Sam Rogers Brings the Cavaliers to their Knees after Hokies' 52-10 Walloping, then Bends His Own

His Virginia Tech career began as a little known walk-on from Hanover HS, but Sam Rogers was the clear fan favorite on senior day. Tears streamed down his face as he made his way out of Lane Stadium's tunnel and embraced the standing ovation from the Hokie faithful.

When asked after the Hokies' lopsided 52-10 victory over rival Virginia about the moment before the game, Rogers was nostalgic of his time in orange and maroon.

"God is just so good just letting me be a Hokie," Rogers said. "I'm forever thankful for these fans, this community, and everything in Hokie Nation. It's been awesome. Emotions came over me coming out of the tunnel thinking back on how fast this time has flown by. We're not done yet. I'm happy to keep this thing rolling."

After a kiss on the forehead from Justin Fuente and a few pictures with family and friends, it was Rogers who would provide the spark that ignited the drubbing of the Cavaliers. Armed with the honor of Frank Beamer's No. 25 jersey, he was seemingly unstoppable. He rushed for a career high 105 yards, including two rushing touchdowns, and chipped in two catches for 29 yards.

As a multi-threat fullback/tailback/WR/H-Back/TE Rogers has left an indelible mark not only the Virginia Tech program, but also on his head coach.

"I don't know what would have happened if I'd have got to coach him for four years. I've only known the kid for a year," Fuente said. "Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, you come across a guy, a player, that actually has that effect on the coaching staff. That's the kind of guy that Sam is."

And when Rogers looks back on Saturday, Virginia Tech's monster win, and all of his production on the field probably won't be what he immediately thinks of.

Roughly two hours after the game had ended, Rogers reemerged from the tunnel with his girlfriend, Lauren Mallory, and proposed to her in the north end zone.

Spoiler alert, she said yes.

Senior Day 25 15 carries, 105 yards, 2 TDs The Cup Coastal ChampsAND SHE SAID YES!!!!!! CONGRATS @sam_rogers10 pic.twitter.com/9cQ3JXOABd— HokiesFB (@HokiesFB) November 26, 2016

However, it wasn't just Rogers who had a big day. The Hokies seemingly outmatched Virginia in every facet you can imagine, and Jerod Evans turned in a double record breaking performance.

Evans finished the day 16-27 for 253 yards, 0 picks, two passing touchdowns, and added 38 rushing yards and a score for good measure. His first touchdown toss of the day — a beautiful teardrop to Cam Phillips — moved him ahead of Tyrod Taylor for the most touchdown passes in a season. Taylor set his mark of 24 in 2010.

After throwing the pass off of his back foot, Evans kept his head down as he hesitantly walked back towards the sideline, fearful of any scorn from Fuente.

He didn't receive any.

"No, he actually congratulated me. Which was kind of a shock," Evans said.

Phillips said he was no longer surprised by any play that Evans makes at this point.

"It's a play I expect him to make," Phillips said. "We run the play every week in practice. We saw it and were able to run it. Coach called the play, we executed it. It worked out great."

Now that the Hokies have booked their trip to Orlando to face Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, the team will have to begin their preparation on how to upset the highly ranked Tigers.

But not after having some fun and enjoying the moment tonight.

"As far as getting refocused on the game, it's gonna be a huge challenge. We're gonna need the entire Hokie Nation down there to help us out," Fuente said. "But, the way I put it to the team is, 'Congratulations. Enjoy it today. That's your reward. You did a good job, you should enjoy it today. Tomorrow, we have to get ready for the next game. It's gonna be a tremendous challenge.' I feel good about our guys ability to do that. I really do."

Justin Fuente

OPENING STATEMENT:

"First of all, two groups of people I wanna thank, our fans — their turnout, obviously we know that this game means a tremendous amount to so many, their support today was fantastic — also feel like taking a moment to thank our seniors. I know we still have other games to play, but these games are personal to them — to all of us — but there's a little bit of not just pride, but responsibility that comes with playing football here. Our kids have embraced that, our seniors have set great examples of those things. I could go down a list of all of them, but I'm awfully proud and happy for them to get to see them celebrate. The victory, the Coastal championship and all that sort of good stuff is very rewarding."

ON THE MOMENT HE SHARED WITH SAM ROGERS BEFORE THE GAME:

"I was thinking, 'I don't know what would have happened if I'd have got to coach him for four years.' I've only known the kid for a year. Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, you come across a guy, a player, that actually has that effect on the coaching staff. That's the kind of guy that Sam is. We have a lot of great seniors, and Sam doesn't want more spotlight on him than the other seniors, because they're all very deserving. The way he goes about his life on a daily basis is a great example to everybody."

ON HOW GOOD IT WAS TO PUT A COMPLETE GAME TOGETHER:

"It was nice to get the game put away. Certainly didn't expect that going into the game. Knowing the records, even when Virginia hadn't had a great record, the score of the game was always very close, very tight. That's what we expected. The ball sort of got rolling today in all phases of the game. It was certainly nice to let other guys play and get guys into the game. We had a few of those early in the year, it was nice to get back to that."

ON IF ROGERS' BIGGER WORKLOAD TODAY WAS BECAUSE HE WAS A SENIOR:

"Well Travon (McMillian) had a little mishap there early, so Sam ended up getting some more carries. We didn't do anything — I don't know what the numbers are, but he did end up with more carries, particularly early. We certainly didn't go into the game saying we've gotta get Sam touches because it's senior day."

ON WHAT JEROD EVANS HAS MEANT TO THIS TEAM:

"I don't know if he was a missing piece. We felt good about Brenden (Motley) coming back. He played quite a bit the year before. I can't say enough about him and the way he's handled the entire situation. None of this would have been possible without Brenden Motley. One, the type person he is and player he is, and two, for handling situations the way he has. Jerod has played well at times. I like the fact that he works hard during the week to try and improve at just the gameplan, and has made a lot of plays for us to help us out, obviously. He's playing at a high level at times. It certainly hasn't hurt any."

ON IF HE HAD TO TELL THE TEAM YESTERDAY TO STAY FOCUSED AFTER THE UNC LOSS:

"Yesterday I mentioned it. I didn't think it was gonna be a huge issue. It wasn't like I needed to give them a long talk about it. I thought we should at least address it. I said, 'Congratulations, you guys are the Coastal Division champions. Now we need to go take care of business.' Under other scenarios, I could have or would have been worried about that, but not with this game. This game means too much to our kids for me to worry about it too much. They played that way."

ON HOW SURPRISING IT WAS FOR UVA TO USE A TWO-QUARTERBACK SYSTEM AND WHAT HE TOLD THE TEAM TO GET THEM READY FOR NEXT WEEK:

"First of all, yeah, I was a little surprised that they shuttled those guys in and out. I've read that they feel like there is a little different between them skill set wise. I didn't feel like there was a huge difference, but there's obviously some. It was a little surprising. As far as getting refocused on the game, it's gonna be a huge challenge. We're gonna need the entire Hokie Nation down there to help us out. But, the way I put it to the team is, 'Congratulations. Enjoy it today. That's your reward. You did a good job, you should enjoy it today. Tomorrow, we have to get ready for the next game. It's gonna be a tremendous challenge.' I feel good about our guys ability to do that. I really do."

ON HOW THEY WERE ABLE TO SHUT DOWN TAQUAN MIZZELL:

"When you stand on field level, he is quick. We knew going into the game that he was an explosive player. When you're standing down there on field level and you see him compared to the other people moving around, there's a definite difference in speed. Bud (Foster) and the defensive staff talked about making sure we were in your gap, making sure we had another hat in there for the run game. They did a good job defeating some blocks and creating some movement up front and shut him down."

ON ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA'S DAY:

"He's been a solid player for us all year. I've been really pleased with him. He seems to be in the right place at the right time. Has a nose for the football. Certainly, I think — at least my understanding of last year — I think having played last year has helped him kind of master the scheme, if you will, and be able to just truly cut loose and go play. Today, he had a good feel for it. He was around the ball, productive. Fun to coach."

ON IF GREG STROMAN WAS AVAILABLE TO PLAY TODAY:

"Yeah, he was available. We just didn't wanna use him. He's cleared and ready to play. Sort of like Nigel (Williams) several weeks ago, cleared and ready to play, but if you don't have to play him, you try not to."

ON IF HE SAW A DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP WHEN HE TOOK THE JOB:

"No. I don't really look at it like that. To me, it's always about the process. Giving ourselves the best chance. At the end, looking back and saying this is what we accomplished — I don't try limit them by what I think they could be. We just focus on each day, the process, the opportunity to improve and do things the right way, and try to teach off of those teachable moments, either good or bad. As we move forward, focus on staying together and those sort of things. At the end of the year, tally them up, and you guys tell us if we were any good or not."

ON WHAT IT MEANT TO HIM TO SEE MOTLEY THROW THE TOUCHDOWN PASS AND THE GUYS RUNNING ONTO THE FIELD TO CONGRATULATE HIM:

"I liked it except the guys running all over the field. I thought it was really cool. I was glad it happened, it all worked out. The way the play was designed, kind of a nice little reward, I guess, that a kid that has worked so hard and done so much, and done things the right way, helped this football team in ways people will never even know. Like I said before, there's no way we would have the success that we've had thus far without him and the way he's gone about things."

ON IF THE POSTGAME CELEBRATION WITH THE FANS WAS PLANNED:

"I'm not in charge of any of that."

Ken Ekanem

ON IF THE TEAM WATCHED THE UNC GAME FRIDAY:

"We had a walkthrough during the game. We watched it a little bit in the locker room. Once we started getting ready, we shut the TV's off to get our minds right and prepare for this game. We got to watch a little bit of it. Immediately after the walkthrough, Coach Fuente told us the result of that game. That's how we found out."

ON IF THE TEAM STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF A FAST START TODAY:

"Yeah. I think we definitely put an emphasis on that, just starting early and not waiting until the second quarter to start. Start from the jump. Another thing I recognize is once our offense gets going, it gets us energized and start playing at a high level. We came out on the third drive, I think, and put it in the end zone. It was great."

ON HOW MUCH SEEING ROGERS HAVE A GOOD DAY INSPIRED THE TEAM:

"It's well deserved. I think I was talking to him and he was like, that's probably one of the first games he's gotten four-plus carries. Seeing a guy like him, such a high character and a really good leader for us, get a few carries and have the game that he had, it's just awesome. I don't think you could draw it up any better than with that scenario. Very happy for him. He inspired a lot of us and got our offense going. I think he kind of started it for us."

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO FINISH REGULAR SEASON WITH RESOUNDING WIN AND WIN ACC COASTAL:

"It's great getting the Commonwealth Cup. I think this game was a statement, to tell Clemson that we're coming. I think we got the ball rolling... Bring our A game to Clemson down in Orlando because those guys play at a really high level. We can't afford to have hiccups here and there. We have to have a great week of practice and prepare for these guys the right way."

Bud Foster

ON HIS THOUGHTS ON UVA USING A TWO QUARTERBACK SYSTEM:

"We were trying to figure out — we had those guys chart — they hadn't used the quarterback in a running situation. I know (Kurt Benkert) could run. I was curious to see what they were gonna do, if they were gonna try to run the quarterback a little bit. They didn't. I don't know what they were trying to do with it. Just getting both guys an opportunity. They ran their offense. I really thought going into that, maybe, that's what they were gonna try to do is maybe use him more on the zone read situation where the ball may be in (Benkert's) hands a little bit, too. They didn't do that. I don't know. I'm sure they had a senior quarterback that they wanted to give him an opportunity. Obviously they felt good about (Benkert) for the most part of the year, as far as him being their guy. I felt like maybe they just wanted to play both."

ON HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS FOR THE DEFENSE TO PUT UP THAT EFFORT HEADING INTO CLEMSON:

"I know this — you guys have heard me say this — there's a lot of offense out there now. Alabama I think is the one team right now that they just have so many guys, they're at an elite level compared to everybody else. After that, you look at that, there's about 20 teams that are right there in the mix of about 20 points a game given up. We did a study last year, as far of the top 25 teams in the country, what was their average scoring defense. It was like 22 points a game. That makes a statement about the kind of offenses and the kind of athletes that are out there. We're gonna find a way to win. I know we've developed a tradition here of great defense, and I thought we did that today. I thought last week, in particular, Notre Dame had two plays that we had not seen. They ran the trap early. We ended up taking care of that. They ran a nice little passing game, they scored on us, and they had not showed. We made the adjustments. But the early plays, our kids just did what we practiced and didn't execute. That was a big thing this week. I took those plays and showed the defense. Not to embarrass anybody, but it was just to show them it wasn't Notre Dame's execution, it was our lack of. That's what we need to get back and do. That was our emphasis this week. It was good, to answer your question, it was good to get back and have a dominant defensive performance. After that first drive, they got a couple plays there, and then we settled down and really slowed them for a little while until the end. We really challenged the kids to come out of the tunnel ready to play and ready to go play Virginia Tech football and be disciplined and execute and play with great emotion. I thought we did that right from the get go."

ON ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA:

"I think Andrew has been very steady and has shown great and tremendous improvement all year. Has really developed into a leader and our guys really look to him. He has a nose for the football. He's had that since he's been here. That might have been his fourth or fifth touchdown that he's scored. He scored one on a kickoff return one time. Really one heck of a football player. He did a great job of reading — they ran a little spacing route. We've practice that several times. Just a great break and a great catch and great position when that ball was on the ground to scoop and score, which is something that we practice. I think Mike Burnop was telling me, I think that's our 89th time we've scored since 1987 on defense, which that's pretty cool. That's a great stat. We expect that. Andrew has played really, really well. I'm really proud of how he has worked. That's the one thing he does. His improvement is because he works at it. He practices every day like it's a game day. When you get your good players doing that, it's gonna rub off on the other guys. That effort has showed in his performance this year."

ON HOW GOOD THE DEFENSIVE LINE PLAYED TODAY:

"We felt like — I don't wanna give too much away, we do play these guys another year — we felt like they gave us great run-pass indicators. Any time you know when they're gonna throw the football, it allows your kids to really play more an aggressive kind of get off from that standpoint. I think that allows us to be able to pin our ears back and be a little more aggressive when you know if it's a run or you know it's a pass."

Augie Conte

ON WHAT LED TO THE TEAM HAVING A GOOD DAY ON THE GROUND:

"I wouldn't say it was necessarily just on the offensive line. I think the coaches had a really good game plan going in. Whenever you have a game where you ran the ball like we did, it's not just the offensive line. It's a team effort just because they had to adjust to our passing game. Obviously we have Isaiah (Ford), Cam (Phillips), and Bucky (Hodges) at wide receiver. You're not just gonna put them on one-on-one. They had to do some things to adjust to that. When they do things like that, it takes people out of the box and makes it a little easier to run the ball. I feel like it was just a complete game when it came to throwing and running the ball. Whenever you can have a complete game like that, it's pretty impossible to defend everything. I think we did a good job of having a balanced game plan. Obviously we ran the ball, we passed the ball, we did just about everything that we wanted to do."

Andrew Motuapuaka

ON HIS INTERCEPTION AND THE FUMBLE RETURN:

"The interception was just doing my normal coverage responsibilities. I think early on, we weren't really communicating too well. Just kind of lined up there, and I don't think we were communication too well on the back end. When we came out in the second half, we made the adjustments and knew that we were all gonna be on the same page. Just broke on the ball when I saw him coming in my zone. I really thought he was gonna throw a good ball, so I was getting ready to go tackle him, but the ball kind of came straight to me. That was that. The fumble return, I don't really have a gap on that play. Really, I'm just a ball guy. I was just going to go add in on a little tackle and I saw it come out. I try to practice that a lot, scooping and scoring, even when it's incomplete, you'll see me practicing. So I kind of scooped it and ran. I thought somebody was gonna catch me, but I had some teammates blocking for me. That was that."

ON IF HE EXPECTED THE TEAM TO BE IN THIS POSITION:

"I knew we were gonna be here in this place. It wasn't really a surprise. As far as UVA, if you look at all the past years of the scores between us and them, it's probably less than 20-something. I don't know what the stat is, but it's probably less than 20 points. I thought they were gonna come out and play their best football. I think we did a good job of going out there and executing and playing hard for each other and playing hard for the seniors."

ON WHERE THIS GAME RANKS IN HIS CAREER:

"I'll definitely remember this for the rest of my life. Because it was against UVA, I think I'll remember it for the rest of my life."

Sam Rogers

ON WHAT IT MEANT TO WEAR THE NUMBER 25 TODAY:

"It was a lot of fun. Coach (Frank) Beamer means so much to me and my family and these guys in this locker room. It was a huge honor wearing that number. It was fun to get out there and play. Offensive line did a great job today opening a lot of holes for us running the ball. They did a really good job today."

ON IF THE SCHOOL HAS MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY TO LET HIM BECOME THE LEADING RUSHER BY NOT GIVING THE BALL:

"No, the coaches know what they're doing."

ON WHAT HIS RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN WITH BEAMER POST-RETIREMENT:

"Everyone says once a Hokie, always a Hokie. It's just a huge family around here. Just going over, seeing some guys I haven't seen in a long time, it was fun getting over there and hanging out and talking about some stuff. It was really fun."

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO HIM TO HAVE NEVER LOST TO UVA:

"It's awesome. It's awesome, that's all I'll say."

Cam Phillips

ON IF HE FEELS COMFORTABLE RETURNING PUNTS:

"It was a fun experience. The coaches did a good job of preparing me for that. I was catching punts all week and stuff like that. I think I did a pretty good job."

ON WHAT CHANGED ON OFFENSE THAT ALLOWED FOR THE GOOD PERFORMANCE:

"I think it's the seniors. With this being their last home game, we really wanted to do a great job of putting together a pretty good performance, and just sending those guys out the right way. They've done a whole lot to get the program to where it is right now. Send those guys out the right way."

ON WHAT THE 99 YARD DRIVE DID FOR THE TEAM:

"It shows us that the coaches do know what they're talking about as far as whenever we execute and handle everything that we're supposed to, we can do some special things. Just the momentum shift that happened and how we drove down the field on that drive was a game changer and really important for us. Kind of set the tone for how the day was gonna go."

ON WHAT IT MEANT TO HIM TO SEE MOTLEY GET A TOUCHDOWN PASS:

"Mot's a good dude, man. Very happy for him, because he's had to battle through some things. He's a resilient guy, a great teammate, and it couldn't have happened to a better person."

Jerod Evans

ON WHAT HIS EXPECTATIONS WERE FOR THIS YEAR:

"Do what we just did. That's to go to the ACC title (game) and win our division. I had high expectations for this team. Coming in, like you said, looked at the talent getting recruited, we had a great defense, knew we had weapons on offense. That was to go do what we just did."

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO HIM TO BREAK TWO RECORDS TODAY:

"It hasn't hit me yet. People asking me a lot of questions like that, as far as looking ahead. I'm not that type of guy to look ahead. Especially when we still have so much at stake and we still have our goals in front of us. Once I get time to sit down and relax, I'll definitely look back on that and see how it is. Right now, I feel good about it, but I still haven't really sat down and be just like, 'Wow.'"

ON HOW MUCH FUN IT WAS TO WATCH ROGERS HAVE A BIG DAY:

"Very enjoyable. Just for the small fact that he's definitely team-first in every aspect of the word. The guy doesn't get the ball a lot every game. He does more blocking. One game, that's all the did. I believe it was the UNC game, all he did was block. For him to wear the number 25 on senior day, and to do what he did, was just — you cant be more happy for the guy, especially (with) how much work he puts in day in and day out. He's my guy. I'm definitely excited for him, happy for him."

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO HIM TO HELP THIS SENIOR CLASS ENJOY THIS SUCCESS:

"I told a lot of the seniors coming into spring, not know me from Adam, that if I ever got the starting job, that this season is dedicated to them. Because, again, I've seen how much work they put in, how hard they work, and to come up short three or four years here, and have mediocre seasons, I just wanted to dedicate this season so they can go out the right way. For them to beat UVA on their last go around, and the position that we're in to do what we're still trying to accomplish, it's a great feeling."

ON IF THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE EASIER FOR HIM NOW COMPARED TO THE EARLY SEASON:

"It was a whirlwind going into the first game. Football is football at the end of the day. People are more disciplined up here. Sitting in the pocket better, because I'm getting more comfortable with what I'm doing, and actually grasping the offense inside and out. The first week, I'm still learning — I'm still doing it to this day — but I definitely have a grasp of this offense and what Coach (Brad) Cornelsen is trying to accomplish and how he's trying to accomplish it. Definitely sitting in the pocket more, going through my reads, has been an improvement. Especially after I take a couple of hits. Today, I think I did that a little bit better, especially going through reads and getting a couple passes that you don't think about. The coaches congratulated me for actually doing what they told me to do."

ON IF HE HAS AN EXAMPLE FROM TODAY:

"We got a play that's a post, a drag, and a curl. The post was dead, the drag was dead, I had to go to my curl, stepped up in the pocket, and threw it to Bucky. They told me I definitely took another step. To hear that from them, something that I've been trying to work on this whole year, means a lot."

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO HIM TO SEE MOTLEY THROW THE TOUCHDOWN PASS:

"It means a lot. The young man has so much character. We were fighting for the position, and all he does is want this team to be successful. For him to get in the game, UVA week, senior, and go out there and throw a touchdown and operate the offense like we know he can, it's a great feeling. Especially since it can definitely be misleading, especially as a quarterback group, if we're not tight. A lot of stuff in there that makes the team divide. He's not that person, whatsoever. For him to be, again, the young man that he is with a lot of character, it means a lot to see him go in the game and do what he did."

ON IF HE'S HAD A CHANCE TO SEE CLEMSON PLAY THIS YEAR:

"Not really. The little bit that I've seen is on TV and I haven't really watched all of it. It's not feasible for me to watch it. Sometimes I'm coming from a game and they're playing, so I watch them like that."