Fourth down stop energizes West Virginia defense

Virginia Tech had seized momentum leading 7-3 in the second quarter with the football.

A 21-yard chunk pass play with the Hokies going up tempo, combined with a personal foul late hit and another 9-yard catch and run set their offense up at the Mountaineers 18-yard line looking to expand their lead even further.

After a Keshawn King run was stuffed for no gain by Lee Kpogba and Jasir Cox on third and one, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry had a decision to make.

Pry elected to bypass the chip shot field goal and lined up to go for it. But first, a Hokies timeout forced the two teams to the sideline to mull things over even further.

After the break, Virginia Tech brought their offense back onto the field and had a play designed for quarterback Grant Wells to take the ball and find a seam to get a yard on a keep. But, deep penetration by both defensive linemen Jordan Jefferson and Dante Stills collapsed the play before it began.

The two collided with Wells and held him well short of the line giving the football back to the Mountaineers and flipping the momentum in the process. It might have seemed like a trivial play at the time, one of many throughout a football game, but it was quite significant.

“We played differently after that fourth down stop,” head coach Neal Brown said.

The Mountaineers were somewhat reeling on the defensive side of the ball prior to the decision for the Hokies to roll the dice but from that point forward there was a noticeable confidence. West Virginia would outscore the Hokies 30-3 after that point and that would include an interception return for a score.

After drives of 77-yards for their lone touchdown and 46-yards on the fourth down stop, the Hokies would only manage two more drives over 40-yards for the rest of the game and one of those was when the result wasn’t in doubt at the end of the contest.

Virginia Tech mustered just 105 yards over their next 8 drives after the stop and had that interception returned for a touchdown.

“You notice it and it feels a lot better when defense gets stop after stop,” quarterback JT Daniels said.

It was quite a change for a defense that has struggled to find its footing at times this season.

The Mountaineers surrendered only 35 rushing yards, the lowest output for Virginia Tech since the 2017 season, while holding the Hokies to 2-12 on third and fourth down conversions. It was a domination up front and one that could serve to inspire confidence moving forward.

It's two dominant performances in a row from the defense which has permitted only one touchdown over the past two games and a single field goal. The group gave up 42-points against Kansas and showed little resistance in large part because the Jayhawks caught them off-guard.

Now, it’s about finding a way to carry that over into a difficult schedule.

“I knew we could do it I have a lot of faith in this group. I knew we were going to dominate the way we did,” Jefferson said. “We turned it loose, we played fast. Coach wanted us to play faster and we did that.”

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