Slept On It: Hokies Storm Back in South Bend

Growing up, Notre Dame was a big deal in my mother's house. Her father was the quintessential Irish Catholic, the son of immigrant parents raised in the shadow of New York City. When I was a kid, we watched a lot of Irish football games and I admittedly had Rudy memorized weeks after it came out on VHS.

So forgive me for getting a little sentimental here, but seeing the team I love take the field at Notre Dame was an emotional experience for me. In many ways, it was a more personal version of the Battle at Bristol; a matchup and setting I had waited decades for and never thought would happen was finally a reality.

But no sooner did the game kickoff had the reverie vanished from my consciousness. In its place were equal parts frustration and despair as the listless and mistake-prone Hokies dug themselves a deep hole for the second consecutive week.

Ten minutes into the first quarter, everything felt eerily similar to each of the Hokies' three losses this season. A dual-threat quarterback had ripped apart a porous Hokies secondary. The Hokies' front seven once again struggled with the read option. Foolish penalties erased momentum-changing plays. And poor exchanges and bad snaps kept the Tech offense in neutral.

Down 17-0 to the Irish 7 seconds into the second quarter, the Hokies had gained a grand total of one first down and four yards of offense on 7 plays. They looked cold, out of sync and completely overcome by the moment. It was as though Touchdown Jesus had paralyzed Virginia Tech with his blank, knowing stare like Vigo in Ghostbusters 2.

I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge that sometime during the first half I worried the Hokies were in the midst of an epic death spiral. Superstition dug its claws deep into my psyche. Maybe I should change my seat? Has the jersey I'm wearing ever brought me good luck? Was a second consecutive gameday spread including pizza bagels a bad decision after last week's debacle?

Tech needed a solid offensive drive, and they got it largely from their ground game. Tech efficiently ripped off a scoring drive behind the unlikely running of fullback Steven Peoples, the former Galax High School star who entered Saturday's game with two career carries. Peoples churned out 13 yards on three carries before Jerod Evans broke free for a 23-yard touchdown run.

That drive didn't mark the start of a clinical dissection of the Notre Dame defense, but it did kickstart an offense that had shown absolutely no signs of life in the first quarter.

After the Irish extended their lead back to 17 points, the Hokies were in dire need of a score heading into halftime and they once again rose to the occasion. Jerod Evans put the Hokies on his back and led the offense to touchdown drives at the end of the first half and start of the third quarter, seizing all momentum from the Irish.

After 25 minutes of frustratingly uneven play, Tech found a way to bounce back on the road in challenging conditions. Heading into halftime with confidence and knowing that they started with the football had to have had a profound impact on their mindset.

After six uncharacteristic quarters of play, Justin Fuente's team started the second half looking like themselves again. They were decisive on offense and confident on defense. That swagger that we have grown to love so much? It was back.

"I don't think there was any great revelation at halftime," Fuente noted. "It was just we had to play better. We were out there dropping the ball on the ground, giving up big plays — just not playing Virginia Tech football. I think guys settled down and got their feet underneath them. I felt that if they'd just execute, they'd have a chance to have success and that's what they did."

Honestly, I think Fuente's halftime speech went something like this:

Virginia Tech exited the locker room a completely different team than the timid group that started the game. Jerod Evans was locked in and Tech's three-headed monster at receiver looked completely unstoppable.

Yes, the Irish had a 67-yard Josh Adams touchdown run off read option that made Vinny Mihota look like a participant in a Mannequin Challenge. But aside from that one bust, the Tech defense was punishingly incisive after the break. They limited DeShone Kizer to 36 yards passing in the second half. And after Adams' touchdown run put the Irish up 31-21, Tech forced three consecutive 3-and-outs en route to a 34-31 lead that proved to be the difference.

So what should fans make of Saturday's performance? Tech proved that they can be a second half team, especially on the road. They showed that they can shrug off turnovers and bad breaks, taking the game one play at a time. The long runs and coverage breakdowns that regularly undid past Tech teams were not going to define this year's squad.

But they also sleepwalked through the first quarter-and-a-half of play. They looked undisciplined and unfocused for periods. Coming on the heels of a frustrating home loss to Georgia Tech, the Hokies' start was gruesome. But their recovery was inspiring.

Ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Whereas Virginia Tech fans thought the Hokies looked like shells of themselves in the first half, Notre Dame fans surely believed their team was finally playing up to expectations. In the second half, it was a complete role reversal.

In truth, Virginia Tech was the better team heading into this week's matchup in South Bend. Forget about recruiting rankings and preseason punditry. Notre Dame had struggled with consistency all season, regularly dropping close games and failing to live up to their preseason Top 10 ranking. The Irish were 4-6 and playing for their seniors, pride and a bowl berth.

Sure, they had four straight Top-15 recruiting classes (the senior class was ranked #5 in the nation according to 247sports). But if you watched the entire game, the Hokies looked like were the more talented team.

Former 3-star wideouts Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips dominated their counterparts, making catches in traffic and breaking ankles in space. Former walk-on CJ Carroll had arguably the biggest play of the afternoon, outrunning the Notre Dame secondary for a 62-yard gain on Tech's opening second half drive. 4-star QB recruit Bucky Hodges used his enormous frame to haul in a game-tying touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Oh, and the leader of the Tech offense, Jerod Evans? He was an unrated quarterback who signed at Air Force before transferring to Junior College.

Against the Irish, Virginia Tech proved that recruiting rankings only mean so much. It isn't about accumulating potential. The challenge is fitting that talent together to create a formidable collective and utilizing a system that puts those players in the best position to succeed. It's about development and mentoring. To take it a step further, intangibles matter; resilience, heart, determination and intestinal fortitude don't show up in star rankings.

On a cold, windy night in Indiana, the Hokies woke up from their late season nightmare before it was too late. In the process, they gave themselves a much needed confidence boost as they look to clinch the ACC Coastal against UVa.