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Virginia Tech defeats Wake Forest 52-21

Oct 17, 2010 - 12:19 AM BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Tyrod Taylor threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for a touchdown to lead Virginia Tech past Wake Forest 52-21 on Saturday.

The Hokies (5-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fifth straight after opening the season with two losses, scored touchdowns on seven of their eight first-half possessions against Wake Forest (2-5, 1-3). Their 49 first-half points tied for the second most (Rutgers, 1999) scored in a first half by a Virginia Tech team under Frank Beamer.

"I really felt like our team was ready to play," Beamer said. "I know we gave up a couple of plays on defense early, and we'll look at that and get it corrected. But I think our football team was really ready to play."

It showed from the start. Taylor hit back-up quarterback Logan Thomas -- who was split out as a receiver -- for a 3-yard score on the Hokies' opening possession.

Later in the first half, he threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to Danny Coale and 11 yards to Jarrett Boykin, and also scored on a 1-yard sneak. Darren Evans handled the rest of the scoring in the first half, getting in the end zone on three short runs (5, 8 and 1).

"It was good to start the game the way we did," Taylor said. "We haven't been getting off to good starts and I've been telling the guys that we needed to start the game early from play one and get on top of them. That's what we did today."

Evans' three rushing touchdowns were a career high, and he finished with 52 yards on 12 carries. David Wilson led Tech with 105 yards rushing, and Dyrell Roberts set a career high with 134 yards receiving.

Virginia Tech finished with a season-high 604 yards of total offense.

"I think Virginia Tech is a very talented football team," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "But some of the things we did today were not very disciplined. On some scrambles, we turned some guys loose. We worked on that all week, that if he (Taylor) started scrambling, you have to stay with your guy and stay in your zones.

"Basically, they had a great day running and throwing the football, and from our standpoint defensively, we could've played better. But I'd give them the credit. They're hitting their stride and really playing good football now."

Wake Forest tailback Josh Harris rushed for a career-high 241 yards on 19 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 33 and 87 yards to lead the Demon Deacons. He accounted for 241 of Wake's 346 yards total offense.