Tayvion Robinson returned a punt for touchdown to put Virginia Tech ahead to stay and Tre Turner caught a scoring pass to help the Hokies record a 21-10 nonconference victory over visiting Richmond on Saturday afternoon at Blacksburg, Va.
Braxton Burmeister completed 17 of 27 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown for the Hokies (3-1). Turner had six receptions for 102 yards.
Savon Smith rushed for a touchdown for the Spiders (2-2), an FCS program who played Virginia Tech for the first time since 1986. Tyler Dressler compiled 11 tackles and one sack.
Quarterback Joe Mancuso injured a finger on his passing hand on Richmond's second offensive play and exited the game. He later returned to the field with the hand heavily wrapped.
Replacement Beau English completed 15 of 23 passes for 77 yards for the Spiders.
Virginia Tech outgained Richmond 318 to 237.
The Hokies moved 65 yards on five plays on the game's first drive and Burmeister capped it with a 10-yard scoring pass to Turner.
Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente opted to give back Knox Kadum a possession in the second quarter and the move backfired when Richmond's Aaron Banks intercepted Kadum at the Hokies' 21-yard line and returned it 5 yards.
On the next play, Smith rolled through a big hole for a 16-yard touchdown run to tie the score with 9:22 left in the half.
Nearly five minutes later, Robinson fielded a punt and saw space up the middle. He then navigated to his right and sped into the end zone with the 60-yard return to give Virginia Tech a 14-7 lead.
The Spiders pulled within four on Jake Larson's 38-yard field with 10:02 left in the third quarter.
The Hokies boosted their advantage to 21-10 when another quarterback, Connor Blumrick, scored from the 1 with 5:08 left in the third quarter. Turner caught a 42-yard pass from Burmeister to set up the score.
--Field Level Media
Richmond | Virginia Tech | |
Aaron Dykes | Player | Jalen Holston |
12 | Attempts | 8 |
58 | Yards | 37 |
4.8 | Avg Yards | 4.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Richmond | Virginia Tech | |
Jonathan Johnson | Player | Tre Turner |
3 | Receptions | 6 |
27 | Yards | 102 |
9.0 | Avg Yards | 17.0 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Richmond | 237 | 160 | 77 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Virginia Tech | 318 | 106 | 212 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 |