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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Wide receiver Andre Davis, forced to find
other ways to score in the face of triple-team coverage, found
three Thursday night.
|  | | Virginia Tech's Andre Davis celebrates with Chad Beasley after returning a punt 76 yards for a touchdown. |
The Atlantic-10 Conference sprint champion scored on a run, a pass and a
punt return in a span of 6:06 in the third quarter, and Virginia Tech (No. 2 USA Today/ESPN, No. 3 AP) overcame its first deficit of the season to beat West
Virginia 48-20.
Davis scored on a 30-yard reverse that gave the Hokies the lead,
a 64-yard pass from Michael Vick and a 76-yard punt return -- his
third this season -- as the Hokies (6-0, 4-0 Big East) made quick
work of a 14-7 halftime deficit.
"The teams know about me and Mike now, so they're going to do
what they can to stop the deep ball," said Davis, who had just one
touchdown reception in five games after getting a school-record
nine last year.
"We've just got to do different things."
Davis finished with 273 all-purpose yards -- 30 rushing, 127 on
six receptions and 116 on four punt returns.
Vick, who has had trouble connecting on deep passes all year,
also hit Bob Slowikowski with a 72-yard scoring throw and had a
47-yarder dropped.
"I've been throwing great deep balls all week, so I knew
tonight was going to be the night," he said. "We just had to get
the right coverage."
Vick finished 10-for-18 for 233 yards with two TDs and his two
longest passes of the season. He also ran 11 times for 57 yards.
At halftime, though, he and the Hokies looked like they were in
trouble. After going ahead 7-0 on their first drive, they made
mistake after mistake, turning the rest of the half into a Hokies
horror show.
A diving Emmett Johnson couldn't hang on to a perfectly thrown
pass in the end zone. Two West Virginia drives were kept alive by
Tech mistakes. And Vick fumbled while diving for the end zone,
producing a touchback.
"There are certain times during a season you look to and say,
`Boy, this might be the moment,' " Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "I
think the second half for our football team has a chance to be a
big moment this year."
It started with Vick's bullet to Slowikowski just 1:10 into the
quarter, and turned into Davis' highlight show five minutes later.
West Virginia (4-2, 2-2), which seemed prime for the upset after
escaping the first half with the lead, couldn't do much to stop it.
"We were a tired football team," said West Virginia coach Don
Nehlen, deprived of his 200th career victory. "When they got ahead
of us and our defense was on the field for a long period, we were
sucking air big time."
Vick took great satisfaction in helping to make that happen.
"It showed the character of this offense that we can come out
there when we were down -- the first time we've been down all season
-- and come out there and make plays and get the job done," Vick
said.
Davis gave Virginia Tech its first lead since the first quarter
when he took a handoff from Lee Suggs on a reverse and outran
several Mountaineers to the end zone. It was Davis' third career
touchdown on a reverse, first this year.
Only 4:10 later, after the Hokies stopped West Virginia's
fourth-and-3 try from the Virginia Tech 36, Vick found Davis behind
Richard Bryant and hit him for their longest connection this year.
Davis, who averaged 27.5 yards per catch last year, came in
averaging just 11.3 this year.
Finally, Davis capped his burst less than two minutes later by
fielding Mark Fazzolari's punt at the own 24, getting a devastating
block from Wayne Ward and taking off up the right sideline with
2:24 to play.
"They've got it all going for them right now," Nehlen said of
the Hokies, who won their 17th consecutive regular-season game.
The Mountaineers became the first team to lead the Hokies all
year when Brad Lewis rolled out and found tight end Sean Berton
wide open in the end zone with 58 seconds left in the first half.
The play capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive kept alive by a
roughing-the-kicker call on Suggs.
Earlier, Davis fumbled a punt at his own 33. Ben Collins
recovered for the Mountaineers, who needed six plays to tie
it. Avon Cobourne carried four times for 25 yards, including the
last 7, in the drive.
Jarrett Ferguson added a 16-yard TD run for the Hokies in the
fourth quarter, and Andre Kendrick scored on a 2-yard run with 3:44
to play.
Ben Meighan returned a fumble by Hokies reserve running back
Keith Burnell 36 yards for the game's final touchdown with 2:20
remaining.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
West Virginia Clubhouse
Virginia Tech Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Wayne Ward levels a Mountaineer to open the door for Andre Davis to return a punt 76 yards.
avi: 1602 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Andre Davis takes the reverse 30 yards for a TD.
avi: 1367 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Bob Slowikowski takes the Michael Vick pass and rumbles in for a 72-yard TD.
avi: 1456 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Avon Cobourne rolls in seven yards for a TD.
avi: 839 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Brad Lewis finds Sean Berton open in the middle of the end zone.
avi: 1266 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Virginia Tech's Ronyell Whitaker picks off Brad Lewis.
avi: 1436 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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