech in its Military Bowl victory. (Virginia Tech Athletics)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – When Virginia Tech began its season 1-3, bowl eligibility looked like a far-fetched dream. A victory in a postseason game felt well out of reach. Finishing the season with a winning record appeared an impossibility.
Fast forward three months to a matchup against Tulane in the Military Bowl, and Tech did all three, capping off the 2023 campaign in a fashion which seemed like a microcosm of the season as a whole.
The Hokies (7-6, 5-3 ACC) split the Green Wave (11-3, 8-1 AAC) like the Red Sea amidst a Maryland monsoon to the tune of 453 total yards, pulling away in the second half en route to a 41-20 victory that secured the program’s first bowl win since 2016 and first winning season since 2019.
“Very proud of everyone’s effort,” Tech head coach Brent Pry said. “The team stuck together all year. They ignored the noise when it was bad and when it was good. They stayed the course. We were truly a team that kept getting better and better in a lot of places, and we needed to [in order] to garner our seventh win.
“I told the team it may take the rest of the offseason for me to tell people how much I appreciate them. To go from three wins to seven; obviously these players are a huge part of that. … It’s hard. And we are making great progress.
“There’s a lot of great things happening right now at Virginia Tech.”
Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten ran circles around the Tulane defense all day long, with the team amasssing 362 rushing yards – their most this season and seventh-most in a game in program history – on a whopping 7.2 yards per carry.
“Anytime we’ve had success this season, we’ve been able to run the ball,” Pry said. “That’s who we need to be. That’s who we want to be. I think with Kyron and his ability to stretch the field sideline to sideline, it opens it up for Bhayshul and Malachi [Thomas]. We worked the alleys, which was important. Made people defend the whole field.”
Drones – the game’s Most Valuable Player – had 176 yards and a touchdown on the ground, in addition to throwing for 91 yards and two touchdowns in the air. Not only that, Tuten poured in 136 yards and two scores as well.
“It was just credit to the [offensive line] being physical up front,” Drones said. “That’s what we said we needed to do from the get go. They were able to create holes for me and Bhayshul to be able to run the ball and make plays.”
Amidst the conditions, Drones was able to overcome two fumbles – each of which were unforced – including one on Tech’s first possession of the game, which Tulane linebacker Tyler Grubbs returned 21 yards for the game’s opening touchdown.
“That type of resiliency has been with me all my life,” Drones said. “Being able to handle adversity … I knew I had to do that. It was the first drive of the game and we still had a long way to go. It was a next play mentality, and as long as we did that, we’d be okay.”
In the deluge, the Hokies fumbled the ball five times – losing two – while the Green Wave coughed the ball up three times themselves.
“Obviously, as a head coach I need to do a better job of wet ball work,” Pry said. “It wasn't for a lack of effort. We have to make sure we are putting an emphasis on where it needs to be. It was tough conditions, you can’t really simulate it. They had the same weather we had.”
After a field goal drive and a punt, the Hokies needed a spark in an early deficit. They got just that when Tulane’s Donte Fleming muffed a Peter Moore punt, which was recovered by wide receiver Da’Wain Lofton to set Tech up inside the red zone in his final game as a Hokie before entering the transfer portal.
On the very next play, Drones muscled through the middle of the field to give Tech the lead with a touchdown.
They would not look back from there.
Threatening to take the lead on its next possession, Tulane tried to punch in a short touchdown with its star running back Makhi Hughes. But before quarterback Kai Horton could hand it to his star back, Hokies defensive lineman Pheldarius Payne was in the backfield, jarring the ball free on the exchange, where fellow lineman Antwaun Powell-Ryland was there to fall on it for a timely turnover.
“I was like, 'we’re on the goal line, somebody’s gotta make a play, why can't it be me?,’” Pollard said.
After the Green Wave tied the game on their next possession with a field goal, Tech had one last opportunity to score in the first half. Some solid running from Drones and Tuten would set up a one-yard toss from Drones to backup tight end Harrison Saint-Germain – who saw extended playing time in this game thanks to Dae’Quan Wright, the team’s starter, being in the transfer portal – to put the Hokies up 17-10 at the break.
The second half began the same way the first half did for the Hokies – with a fumble setting up a Tulane score. This time, wide receiver Jaylin Lane lost the handle, which the Green Wave were able to turn into the game-tying touchdown as Horton scampered into the endzone from six yards out.
But that’s when Tech started to run, run and run again. It would score just five plays later thanks to a 51-yard run from Drones which led to a 9-yard scoring burst from Tuten to bring the lead back up to seven points.
The teams would trade field goals on the following two possessions to make it 27-20, which is where the Hokies decided to leave no doubt. Big runs from Drones and Tuten got them in the red zone, where Drones rolled out and slung it across the field to tight end Benji Gosnell for a 10-yard touchdown just before crossing the line of scrimmage.
After a Tulane fumble on its next possession, Tech put the game away with one final touchdown – a 12-yard bob and weave up the middle from Tuten.
“It was tough sledding the first half, but [we just] pounded it and pounded it,” Tuten said. “I think we were more physical than them and we made them throw in the towel. We just totally dominated them.”
It truly was a domination in the end, as Tech outgained Tulane by 201 yards and nearly tripled its rushing yardage total, all while winning the time of possession and turnover battles.
“It adds to the momentum,” Pry said. “It just helps move that needle a little bit harder in the right direction. There's a lot of good things happening within our program right now. I think getting a win over a ranked team that had 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory last year. I mean, this was a good football team. It's been well-coached for a bunch of years. They had a chip on their shoulder.
“This was the type of win that we couldn't find during the season. And we didn't play as well as we could have today, and we were able to win by three possessions.”
With a 6-3 finish to the season, a bowl game victory and a whole host of talent returning to Blacksburg in 2024, the Hokies are carrying a seemingly infinite amount of momentum into the offseason.
And they know it.
“We stuck to the process and just kept going,” Pollard said. “And now people know the standard.
“Next year, the sky's the limit.”