Beamer goes out a winner as Virginia Tech beats Tulsa 55-52

Dec 26, 2015; Shreveport, LA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Frank Beamer walks off the field after defeating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 55-52 in the Independence Bowl at Independence Stadium. First-year coach Philip Montgomery (previously Baylor’s offensive coordinator) inherited a 2-10 team with a shaky defense, but Tulsa managed a solid season in the tough AAC West Division, getting back to a bowl and averaging 35.9 points per game.

The Virginia Tech Hokies are in Shreveport, Louisiana where they will play Tulsa on Saturday in the Independence Bowl. Those 45 points for Tech tied the Independence Bowl record for a half… first set by Tech in Beamer’s 1993 appearance in the game.

Deon Clarke, second on the team in tackles, is among three players the coach suspended ahead of his final game at Virginia Tech.

“We’ve been underdogs all year — that’s been our mantra”, Montgomery said. Beamer holds a record of 10-12 in bowl games in his career, while he can’t get to the. – Tulsa WR Joshua Atkinson caught 11 passes for 139 yards and a score, Keyarris Garrett caught eight passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.

Michael Brewer and the Hokies will be fired up for Beamer’s final game, but two touchdowns against a good offensive team looks like a good play. “We got to this point because of how hard we worked for it, how much we believed in it and you can’t sit back and say, ‘Hey, we’re there'”. “I thought their team, their energy, their toughness and I thought they just overwhelmed us from the beginning”. Tech’s 31 points marked the most ever in the 1st half of a bowl game. On the ground, Travon McMillian led the way with 82 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

The Huskies (7-6) won their last two regular-season games by a combined 97-17 over Oregon State and Washington State to become bowl eligible and then delivered Chris Petersen’s first postseason victory in his two seasons at Washington. “I’m grateful and I’m looking forward to the next chapter”.

After the record point output in the first half, the two teams settled into a more mundane second half, scoring just 13 points after the break.

After Martin made his kick on the first possession of overtime, Griffin Oakes of the Hoosiers missed a 38-yard attempt to hand the Blue Devils their first bowl victory since the 1961 Cotton Bowl.

“We struggled out of the box, we did not shoot the ball particularly well in the beginning”, Martelli said. But that does lead me to the positives of the game, consisting completely of the Hokie offense. Wide receiver Isaiah Ford set individual school records for receptions in a bowl game (12) and receiving yards in a bowl game (227). However, three Dane Evans touchdowns – two passing, one rushing – offset by just a single VT field goal pulled the Golden Hurricane to within three with 3:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. One of his catches was a 75-yarder for a touchdown, which marked the longest reception of his career.

On the opening drive of the second half, the Hokies went 81 yards in 15 plays, scoring on a 1-yard run byTrey Edmunds with 7:38 left in the third quarter. The best way to combat that is to get him sacked, get people around him or get him sacked.