3 Key Plays - VT vs. Georgia Tech

With the kickoff of the ACC season, it's time to bring back our world famous segment - 3 Key Plays. These are the plays that made the difference in the game in the Hokies 17-10 victory on Thursday night.

1) With 12:28 left in the 1st quarter, facing 2nd and 4, the Hokies capitalized on a fumble by throwing a crossing route to DJ Coles (who hung on!!!) and he took care of the rest, dashing into the end zone. This score gave the ferocious Hokie defense the lead and really set the tone for the game. It was a well-executed passing play and it was a WORLD of difference between being held to a FG and scoring a TD after creating that turnover. Big play.

2) With 3:34 left in the 3rd quarter, the Hokies had Georgia Tech in 3rd and goal from the 10 yd line. The ball had been on the 1, but the defense had moved the Yellow Jackets back to the 10. A terrible, floaty pass to the end zone by Vad Lee provided an easy interception opportunity for Detrick Bonner. However, Bonner had other plans, deciding to run up the back of the receiver and sit there for 2 seconds while the ball fluttered toward them and then knocked the ball down. Even though he was beaten on other routes, it was clearly his worst play of the game. Instead of a pick, ending the GT scoring threat, or at least stepping in front of the receiver to force a FG attempt, he was flagged for pass interference and the Jackets converted on the next play to cut the lead to 14-10.  Awful play and it made the game a lot closer than it should have been.

3) 8:24 mark of the 4th quarter and the Jackets, trailing 17-10, have a 4th and 2 at their own 33 yd line. Instead of punting it and letting their defense (which destroyed the Hokies in the 2nd half) squash the Hokie offense, Coach Paul Johnson decided to go for it. DT Derrick Hopkins, who played like an impostor of Ndamukong Suh the entire night, blew up the inside handoff to RB David Sims and stuffed the play short of the 1st down. The Hokies would miss a chippie FG that would have iced the game, but they ran the clock down another 3 minutes and kept GT pinned deep.