Virginia Tech Football: David Wilson and Co. Rip Through the Mountaineers

Logan Thomas and his lack of experience may have been the main story for Virginia Tech heading into Saturday’s game against Appalachian State, but that certainly wasn’t the case after the fact. David Wilson took over the game and put up some ridiculous statistics while adding to his ever-growing highlight reel.

On Saturday Wilson rushed for 162 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns. He had an average of 10.1 yards per carry. Virginia Tech’s first offensive play was a Wilson 20-yard touchdown run. His other scores came on runs of 19 and three yards. He also had 48- and 33-yard runs in the game.

What’s ridiculous about these statistics is that he did this in a little over a half of playing time. He was taken out of the game early in the third quarter. Two-hundred rushing yards was definitely attainable had he been left out on the playing field.

Wilson ran over, around and through the Mountaineers defense. If he wants to be a legitimate Heisman candidate then he needs to keep it up, especially against Virginia Tech’s weak out of conference schedule.

Wilson wasn’t the only one throwing up amazing statistics. Wide receiver Marcus Davis had three receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns. The two touchdowns came against the Appalachian State backups and were thrown by Hokies backup QB Mark Leal.

Logan Thomas had a solid day but there is room for improvement. He went 9 for 19 on pass attempts for 149 yards and two touchdowns. His completion percentage is a little misleading as a couple of his passes were dropped by receivers. Thomas threw his first collegiate touchdown to Randall Dunn.

The best news that came out of this game had to be the Hokies defense. Appalachian State has an explosive offense, but Bud Foster’s squad held them in check. The defense caused four turnovers; one fumble and three interceptions. The starters held the Mountaineers offense under 100 yards and scoreless in the first half.

Appalachian State wasn’t able to score on the starters but ended up scoring 13 points against the second string.

Virginia Tech’s 66 points was the second highest total during Frank Beamer’s tenure. The only game in which the Hokies scored more was in 1995 against Akron when they put 77 points up on the scoreboard.

This game turned out to be a laugher but a lot of positives can be drawn from it. Logan Thomas showed growth throughout the game. He started out shaky but continued to get better while on the field. Wilson stole the show and started what could be a great season with a huge game and the defense looked a lot better than last year.

Most importantly, the Hokies started out the season with a 1-0 record for the first time since 2007.