Tuten, Drones power Virginia Tech in second half surge, pull away from Marshall 31-14

Updated Sep. 7, 2024 10:11 p.m. ET

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BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Bhayshul Tuten rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown to lead Virginia Tech to a 31-14 victory over Marshall on Saturday.

Kyron Drones ran for a touchdown and threw for another for the Hokies, who started slowly, leading by a field goal at intermission, 10-7. But they caught fire after the break, scoring touchdowns on their first three second-half possessions to pull away.

“We wanted to make them stop us, and I think that’s what we did in the second half,” Tuten said. “It surely worked. I got rolling, Kyron got rolling, and Mal (Malachi Thomas) got rolling, and it was definitely needed.”

Tuten scored from a yard out on Virginia Tech’s opening drive of the second half to give Virginia Tech (1-1) a 17-7 lead. Marshall (1-1) answered to make it 17-14 on an 18-yard scoring pass from Stone Earle to Christian Fitzpatrick, but the Hokies answered behind Drones, who scored on a 3-yard run on the Hokies' next possession, then threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Da’Quan Felton early in the fourth quarter to push the Virginia Tech lead to 17.

“I thought the offensive staff did a great job at halftime,” Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said. “And the players had great determination. It felt different. I thought there was some good energy and good mentality. … I thought the ability to run the ball and make that statement to start the second half, that set the tone for the half.”

Tuten’s performance marked his fifth 100-yard rushing game as a Hokie and the 15th of his career. Virginia Tech finished with 208 yards rushing.

After amassing 549 yards in its season-opening victory over Stony Brook, Marshall finished with just 278 yards.

“Some of the things that showed up this week didn’t show up last week,” Marshall coach Charles Huff said. “We’ve got to continue to work. It’s going to be a while before we understand who this team really is. Last week, we were the more dominant team, and we probably got away with some things because of being more physically dominant. This week, we were even in some spots, unmatched in others, so we can learn from it.

“We take ownership of it. We missed some opportunities. We had a chance to make some plays that could have swung the momentum in how they played us. We just didn’t make them.”

TAKEAWAYS

Marshall: The Herd used three quarterbacks in the season opener, but stuck with Stone Earle in this one. The North Texas transfer completed just 13 of 36 for 129 yards against the Hokies. He - and Marshall’s offense - will have to be much better to have a chance at No. 2 Ohio State in two weeks.

“What we were planning to do (going into the game) was in Stone’s wheelhouse,” Huff said. “I thought he played hard and gave us a chance. He ran hard and got the ball out of his hand quickly, which was a big piece of what we were trying to do. We’ve just got to make some more plays.”

Virginia Tech: The defense bounced back in a big way after allowing Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia to account for 294 yards and three touchdowns in their season-opening loss. The Hokies sacked Earle twice, picked him off once, and held Marshall to just 5 of 17 on third down.

“Thank goodness the defense was playing really well,” Pry said. “They really kept the game where it was.”

UP NEXT

Marshall: The Herd plays at No. 2 Ohio State on Sept. 21

Virginia Tech: The Hokies play at Old Dominion on Saturday.

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