Kyron Drones’ career passing day, strong defense propel Virginia Tech past Wake Forest

BLACKSBURG — During Saturday’s pregame introductions, the fans at Lane Stadium let out a hearty cheer when Kyron Drones’ name was announced. It was the first of many times the Virginia Tech starting quarterback brought the homecoming crowd into a frenzy. Drones had his best passing day ever as a college quarterback, throwing for 321 yards and two touchdowns, and the Hokies’ defense did its part as well, forcing three turnovers, recording seven sacks and surrendering just two field goals in a 30-13 ACC win over Wake Forest.

Drones, the transfer from Baylor who made his fifth start since replacing an injured Grant Wells, threw both of his TD passes to another transfer, former Middle Tennessee wideout Jaylin Lane. However, six other Hokies were also on the receiving end of Drones passes. For the season, he has completed 87 of 150 passes for 1,043 yards, with six touchdowns and just one interception.

Drones also rushed for a team-high 59 yards and was sacked just once. For the defense, it was the first time it did not surrender a touchdown at home since a 28-0 win over Pittsburgh on Nov. 23, 2019 — the last home game for legendary defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

Both teams were coming off road losses, which maybe had something to do with the sluggish starts on both sides. Or perhaps it had to do with the six game stoppages called by the officials in the first half for video reviews — two for potential targeting and the other four to see if the ball was spotted correctly. Virginia Tech (3-4, 2-1 ACC) managed just 66 yards of offense in the first quarter and punted on its first three possessions.

Wake was not much better, gaining just 54 yards and punting twice. The Hokies’ defense finally gave the sellout crowd something to cheer when another of the team’s graduate transfers — former Georgia Southern defensive back Derrick Canteen — picked off a pass by Wake Forest starting quarterback Mitch Griffis at the Virginia Tech 41. The turnover didn’t take the Hokies’ offense completely out of its funk, but there were some signs of life as Drones followed a 15-yard completion to Lane with a 10-yard run to put Virginia Tech into field-goal position.

Close wasn’t good enough, however, as kicker Peter Moore was wide left on a 48-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter. The lack of points didn’t deter the Virginia Tech defense, which got the ball back right away. Wake Forest (3-3, 0-3) made a quarterback change, replacing Griffis in the second quarter with backup Michael Kern, and after a couple of positive plays, he was blitzed by the Hokies’ Keli Lawson, who forced a fumble that was recovered by former Indian River High defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland, who had four of the Hokies’ sacks.

This time, Virginia Tech’s offense was up to the task as Drones connected with first-down passes to the Gosnell brothers — a 19-yard throw to Stephen that put the ball on the Wake Forest 32 and then a 20-yarder to Benji that put the ball on the 3. Bhayshul Tuten took care of the rest, gaining the last 3 yards (after it was confirmed by review) to give the Hokies the first points of the game. Virginia Tech extended its lead to 10-0 later in the quarter when its next drive resulted in a 37-yard field goal by Love to make it 10-0.

The two-possession advantage lasted for exactly one play as Wake Forest responded with a 96-yard kickoff return from Demond Claiborne got the Demon Deacons back to within 10-7. Any momentum the Hokies might have lost on that play was regained quickly. Virginia Tech’s next play from scrimmage resulted in points as well when Drones hit Lane for a 75-yard TD pass that put the Hokies back up by 10.

Wake managed to make it a one-touchdown game with a field goal just before halftime that made the score 17-10. .