![]() “It was like an out-of-body experience,” Patterson said. The extra sessions were a blur to everyone, a zany six-overtime slugfest with plot twists galore, timid play calling, one XXL fourth-down pass, four missed field goals and multiple blown chances to win by both teams before Hokies third-stringer Quincy Patterson took a quarterback keeper off the left edge, planted his foot in the ground to cut upfield and hit pay dirt.Īnd like that, Virginia Tech finished off a roller-coaster 43-41 victory against North Carolina that sent a Lane Stadium crowd into hysteria as “Enter Sandman” played on repeat, as joyous a moment as the Hokies have had at home this season. Notre Dame: The Irish visit Duke next Saturday night.“We run one play, we don’t get it, I’m still on the field, confused like, ‘What are we doing?’ ” Turner confessed. Virginia Tech: Returns home to face Wake Forest. I saw the wall of blockers, so I knew we had a touchdown after that.” “I saw the quarterback and I knew he wasn’t going to tackle me. ![]() “It didn’t feel real at the time,” Deablo said of his touchdown. He stopped a Notre Dame scoring drive when he intercepted Book at the Tech 2 in the third quarter, and had five solo tackles. ![]() This sloppy performance probably won’t do much to help the Irish regain that ground.ĭeablo entered Saturday’s game with one career interception and one fumble recovery and ended up doubling both against the Irish. “You saw the heart, you saw the desire, you saw the passion,” cornerback Troy Pride Jr. Those are all character traits we were looking for that we needed to see on display. “We told them they had to continue to fight, continue to persevere. “That was difficult, but our guys responded,” Kelly said. Deablo’s fumble return at the end of the first half then took the momentum away from the Irish. Notre Dame: The Irish did everything they could to give the 17-point underdogs a chance to win, including a punt-catch interference penalty on Bo Bauer that gave the Hokies a short field at the Irish 45 and led to the first Tech touchdown. “We’ve got four games in a row and we’ll have to patch it together health-wise to have a chance.” “I feel awesome about our chemistry,” he said of going forward. That the Hokies took the lead and battled the Irish to the finish was pleasing to Fuente. But Bud Foster’s defense hurried Book enough to keep things close with five three-and-outs of their own in the first half. Virginia Tech: The Hokies had six three-and-outs offensively in the first 30 minutes as Patterson struggled to find a rhythm. Patterson ran for 77 yards on 19 carries and completed 9 of 28 passes for 139 yards and an 8-yard touchdown to Damon Hazelton in the second quarter. “The bottom line was I couldn’t pull the trigger on putting (Hooker) in, I just couldn’t,” Fuente said. Patterson got the start for Virginia Tech at quarterback in place of Hendon Hooker, who had started the three previous victories but suffered a knee injury in Virginia Tech’s 43-41 six-overtime victory over North Carolina two Saturdays ago.įuente went with Patterson over Hendon Hooker, who had started Tech’s previous three victories but suffered a knee injury two weeks ago in the six-overtime victory over North Carolina. “It’s a group of guys that played hard, prepared well for a very good football team on the road in a hostile environment and almost pulled it off.” ![]() “It’s a tough locker room in there,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said. The Hokies (5-3) added a pair of field goals by Brian Johnson in the second half and the Irish missed one, leaving Notre Dame trailing by six with 3:19 remaining and the ball at its 13. The Irish committed three turnovers deep in Virginia Tech territory, including a fumble at the goal line by Jafar Armstrong that Hokies safety Divine Deablo returned for a 98-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14 with 9 seconds left in the first half. “Just a lot of grit and perseverance,” Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet said.īook passed for 341 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and led the Irish with 50 yards on 13 carries. After two incomplete passes, Notre Dame caught Virginia Tech in a blitz and Book ran away from it and darted into the end zone. They found a way to win.”īook led a methodical drive, converting two fourth downs, including a fourth-and-10 at the Tech 33 for 26 yards to Chase Claypool that gave the Irish first-and-goal from the 7. “That was a great character victory for our football team,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. Jonathan Doerer kicked the go-ahead PAT after holder Jay Bramblett fielded a low snap and freshman Kyle Hamilton then picked off a long pass by Quincy Patterson to seal the victory, the 16th straight by the Irish in Notre Dame Stadium. ![]()
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