BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -The hundreds of fans that rushed the field in delirious celebration after Virginia Tech’s most improbable of comeback victories had long since been ushered away, and the Hokies players were left insisting they were not at all surprised.
“On that last drive, when everyone was thinking we were going to lose, everyone on the sidelines was confident. Extremely confident,” defensive end Jason Worilds said Saturday night after Virginia Tech scored a touchdown with 21 seconds left and beat Nebraska 16-15.
The key to both pieces of the comeback was quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who had struggled all game but told himself “Stay focused. One play away. A big gain can happen at any time.”
The No. 11 Hokies trailed 15-10 when they got the ball in their own end with 1:44 left, and the drive started like so many others had earlier, with Taylor being sacked.
At that point, Virginia Tech had managed 54 yards of offense in the second half, and with the ball at the 16, discouraged fans were filing quickly out of Lane Stadium.
When you’ve got a quarterback like (Taylor) that can make plays with his feet, you’ve always got a chance,” receiver Dyrell Roberts said.
Defensive coordinator Bud Foster was even telling his group how they would handle things after the offense scored to give them the lead, cornerback Rashad Carmichael said.
It was as though Foster knew what was coming.
“As soon as he said that, all I could see was the ball just floating over my head,” Carmichael said, adding that the roaring crowd brought him bounding off the bench.
“Great ball. Great catch,” he said.
And a comeback they will talk about for many years at both schools.
On second down, Taylor dropped back, looked left and then saw Danny Coale breaking free down the right sideline, behind defender Matt O’Hanlon. Taylor lofted a long pass that Coale caught in stride, heading up the field until O’Hanlon pushed him out of bounds at the 3.
“We were just hoping there if we got one last shot, we could do something,” Coale said.
But No. 25 Nebraska still had a chance. All it had to do was take a page from the Hokies, whose defense had forced the Cornhuskers to settle for field goal attempts fives time in the game.
“It’s tough,” Huskers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “We didn’t finish the game.”
On first and goal, O’Hanlon sacked Taylor for a loss of eight yards.
gain and he threw the ball away.
The crowd grew quiet.
On third down, Taylor rolled left, dodged the rush, waved frantically to Roberts to head for the right side and finally fired a bullet to him.
Touchdown.
“The game slowed down for me,” Taylor said later, smiling broadly. “It felt like everything was going in slow motion. I felt like I was in control out there.”
Roberts felt something different as he gathered in the pass.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him throw a ball harder,” he said.
The school said Taylor had the ball for nine seconds after taking the shotgun snap, and when the official signaled touchdown, and it withstood a review, only 21 seconds remained.
Shortly thereafter those were gone, too, and the Hokies had won a game in which their offense performed so poorly that many fans heard the stirring finish in their cars.
“This is one of those games that could turn things around if you build on it and learn from it,” coach Frank Beamer said. “We need to learn from it – not only the great plays at the end, but all those things in between that we need to get better at. When you can win one like that and improve from it, that’s important to your season.”
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