MIAMI — The opening moments were filled with just about every problem Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer feared his team would have against Cincinnati.
It was merely a blip.
Nearly everything else went according to Beamer’s plan — and the Hokies ended a yearlong Orange Bowl hangover.
Darren Evans had 28 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Tyrod Taylor rushed for another score and No. 21 Virginia Tech beat No. 12 Cincinnati 20-7 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night, joining Southern California and Texas as the only schools to win 10 games in each of the past five seasons.
The Hokies (10-4) forced Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike into a season-high four interceptions. Pike — who wasn’t even on Cincinnati’s depth chart at the start of the season before blossoming into an all-Big East quarterback — threw for 239 yards and a touchdown, but had his night marred by the picks and getting stopped on a fourth-and-goal play in the fourth quarter.
Mardy Gilyard had 255 all-purpose yards (158 receiving, 97 returning) and a touchdown catch for Cincinnati, which saw its six-game winning streak snapped. The Bearcats (11-3) came in as slight favorites over the Hokies, who lost this game to Kansas a year ago.
The Bearcats took the opening kickoff, sent their spread offense onto the field and made the Hokies look very confused. Pike found Gilyard for a 38-yard pickup on the third play from scrimmage, and they hooked up for a spectacular 15-yard touchdown three plays later to open the scoring.
Cincinnati 7 0 0 0 — 7
Virginia Tech 0 10 3 7 — 20
First quarter: Cin — Gilyard 15 pass from Pike (Rogers kick), 13:08. Second quarter: VT — T. Taylor 17 run (Keys kick), 13:00. VT — FG Keys 43, :00. Third quarter: VT — FG Keys 35, 8:32. Fourth quarter: VT — D. Evans 6 run (Keys kick), 11:29. A — 73,602. Cin VT
First downs 14 23
Rushes-yards 21-71 55-258
Passing 239 140
Comp-att-Int 16-33-4 13-23-1
Return yards 31 9
Punts-avg. 4-45.8 5-38.0
Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-0
Penalties-yards 3-30 3-17
Time of possession 20:21 39:39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Cincinnati, Ramsey 4-34, Goebel 9-26, Pead 2-10, Pike 5-4. Barnett 1-(minus 3). Virginia Tech, D. Evans 28-153, T. Taylor 15-47. Roberts 2-34, Boone 2-19, Oglesby 3-8, Coale 1-7, Team 4-(minus 10).
PASSING — Cincinnati, Pike 16-33-4-239. Virginia Tech. T. Taylor 13-22-1-140, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — Cincinnati, Gilyard 7-158, Goodman 6-51, Goebel 1-18. Barnett 1-6, Ramsey 1-6. Virginia Tech, Coale 3-52, Boone 3-41. Boykin 2-28, Roberts 2-12, D. Evans 2-5, Jefferson 1-2.
