Growing Up

We usually see games like that go the other direction.

Virginia Tech has played down to its competition dozens of times over the last decade-plus. More often than not, Tech loses those games. Instead, this year's version of Virginia Tech showed a critical trait that all good teams possess.

The Hokies found a way to win a game when they didn't play their best.

It wasn't pretty on either side of the ball. Ethan Grunkemeyer threw for only 147 yards. Marcellous Hawkins coughed up the only turnover of the game, putting Virginia Tech behind the 8-ball. Boston College's quarterback, a Division II transfer, rushed for 138 yards and two scores.

The Hokies found themselves in an eight-point hole in the fourth quarter, in the middle of a driving rainstorm, yet found a way to win anyway.

After failing to find a rhythm for most of the day, Grunkemeyer started to shine when it mattered most. Virginia Tech's offensive line, which hadn't generated much push up front, began to create running lanes for Jeffrey Overton. Tech rattled off a 10-play, 80-yard drive, with Grunkemeyer finding Marlion Jackson for the receiver's first touchdown of the year.

Just like that, the Hokies were back in the fight.

Tech's defense, which had struggled to defend Mason McKenzie as a runner for most of the day, got the Eagles off the field in just five plays, giving the Hokies' offense a chance to regain the lead.

Overton delivered. One play, 76 yards. Touchdown.

That sequence reassured Virginia Tech fans who grew weary of the Hokies' uneasy start that this is indeed a good football team.

Saturday's affair in Chestnut Hill was a textbook trap game. Tech traveled several hours north to play in a nor'easter in front of hundreds of fans, just days before the Hokies host undefeated Pittsburgh in a primetime Friday night matchup.

The trap-game narrative played out as anticipated, even longer than most of us expected, but the Hokies woke up and got the job done.

These are the things that good teams do. They blow teams out of the water (i.e. VMI, ODU), and they also find ways to win when they aren't at their sharpest.

Virginia Tech is far from perfect. Injuries have ravaged an already thin offensive line, but that unit showed up in clutch time. Hawkins had a bad game, but his battery mate saved the day with 228 total yards and the winning touchdown.

Tech's defense got beaten repeatedly by the quarterback run before figuring it out in the fourth quarter. The adjustments took a while, but they arrived just in time.

Virginia Tech is growing up right before our eyes. A big part of the maturation process is learning how to win, especially when you're not at your best. The Hokies were far from their best against Boston College, and found a way to win anyway.

There's no guarantee that the Hokies will always find a way to win. In fact, you can almost guarantee that they won't. Still, the team proved to everyone, including themselves, that they're more than capable.

Progress is rarely linear. Virginia Tech wasn't going to continue throttling teams on offense every week. The Hokies took a punch, got back up, and won the fight.

We've seen it go the other way before. This year, however, looks like a different story.