32 --- 3-1 (1-0)
(8)
27 --- 3-2 (2-1)
Stuck in the Lane
Virginia Tech overcomes early deficit, Rhodes pummels Huskies for 182 rush yards as Hokies hand UConn rare home loss
Almari Rhodes starred in the Hokies’ upset efforts in East Hartford.
After three straight victories following an opening week loss to Penn State, UConn has bounced back wonderfully, winning three in a row and moving inside the top ten of the AP poll. In year one of the Stephen Belichick experiment, everything seemed peachy in Storrs.
Until it wasn’t.
If you watched only the first quarter of UConn-Virginia Tech this weekend, you most certainly would have been surprised at what happened after that. After a pair of ten-plus play touchdown drives in the first quarter, Tech coach Lane Kiffin conjured up some voodoo magic and UConn absolutely fell apart offensively. The normally solid senior QB
Isaac “Ice” Jackson fired three interceptions that allowed Virginia Tech's defense and tailback
Almari Rhodes clawed back into the game, eventually winning in a 32-27 upset. The loss for UConn marks the first loss at the Property since September 2019 against former defensive coordinator Marty English and Tennessee.
UConn started the game just as they had in their previous three weeks: With their feet placed firmly on the gas pedal. Receiving the opening kickoff, Jackson (4-5, 47 yards) led a 14 play, 70 yard drive that ended, like so many others, with
Luke Williamson running in a short touchdown and a 7-0 UConn lead. After
Chris Mason got Tech on the board with a 37 yard field goal, UConn extended their lead as Jackson led another 10 play, 75 yard touchdown drive. The catalyst to this drive was a pair of long completions, a 21 yard catch for freshman
Chamarkelle Byrom, and the 23 yard touchdown strike to tight end
Ryne Thomas. By the time
Anthony Ricciardi kicked a 41 yard field goal on the first play of quarter two, UConn darted out to a 17-3 lead and was ready to put the game on cruise control, just as they had each of the last three weeks.
Ryne Thomas snuck behind the Hokie defense en route to one of UConn’s two first quarter touchdowns.
However, the offense stalled and Virginia Tech slowly chipped into the UConn defense.
A big 36 yard completion from
Jay Fuqua to
Jerald Jenkins set up a five yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end
Garrett Bush. A few plays later, Tech’s all-ACC corner
Ashton Green recorded his fifth interception of the season, picking off Ice-Jax in Hokie territory, and it would be Mason who kicked a short field goal for his second of the day; 17-13 Tech. A three and out for UConn led to a third Mason field goal right before the half, on a drive where Fuqua completed multiple third and longs to receivers
Vince Smith and true freshman
Trandon Yancey.
And in the span of five minutes, UConn’s 17-3 lead plus momentum had been cut to 17-16 and none to be found. The excitement quickly started fading from the sellout Property Crowd, and it showed in the second half.
UConn continued their sloppy play, as right out of the half Tech started moving on offense again. Almari Rhodes busted off a 25 yard rush, while Fuqua connected with Bush and Jenkins for a 20 yard gain each. The Hokies capped off their successful drive with a five yard pass from Fuqua to Smith, under some odd circumstances. Smith made the catch over the middle and was dragged down, but fell on top of linebacker
Mike Hill, never actually touching the ground. Smith was able to stand up and stumble the last three yards into the end zone for a touchdown; a failed two point try gave Tech a 22-17 lead.
Vincent Smith was never actually “down” and as a result walked into the end zone on this play, retaking the lead for Tech.
Despite a 48-yard Ricciardi field goal out of the ensuing drive to pull within two points, the UConn offense still looked sluggish, falling short of picking up the last first down to keep the drive moving.
A three and out by the defense got the ball right back to our king of clutch with a chance to re-take the lead. Ice-Jax moved the offense into the red zone with no issues, thanks to large chunks of yardage through the air from Speier and Williamson. Keeping with Coach Belichick’s offense and throwing the ball, however, Ice-Jax looked for a shot to the end zone to retake the lead. As he dropped back to throw for the fourth time on the drive, he was hit by a pair of Hokie linemen; the ball popped into the air and traveled about four yards, just shy of the scrum of linemen near the line of scrimmage. Tech linebacker
Kevin Mark, also closing on Jackson before his teammates got there, happened to be in the right place at the right time, snaring the ball in mid-air. Mark took off running and no one was able to catch him, as the senior rumbled all the way to the other end of the field for the defensive score, extending Tech’s lead to 29-20 as the third quarter ran down.
Kevin Mark came up with the play of the day, stopping a UConn drive right in its tracks and shifting momentum for good.
If the wind was leaking out of UConn’s sail before, it only got worse after the pick six. Rhodes started to wear down the Husky defense, as eight times in the fourth quarter he gained at least seven yards. Every time UConn’s front stopped Rhodes, it was Fuqua who would continue his efficient play and find ways to come up with a conversion.
On the other side, however, Ice-Jax led three consecutive three and outs in crunch time, allowing Tech to wear down the clock. Though Jackson did eventually engineer a quick touchdown pass to Speier, those seven points were all UConn could muster. With time running short in the fourth, safety
Davondre Wooten picked off Jackson to wrap things up, a 32-27 upset for the unranked Hokies over the #8 Huskies.
Much unlike his predecessor would have acted, Coach Belichick remained quiet, honest, and demure in his post-game presser. “We blew it, plain and simple. We aren’t as good as a lot of you thought we were and I’ve still got work to do to improve. We’ll try again next week against our rivals and see how it goes.”
"I'm very pleased", said Kiffin on the field post-game. "I knew we could do it, we have a lot of talent, just aren't getting any respect after what happened earlier this season [loss to UAB]. I think we've earned it today."
UConn did outgain Tech 388-364, but in the end the three turnovers made the difference. Fuqua’s efficiency remained a key for Kiffin and the Hokies, as he passed 21-31 for 200 yards and two scores (no interceptions), while Rhodes ran for 182 yards on 32 tries against one of the nation's best run defending teams.
For UConn, Ice-Jax completed 20 of his 35 passes for 288 yards, two scores, and the three picks, while Luke Williamson continued his pedestrian start to the year on the ground, gaining just 87 yards on 22 rushes plus the score. Byrom was the leading receiver with six grabs and 81 yards, while Speier, Thomas and
Devin Brown each tallied four receptions apiece.
Virginia Tech moves to 3-1 (1-0 ACC) with their win, while UConn drops to 3-2 (2-1), and see any playoff hopes they may have had dim significantly. The Huskies will look to regroup as they face conference cellar-dwellar Boston College (1-3, 0-1) in Hartford next weekend in the Battle for New England Part III. UConn has won each of the previous two meetings in 2018 and 2020.
Lonte’ Speier continued his strong start to his freshman campaign, tallying another four grabs, including the touchdown here.
Has Isaac Jackson lost his touch in the clutch?
Virginia Tech’s secondary played well in the final three quarters of play. (LEFT) Amiq Shannon beautifully defends this play targeted at Chamarkelle Byrom. (CENTER) Davondre Wooten’s INT clinched the upset win. (RIGHT) Ashton Green records his fifth interception on the young season.
First year starting free safety Tony Rush (#6) is becoming the punchline of this dynasty for getting stiff armed, spun out, juked out, or otherwise looked silly every week. 
Freshman tight end Garrett Bush drags Vic Castalanetta into the end zone on his touchdown grab.
| Virginia Tech Hokies at Connecticut Huskies |
| Oct 2, 2021 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Virginia Tech Hokies (3-1, 1-0) | 3 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 32 |
| #8 Connecticut Huskies (3-2, 2-1) | 14 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 27 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| VT | CONN |
| Total Offense | 364 | 388 |
| Rushing Yards | 164 | 100 |
| Passing Yards | 200 | 288 |
| First Downs | 19 | 18 |
| Punt Return Yards | 18 | 26 |
| Kick Return Yards | 81 | 130 |
| Total Yards | 463 | 544 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 3 |
| 3rd Down Conversion | 5-13 (38%) | 5-12 (41%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 5-2-2 (80%) | 4-3-0 (75%) |
| Penalties | 0-0 | 2-10 |
| Possession Time | 16:39 | 19:21 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | VT | CONN |
| 5:07 | (CONN) Williamson 1 run (Ricciardi kick) | 0 | 7 |
| 4:25 | (VT) Mason 37 FG | 3 | 7 |
| 1:03 | (CONN) Jackson 23 pass Thomas (Ricciardi kick) | 3 | 14 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | VT | CONN |
| 7:55 | (CONN) Ricciardi 41 FG | 3 | 17 |
| 6:08 | (VT) Fuqua 5 pass Bush (Mason kick) | 10 | 17 |
| 3:09 | (VT) Mason 28 FG | 13 | 17 |
| :36 | (VT) Mason 25 FG | 16 | 17 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | VT | CONN |
| 7:19 | (VT) Fuqua 5 pass Smith (conversion no good) | 22 | 17 |
| 4:42 | (CONN) Ricciardi 48 FG | 22 | 20 |
| 1:23 | (VT) Mark returned INT 76 (Mason kick) | 29 | 20 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | VT | CONN |
| 5:31 | (VT) Mason 47 FG | 32 | 20 |
| 3:16 | (CONN) Jackson 3 pass Speier (Ricciardi kick) | 32 | 27 |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Jay Fuqua | 21-31 | 200 | 2 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Almari Rhodes | 32 | 182 | 5.6 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Garrett Bush | 7 | 45 | 6.4 | 1 | | Vincent Smith | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 1 | | Jerald Jenkins | 4 | 73 | 18.2 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Amiq Shannon | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | D'Erik Hunter | 9 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | | Davondre Wooten | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Ashton Green | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Kevin Mark | 2 (1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Chris Mason | 4-5 | 2-2 | 14 | 48 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Isaac Jackson | 20-35 | 288 | 2 | 3 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Luke Williamson | 22 | 87 | 3.9 | 1 | | J.P. Byers | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Chamarkelle Byrom | 6 | 81 | 13.5 | 0 | | Lonte' Speier | 4 | 82 | 20.5 | 1 | | Ryne Thomas | 4 | 50 | 12.5 | 1 | | Devin Brown | 4 | 46 | 11.5 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Thomas Willis | 11 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Mike Hill | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Altarri Gardner | 4 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Anthony Ricciardi | 2-2 | 3-3 | 9 | 48 |
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