2009-2010
College Football Season
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Post-Game

Virginia Tech "D", Ryan Williams, Menacing In Rout

by Dave Congrove
December 31, 2009

Redshirt freshman running back Ryan Williams ran for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns as Virginia Tech rolled over Tennessee 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Tyrod Taylor added 201 yards on 10-of-17 passing.

Williams regularly punished Tennessee tacklers and dominated Virginia Tech's first drive of the second half when he carried the ball 7 times for 78 yards. Taylor finished that drive with a 1-yard sneak for a 24-14 lead. Williams set ACC single-season records with 21 rushing touchdowns and 22 total scores. The CFP All-American didn't play a down in the 4th quarter after leaving the game with a left ankle sprain.

Virginia Tech RB Ryan Williams.

Virginia Tech took a 14-0 lead on Williams' second short TD run with 11:56 to play in the second quarter. At that point of the contest the Vols had run 10 plays, thrown an interception and punted twice.

That's when Tennessee came to life and drove 80 yards on the arm of Jonathan Crompton, beginning with a 40-yard connection to Denarius Moore. Montario Hardesty finished the drive with a 4-yard run to make it 14-7. The Vols scored again with 18 seconds left in the half after Taylor was picked-off at his own 48-yard line. Three plays later, it was 14-14 on Crompton's 2-yard pass to Moore and the Vols had gained the momentum - or so it seemed.

With only 9 ticks left on the clock and Virginia Tech stuck at its own 27-yard line, everyone expected a kneel-down to end the half. Instead, Taylor launched a 63-yard bomb to Jarret Boykin for a first-down at the Tennessee 4-yard line. The Vols ran off the field, but had to return when an official review determined there were 2 seconds left. The Hokies' Matt Waldron kicked a 21-yard field goal and the Hokies had regained momentum with a 17-14 halftime lead.

If that wasn't the backbreaker for Tennessee, this was: Trailing 27-14 early in the 4th quarter, Crompton hit a wide open Moore right on the numbers as he streaked toward the endzone, but Moore dropped the pass. The Hokies made it 34-14 on the following drive with David Wilson's 4-yard run. Waldron's third field goal of the game closed out the scoring with 2:38 left.

The Virginia Tech defense held Hardesty, the Vols' leading rusher (108 yards per game) to 39 yards on 18 carries. As a team, Tennessee had 5 net yards rushing.

Crompton was sacked 6 times for 55 yards in losses. He suffered a severe concussion with 46 seconds left in the game as Lane Kiffin, the brash first-year head coach of the Vols, was desperately trying to score a meaningless touchdown. As a result, Crompton left the Georgia Dome on a stretcher and in a neck brace.

The Hokies ended the season on a 5-game winning streak during which the defense didn't allow a single point in the second half and the team outscored its opposition 74-6.

Virginia Tech (10-3) secured its sixth straight season of 10-plus wins.

The Hokies, last year's Orange Bowl champions, have consecutive bowl wins for just the second time in history. The last time that happened, the bowls were several years apart as a Peach Bowl victory in 1986 was followed by an Independence Bowl win in 1993, the year Virginia Tech began its current 17-season bowl appearance streak.

Tennessee finished 7-6 in its first season under Kiffin.