No. 6 Notre Dame beat up on No. 24 Virginia Tech on Saturday in Blacksburg, 45-23. The Irish moved to 6-0 and further entrenched themselves as a frontline Playoff threat.
Notre Dame makes yet another statement by beating Virginia Tech in Blacksburg
12-0 looks increasingly likely.
Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images
If the Irish go unbeaten, they’ll finish in the top four. And, well, here’s what’s left, now that the Hokies have stacked this ranked win on top of priors against Michigan and Stanford:
- Pitt at home
- Navy at a neutral site (San Diego)
- at Northwestern
- Florida State
- Syracuse at a sorta neutral site (Yankee Stadium)
- at USC
It’s not at all clear who’s going to prevent the Irish from going 12-0. Their lack of a conference championship game wouldn’t hurt them if they finished without a single loss.
In the Irish’s latest impressive win, they put up 6.5 yards per play to Virginia Tech’s 5.2. They got outgained by 3 yards in total, but that’s misleading; Notre Dame moved the ball more efficiently and tacked on a defensive score to make the margin bigger.
Here was a scoring recap:
ND 45, VT 23
Dexter Williams ran 31 yards for his third touchdown of the night. That’s that.
ND 38, VT 23
Ryan Willis threw a 15-yard touchdown to Eric Kumah to bring the Hokies a shade closer.
ND 38, VT 16
Ian Book’s thrown his second touchdown to Miles Boykin of this half. The rout is on in Blacksburg.
ND 31, VT 16
Virginia Tech asked Brian Johnson to hit a 52-yard field goal. He missed it. Not sure what Justin Fuente was thinking there, down 15 points with 14 minutes left.
Third quarter
ND 31, VT 16
Ian Book threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Miles Boykin, again extending the Irish lead.
ND 24, VT 16
Dexter Williams just ran 97 yards for a touchdown to extend Notre Dame’s lead.
Halftime: Notre Dame 17, Virginia Tech 16
The Hokies are getting 5 yards per play to the Irish’s 4.4. It’s been an evenly played game, even with a slight edge in quality for Virginia Tech. But the Irish have a defensive touchdown, and that’s slightly shifted the balance of the game for now.
ND 17, VT 16
The Hokies answered a Notre Dame scoop-and-score by marching 75 yards in eight plays and scoring themselves: a 3-yard pass from Ryan Willis to Damon Hazelton.
ND 17, VT 9
The Irish got insurance points when Khalid Kareem sacked Ryan Willis and forced a fumble, which cornerback Julian Love scooped and ran 42 yards to the house with.
ND 10, VT 9
The Hokies are racking up field goals. This Brian Johnson kick was good from 22.
ND 10, VT 6
Brian Johnson connected on a 43-yard field goal, his second of the game, after the Hokie defense forced a turnover on downs at the Notre Dame 43.
First quarter
ND 10, VT 3
Brian Johnson put through a 39-yard field goal for the Hokies with 21 seconds in the quarter.
ND 10, VT 0
Justin Yoon drilled a 31-yard field goal to extend the Irish lead.
ND 7, VT 0
Lane Stadium was jumping after Enter Sandman, but the Irish just quieted the place down in a hurry with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. It ended with Dexter Williams muscling his way into the end zone from a yard out. Justin Yoon converted the PAT.
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