Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs. Virginnia Tech Hokies

Michael Brewer threw for 344 yards, Isaiah Ford had 227 yards receiving and coach Frank Beamer won his final game at Virginia Tech, 55-52, over Tulsa on Saturday night in the Independence Bowl. The 45 points was greater than the final score in 18 previous I-Bowls and equaled the final score in the 2014 I-Bowl featuring Miami and SC. All three teams put up at least 35 points while beating Tech. But Tulsa got within three and had the ball at its 20 with 1:54 to play.

They say defense wins championships, which might explain why neither Virginia Tech nor Tulsa were playing for a championship this season.

Tulsa advanced to a first down at its 46. Fortunately for the Hokies, Dadi Nicolas sacked Evans when it mattered the most.

Tech led 45-31 at the break thanks to 188 yards on 10 receptions by Ford, who seemed to do what he wanted against the Hurricane secondary.

“We needed to get to a bowl at Virginia Tech at that time; we’d gone through some tough years”, said Beamer, who is 237-121-2 in his career.

“The first time, we came to Shreveport, I left here a happy guy”, an elated Beamer said afterward “The last time I come to Shreveport, I leave here a happy guy”. The final score marked the highest total in Independence Bowl history.

The win gives the Hawks a 9-2 record, with victories over teams in Conference USA, the American Athletic Conference and an ACC school as they head to their holiday break. We felt pretty confident in No. 1 [Ford] here and what he could do against this defense. I can’t see the Hokies losing this one, but it will be closer than people think.

“We didn’t expect it to turn into a shootout like that”, quarterback Michael Brewer said. I haven’t coached many games like that.

“They were dominant”, Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams said. The streak started in the 1993 Independence Bowl. Trevon McMillian broke-off a 51-yard score and galloped to one of his 2 first half TDs. I can not imagine the emotion he must have felt, but he sure seemed proud of his guys as he should have been. “Again, I realize how fortunate I’ve been to have lasted this long at Virginia Tech”.

“It was different”, he said. “College football has taken me through a lot of insane twists and turns….” Will he have a chance to celebrate one last time with the Hokies on Saturday? “I’m going to come back to Shreveport just for the hell of it”. The 6-foot-7 senior set highs with 36 points, 15 rebounds (tying his high set earlier in the season against Old Dominion), 11 field goals, 11 free throws made and tied his career-high blocks with four. Brewer was also recruited by current Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery, who was then the offensive coordinator at Baylor. “If we had a few more ticks on the clock maybe it changes a little bit”. “We’re going to be a blue-collar, hard-nosed team”.

Both teams started the game off on fire offensively. Tech scored on seven of their first eight possessions in the first half including a 67 yard punt return for a touchdown by Greg Stroman.