Virginia Tech's Top 10 Plays of the Last Ten Years: No. 7

TKP is counting down the Hokies' top ten devastating and dominating plays of the last 10 years

As a TKP reader, and therefore Virginia Tech Hokies fanatic, EVERY play of every game has you captivated and your emotional state hangs on every pass, every tackle, every penalty, every little detail of every game. But of course not all plays are as big as others and as your memory of the mundane fades you're left with last memories of the truly game-changing plays of every season. Here we use analytics to count down the biggest, most game-changing plays in the past 10 years of Virginia Tech football...

In each installment of this series I'll bring you two plays: one play devastating to the Hokies' chance to win, and one dominating play in Virginia Tech's favor. They will count down in order of how much each play affected the odds of Tech's victory.

For details on the method, see Virginia Tech's Top 10 Plays of the Last Ten Years: No. 10.

The Countdown

Most Devastating:

10. Boise State 9/6/2010 - Kellen Moore pass complete to Austin Pettis for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN
9. Miami 11/4/2006 - Tyrone Moss rush for 50 yards for a TOUCHDOWN
8. Boston College 11/2/2013 - Logan Thomas pass intercepted by Kevin Pierre-Louis at the VTech 33, returned for 33 yards for a TOUCHDOWN

Most Dominating:

10. Boston College 12/1/2007 - Sean Glennon pass complete to Eddie Royal for 24 yards for a TOUCHDOWN
9. North Carolina 10/29/2009 - T.J. Yates pass intercepted by Rashad Carmichael at the North Carolina 10, returned for 5 yards to the North Carolina 5
8. Georgia Tech 9/3/2012 - Logan Thomas pass complete to Demitri Knowles for 42 yards for a TOUCHDOWN

The 7th-most Devastating Play: Miami 10/8/2011 - Lamar Miller rush over right guard for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN

Virginia Tech led the entire game in a contest that was unusually high-scoring for the Hokies. Early in the fourth quarter, Miami had cut that lead to 3 points and immediate backed up the Tech offense on a three-and-out. Miami would take over the ball on the Hokie 42-yard-line with a six minutes to go in the game.

A first down, 23-yard Lamar Miller run helped put the 'Canes in striking distance, but late drive penalties would ultimately leave Miami with a second-and-goal situation from the 30-yard-line. Tech's defense smelled blood in the water, but on the called run, Lamar Miller found a hole in the middle of the line, and ran through nearly untouched and with no secondary in place to stop him. He gave the Hurricanes a 4-point lead with under three minutes on the clock, setting up an opportunity for Logan Thomas to become a legend.

Logan Thomas capitalized, and Virginia Tech would ultimately win the game 38-35. But more on that another time...

The 7th-most Dominating Play: Rutgers 12/29/2012 - Logan Thomas pass complete to Corey Fuller for 21 yards for a TOUCHDOWN

The Russell Athletic Bowl matchup between Virginia Tech and Rutgers was an ugly game best known for setting the bowl record of 20 combined punts (and what might be the worst-looking Virginia Tech helmets of all time—matte maroon with shiny orange Fighting Gobbler). Both teams had difficulty putting themselves in a position to win, and a low-scoring, balanced game sets up for a big play to tip the scales. Said play came early in the fourth quarter for the Hokies following a big Antone Exum interception returned to the Rutgers' 21. The Virginia Tech offense appeared to still have its wheels stuck in the mud and quickly found themselves looking at 3rd-and-10 and down 3-10.

On the second-down play, Thomas threw a poorly thrown ball that should have scored the tying touchdown. But the second time around he put the perfect touch on a fade to Corey Fuller in the front corner of the end zone, and Fuller kept himself in position to catch it in-bounds and away from the defender. The score and extra point tied the game at 10 and ultimately sent the game to overtime.

Virginia Tech would win on an overtime field goal, 13-10 in a less-than-memorable bowl game that at least delivered this gem from Logan and Corey.

Comments

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"The Big Ten is always using excuses to cancel games with us. First Wisconsin. Then Wisconsin. After that, Wisconsin. The subsequent cancellation with Wisconsin comes to mind too. Now Penn State. What's next? Wisconsin?" -HorseOnATreadmill

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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Tweedy can run like a dadgum antelope or whatever. I like to use scalded dog. Do antelopes lumber? Cheetah, OK. He runs like a cheetah. He's fast. - Bud Foster

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Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

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"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

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Best duos in Hokie history: Hall & Adibi, 3rd & Tyrod, Georgia & Liz

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Best duos in Hokie history: Hall & Adibi, 3rd & Tyrod, Georgia & Liz

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"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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"I liked you guys a lot better when everybody told you you were terrible." -Justin Fuente

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Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

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"The Big Ten is always using excuses to cancel games with us. First Wisconsin. Then Wisconsin. After that, Wisconsin. The subsequent cancellation with Wisconsin comes to mind too. Now Penn State. What's next? Wisconsin?" -HorseOnATreadmill

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"The Big Ten is always using excuses to cancel games with us. First Wisconsin. Then Wisconsin. After that, Wisconsin. The subsequent cancellation with Wisconsin comes to mind too. Now Penn State. What's next? Wisconsin?" -HorseOnATreadmill

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Sometimes we live no particular way but our own

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"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

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"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

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If you don't want to recruit clowns, don't run a clown show.

"I want to punch people from UVA right in the neck." - Colin Cowherd

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"The Big Ten is always using excuses to cancel games with us. First Wisconsin. Then Wisconsin. After that, Wisconsin. The subsequent cancellation with Wisconsin comes to mind too. Now Penn State. What's next? Wisconsin?" -HorseOnATreadmill

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If you don't want to recruit clowns, don't run a clown show.

"I want to punch people from UVA right in the neck." - Colin Cowherd

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There's always a lighthouse. There's always a man. There's always a city.

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I'm here for the memes, I just stay for the football.

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21st century QBs Undefeated vs UVA:
MV7, MV5, LT3, Grant Wells, Braxton Burmeister, Ryan Willis, Josh Jackson, Jerod Evans, Michael Brewer, Tyrod Taylor, Sean Glennon, and Grant Noel. That's right, UVA. You couldn't beat Grant Noel.

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"I liked you guys a lot better when everybody told you you were terrible." -Justin Fuente

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Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

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"It might be dark outside, but it's LeDay in here." - Jay Bilas

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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Danny Coale is like 7-11, he's always open

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"It might be dark outside, but it's LeDay in here." - Jay Bilas

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"It might be dark outside, but it's LeDay in here." - Jay Bilas

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"We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior" Stephen M.R. Covey

“When life knocks you down plan to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up, if you fall flat on your face it can kill your spirit” David Wilson