Drones accounts for 3 TDs, Hokies manhandle Stanford 31-7 to end two-game skid

STANFORD, Calif. -- — Kyron Drones passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third, and Virginia Tech bounced back from last week’s final second heart-breaking loss to No. 7 Miami and beat Stanford 31-7 on Saturday.

Bhaysul Tuten added 73 rushing yards and one touchdown while the Hokies (3-3, 1-1 ACC) got a big game out of their defense in the win. A transfer from North Carolina A&T, Tuten eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark for his career.

Drones completed 14 of 19 throws for 201 yards. He made touchdown throws to Stephen Gosnell and Da’Quan Felton and scrambled for 17 yards for Virginia Tech in its first game against Stanford since the 2011 Orange Bowl. Felton had four catches for 84 yards.

“That’s what we need to be offensively, defensively, special teams,” Hokies coach Brent Pry said. “A well-rounded effort against a good team at their place after a tough loss.”

The Hokies spent much of the week trying to move on from the disappointing loss to the Hurricanes on Sept. 27. In that game Drones and Felton connected on a 30-yard touchdown in the final seconds, only to have the call overturned by replay.

Virginia Tech never let it get that close against Stanford.

While Drones patiently guided the offense, Tuten kept the Hokies rolling on the ground. The second-leading rusher in the ACC going into the game, Tuten repeatedly gouged the conference’s top run defense for big gains to help the Hokies end a two-game skid.

“We came out and we ran the ball extremely well today,” Tuten said. “I think it definitely shows us that we’re the top run offense in the league.”

Stanford (2-3, 1-2 ACC) changed quarterbacks after Ashton Daniels was knocked out of last week’s loss to Clemson with a sore ankle but the results weren’t much different.

Justin Lamson, who played sparingly in the Cardinal’s first four games, completed 13 of 24 passes for 103 yards with one interception.

Virginia Tech held the Cardinal to 258 yards of offense.

“We have to be a defense that can cause some mayhem,” Pry said. “That’s the style of defense we want to play.”

After Stanford kicker Emmel Kenney’s 53-yard field goal attempt fell short on the opening drive of the game, Virginia Tech responded with a quick, efficient scoring drive. Wide receiver Jaylin Lane caught two passes for 26 yards, then ran 24-yards on a reverse to set up Drones’ 17-yard touchdown to Gosnell.

Tuten bulled into the end zone on a fourth-down play in the second quarter to put the Hokies ahead 14-0 at halftime.

The Hokies went up 21-0 when Drones squeezed a throw in between a pair of defenders and connected with Felton for a 55-yard touchdown to begin the second half. Felton caught the pass near the Stanford 35 then broke away and ran untouched into the end zone.

Stanford’s only score came off a trick play in the third quarter when running back Micah Ford threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Elic Ayomanor late in the third quarter.

“We just never had any big plays, really,” Stanford coach Troy Taylor said. “We didn’t do enough offensively to create some space and some big plays. We had some opportunities there, but we didn’t play well enough in all three phases.”

John Love kicked a 46-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Virginia Tech.

Takeaways

Virginia Tech: The Hokies played a solid game defensively but as always it was Tuten’s running that carried the day. Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen drew up a few trick plays to keep the Stanford defense on its toes, though the Cardinal were repeatedly bullied backward by Tuten’s bullish-style of running. Drones didn’t have a big passing day but did a great job moving around in the pocket to avoid Stanford’s pass rush.

Stanford: Not even a change in quarterback could get the Cardinal offense going. Lamson, probably the most mobile QB on the roster, ran well on keepers and sneaks but never found a rhythm with his receivers and lost a fumble in the red zone. Coach Troy Taylor needs to find a remedy quickly because Stanford’s next game is against a Top 25 squad.

Up Next:

Virginia Tech: Hosts Boston College on Oct. 17.

Stanford: Travels to play at No. 16 Notre Dame next Saturday.

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