STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Kyron Drones passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third, and Virginia Tech bounced back from last week’s final second heartbreaking loss to No. 7 Miami and beat Stanford 31-7 on Saturday.
Bhaysul Tuten added 73 rushing yards and one touchdown while the Hokies (3-3, 1-1 ACC) got a big game out of their defense in the win. A transfer from North Carolina A&T, Tuten eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark for his career.
Drones completed 14 of 19 throws for 201 yards. He made touchdown throws to Stephen Gosnell and Da’Quan Felton and scrambled for 17 yards for Virginia Tech in its first game against Stanford since the 2011 Orange Bowl. Felton had four catches for 84 yards.
The Hokies spent much of the week trying to move on from the disappointing loss to the Hurricanes on Sept. 27. In that game Drones and Felton connected on a 30-yard touchdown in the final seconds, only to have the call overturned by replay.
Virginia Tech never let it get that close against Stanford.
While Drones patiently guided the offense, Tuten kept the Hokies rolling on the ground. The second-leading rusher in the ACC going into the game, Tuten repeatedly gouged the conference’s top run defense for big gains to help the Hokies end a two-game skid.
Justin Lamson, who played sparingly in the Cardinal’s first four games, completed 13 of 24 passes for 103 yards with one interception. It was his fourth career start
Stanford was able to find some consistency on the ground, rushing for 136 yards to match the number put up by the Hokies. It is the first time since 2017 that Stanford has had more rushing yards than passing yards (122) in consecutive games.
Defensively, three Cardinal recorded 10+ sacks, led by inside linebackers Tristan Sinclair and Gaethan Bernadel, who each had 12. Scotty Edwards also reached 10 tackles for the first time in his career.
After Stanford kicker Emmel Kenney’s 53-yard field goal attempt fell short on the game's opening drive, Virginia Tech responded with a quick, efficient scoring drive. Wide receiver Jaylin Lane caught two passes for 26 yards, then ran 24-yards on a reverse to set up Drones’ 17-yard touchdown to Gosnell.
Tuten bulled into the end zone on a fourth-down play in the second quarter to put the Hokies ahead 14-0 at halftime.
The Hokies went up 21-0 when Drones squeezed a throw in between a pair of defenders and connected with Felton for a 55-yard touchdown to begin the second half. Felton caught the pass near the Stanford 35 then broke away and ran untouched into the end zone.
Stanford’s only score came off a trick play in the third quarter when running back Micah Ford threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Elic Ayomanor late in the third quarter. Ford became the first non-QB to throw a touchdown pass for the Cardinal since Colby Parkinson in 2019.
Stanford returns to the road next week, traveling to No. 16 Notre Dame next Saturday.