Sept. 24, 2005
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Jeff King caught a touchdown pass from Marcus Vick and blocked a field goal that turned into a 78-yard scoring run by D.J. Parker and No. 4 Virginia Tech defeated No. 15 Georgia Tech 51-7 on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets (3-1, 1-1), trying to start a season with four consecutive victories for the first time since they shared the national championship in 1990, instead were subjected to Beamerball at its most efficient.
Parker scooped up a field goal blocked by King and ran 78 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hokies a 14-0 first-quarter lead. And Xavier Adibi and Chris Ellis returned third-quarter interceptions for TDs just 26 seconds apart.
King caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Vick, Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes ran for scores and Brandon Pace kicked three field goals for the Hokies.
Georgia Tech came in poised to test the Hokies suspect secondary, but Reggie Ball hardly had a chance, being forced repeatedly to throw the ball away under pressure.
He did hit Calvin Johnson for 59 yards on a third-down play in the third quarter, and then found Johnson again from 11 yards out for a touchdown. It was the first touchdown the Hokies have allowed in 14 quarters since the opening drive of the season.
The score made it 31-7, and that seemed to fire up the Hokies defenders even more.
After the Hokies drove for a field goal, Adibi stepped in front of Ball’s pass toward Johnson and went 25 yards for the touchdown. On the Yellow Jackets next series, Ellis did the same thing, taking it 29 yards to finish the 17-point outburst.
Ball, who sat out last weekend’s victory against Connecticut while being treated for viral meningitis and had had limited practice time this week, was not sharp. He finished 11-of-27 for 143 yards before being mercifully lifted in the late going.
Vick was 13-of-18 for a career-best 223 yards. Next up for the Hokies is next week’s game at West Virginia.
Through four games, Virginia Tech has outscored its opponents 161-23.
