Pop Watson helps Virginia Tech become bowl eligible with 37-17 victory over rival Virginia

Updated Dec. 1, 2024 1:15 a.m. ET

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BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Pop Watson threw for 254 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a score to lead Virginia Tech to a 37-17 victory over rival Virginia on Saturday.

Bhayshul Tuten added 124 yards rushing and two scores for the Hokies (6-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak. The Hokies also became bowl eligible for the second straight year with the victory.

“It does point to the growth and development and the resiliency,” Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said of the pending bowl invitation. “More than anything, I’m just happy for this group to get this victory tonight. It was a hard-fought game, and we played well in all three phases, which we need to see. We have to be that kind of team, and we did it with a third-team quarterback.”

Virginia (5-7, 3-5) lost to Virginia Tech for the fourth straight time and for the 22nd time in the past 24 meetings.

With Virginia Tech’s top two quarterbacks, Kyron Drones and Collin Schlee, injured, Watson made his first career start and led the Hokies on four first-half scoring drives.

The Hokies jumped out to a 10-0 lead, getting a 6-yard touchdown run from Tuten and a field goal from John Love on their first two possessions. They then scored 10 points in the final two minutes of the first half, getting a 66-yard scoring strike from Watson to Jaylin Lane and then closing the half with another field goal from Love to take a 20-3 lead.

In the second half, Watson scored on a 5-yard run on the Hokies’ opening possession. The redshirt freshman finished with 48 yards rushing and accounted for 302 yards of the Hokies’ 456 yards of offense.

“If you know Pop, you know that he’s one of the most confident guys in the world,” Lane said. “So we have the utmost confidence in him. … There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to play like did.”

“I thought he (Watson) played well,” Pry said. “He made better decisions than last week (against Duke). He made plays with his arm. He made plays with his feet. I thought the line did a nice job of protecting him. He’s got a knack for moving around and avoiding the rush, but some guys stepped up around him. … He had a lot of support, but I was pleased with the way Pop played.”

Tony Muskett, making his first start of the season, led Virginia, throwing for 178 yards and rushing for 62 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cavaliers finished with just 274 yards and allowed five sacks.

“I didn’t have them ready to play with the right level of discipline and execution,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said of his team. “Emotionally, they were ready to play because last year we didn’t have much emotion when we played in this game. But just execution. It’s one or two plays. One or two plays can turn the tide in the game. We didn’t have the right discipline on certain plays, and that’s on me. I’ve got to go get that fixed.”

TAKEAWAYS

Virginia: The Cavaliers improved by two wins from last year’s record under third-year coach Tony Elliott but closed the season by losing six of their final seven games, and they still haven’t found an answer against the rival Hokies. Seventeen of their 22 losses to Virginia Tech during this recent streak have been by double figures.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies have been one of the nation’s bigger disappointments this season, but behind Watson, they again managed to secure bowl eligibility with a win over Virginia. Virginia Tech has entered its rivalry game needing a win to become bowl eligible seven times in the past 12 seasons — and won all seven games.

THE ACC’S BEST?

Virginia Tech defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland finished with three of the Hokies’ five sacks and now has 16 sacks on the season to go with 19 tackles for a loss and three forced fumbles. Pry said after the game that Powell-Ryland was worthy of being considered the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

“You’d have to show me the other couple of guys (in contention),” Pry said. “Put it paper to paper. You talk about impacting games, he’s been doing it all year against good folks. There’s not a better guy rushing the quarterback in our league, and that’s a pretty important trait to have.”

DECIDING ON MUSKETT

Elliott said that he and the coaching staff decided early in the week to start Muskett in place of Anthony Colandrea. Muskett, who started parts of last season, completed 19 of 36, but threw two interceptions.

“When I looked at the last four or five weeks, I just felt like I needed to do something as the head coach to try and help the offense by giving us a little bit of a different spark,” Elliott said. “I felt like the best thing was to give Tony the opportunity.

“I thought he left it all on the field. He was scrapping. He ran the ball, converted some first downs for us. I think he wants the two throws back, but with the exception of the two interceptions, I thought he battled and put his body on the line. He gave us everything that he had.”

UP NEXT

Virginia: The Cavaliers’ season is over.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies are awaiting their bowl opponent.

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