WINSTON-SALEM — Logan Thomas rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two more to lead No. 19 Virginia Tech past Wake Forest 38-17 Saturday night.
Thomas finished 17 of 32 for 280 yards with scoring passes of 20 yards to Jarrett Boykin and 30 yards to Marcus Davis, and added scoring runs of 1 and 3 yards for the Hokies (6-1, 2-1 ACC). They shook off an early 10-point deficit and took command by reeling off four touchdowns in an 11-minute, 7-second span.
Boykin caught seven passes for 149 yards to help Virginia Tech win its second straight overall and its fifth in a row in the series, and snap Wake Forest’s four-game winning streak.
Tanner Price was 19 of 33 for 254 yards with touchdowns of 79 yards to Chris Givens and 4 yards to Cameron Ford for the Demon Deacons (4-2, 3-1). They were denied the first consecutive wins over Top 25 teams in school history.
David Wilson finished with 136 yards rushing and a 7-yard touchdown for the Hokies, who couldn’t get anything going against an inspired Wake Forest defense until midway through the second quarter.
Once they finally started scoring, they didn’t stop until they had a comfortable lead.
Thomas found Boykin down the left sideline for 39 yards to the Wake Forest 1, and that set up the quarterback’s scoring sneak that made it 10-7 with 8:43 left in the half. One possession later, Wilson’s 43-yard sideline run set up Thomas’ touchdown pass to Boykin that gave Virginia Tech the lead for good.
Tariq Edwards then intercepted a tipped pass by Price, giving the Hokies the ball at the Wake Forest 26 with 30 seconds left in the half. Four plays later, Thomas faked a handoff to Wilson and rumbled in from 3 yards out to make it 21-10 with four seconds left.
Wilson then made it 28-10 with 12:36 left in the third with his touchdown run. After Price’s TD toss to Ford pulled Wake Forest within 11 late in that quarter, Thomas answered by moving the Hokies 96 yards in 14 plays and throwing his scoring pass to Davis to push the lead to 35-17 with 10:49 to play.
After a punchless performance two weeks ago against Clemson, Thomas bounced back by accounting for nine touchdowns—four rushing, five passing—in two games. He threw for three TDs and ran for two more in last week’s win over Miami.
The Demon Deacons—coming off an upset of then-No. 23 Florida State—were humiliated in last year’s 52-21 loss in Blacksburg. They had plenty of early reasons to believe in the upset this time, needing a little over eight minutes to jump out to a 10-0 lead after their longest play of the year.
Givens slipped past Jayron Hosley while going deep down the middle, Price hit him in stride and he outran the Tech cornerback to the end zone for Wake Forest’s fourth scoring play of at least 40 yards this season. At that point, the Demon Deacons outgained Virginia Tech 122-2.
Givens finished with seven catches for 140 yards.