Nebraska vs. Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Va. (Lane Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009
? Eddie Whitley earned his first collegiate start in place of the injured Stephan Virgil at cornerback. Virgil did not dressing for today’s game. Additionally, fullback Kenny Jefferson made his first collegiate start.
? Long snapper Collin Carroll suffered a sprained ankle in the second quarter and did not return. He was replaced by senior walk-on Matt Tuttle, who saw his first career action and got the special teams’ game ball in the locker room after the game.
? Nebraska kicker Alex Henerey had five field goals, tying the Lane Stadium record for field goals in a game by an opponent (Rafael Garcia of Virginia in 1994). The stadium record is six by Tech’s Mickey Thomas against Vanderbilt in 1989. The last time any opposing kicker booted five field goals in a game was Garcia in that 1994 game.
? Nebraska’s Roy Helu, Jr., ran for 169 yards, marking the third-straight game an opposing back has gone over the century mark against the Tech defense. The last time that happened was in 2002 when West Virginia’s Quincy Wilson (125 yds), UVa’s Wali Lundy (127 yds) and Miami’s Willis McGahee (205 yds) did it.
? The last time Tech came from behind to win in the last minute was in 1999 when Shayne Graham kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Hokies to a 24-22 win at Morgantown. The last time Tech won in the last minute of a game was in 2000 when Carter Warley kicked a 27-yard field goal with 16 seconds left to break a 34-all tie and lift Tech to a 37-34 win at home.
? Virginia Tech has now won 32-consecutive non-conference home games dating back to 1998.
? Ryan Williams went for over 100 yards (107) for the second-straight week and now has six touchdowns in his first three collegiate games.
? Danny Coale had a career-long 81-yard catch to set up the game-winning pass to Dyrell Roberts. It was the longest pass completion since Bryan Randall hooked up with both Keith Willis and Ernest Wilford for a pair of 87-yard receptions against Syracuse in 2002.
? On the touchdown pass to Roberts, Taylor took the shotgun snap and scrambled for just over 9 seconds before releasing the ball.
? Tech (2-1, 0-0) will host Miami (2-0, 2-0 ACC) next Saturday in a 3:30 game that will be televised by ABC. It’ll be Tech’s ACC opener.
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