The Good, the Bad and the Ugly From Virginia Tech's 21-14 Win Over Boston College

Through three quarters Saturday, Jeffrey Overton Jr. had 69 rushing yards, and Virginia Tech had six points. Then the sophomore ran nine times for 140 yards in the fourth quarter, and the Hokies left a mostly empty Alumni Stadium still unbeaten.

Virginia Tech beat Boston College 21-14 in Chestnut Hill, Mass., erasing a 14-6 fourth-quarter deficit in a nor'easter that brought wind gusts up to 40 mph. At 4-0 (1-0 ACC), the Hokies are off to their best start since 2017 in head coach James Franklin's first season.

Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the victory.

The Good

Overton took over

Overton ran in the two-point conversion that tied it at 14 with 8:05 left. On the first snap of Tech's next possession, he got to the right edge and went 76 yards for the go-ahead score. When Tech got the ball back needing to run out the clock, it kept feeding him, and his 19-yard run after the two-minute warning ended it.

He finished with a career-high 209 yards on 25 carries, the first 200-yard game by a Hokie since Bhayshul Tuten's program-record 266 against Boston College in 2024. That's quite a day for a back who tore his ACL in December 2024, before taking a college snap, and opened this season behind Marcellous Hawkins Jr. on the depth chart.

Cortez Harris and the pass rush

Tech sacked Boston College quarterback Mason McKenzie three times, and defensive lineman Cortez Harris had two of them. The second one saved points. After Hawkins' third-quarter fumble gave the Eagles the ball at the Tech 22 with a 7-6 lead, Harris dropped McKenzie for a 13-yard loss. Boston College went backward 18 yards on the series and punted. The Eagles finished 2-for-13 on third down.

Special teams

Wide receiver Que'Sean Brown's 50-yard punt return set Tech up at the BC 10 early in the third quarter. Kicker John Love went 2-for-2, including a 45-yarder through the gusts right before halftime.

The Bad

The passing game

There is obviously a huge asterisk given the weather circumstances, but Boston College was able to keep one of the better passing offenses in the country kept at bay for most of the game.

A week after throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns at Maryland, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer went 22-of-35 for 147 yards, with no completion longer than 16 yards. Tight end Luke Reynolds went from 12 catches for 107 yards against the Terrapins to five for 15 against the Eagles.

McKenzie was 11-of-23 for 111 yards on the other side, so the wind didn't pick a team. And when Tech had to throw, Grunkemeyer answered. He went 5-of-8 on the 80-yard tying drive, capped by a 14-yard touchdown to wide receiver Marlion Jackson.

Short yardage

Tech went 0-for-2 on fourth down, both times in Boston College territory. Hawkins was stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the BC 26, and Brown came up 3 yards short on fourth-and-4 at the BC 34. After Brown's punt return, three straight Hawkins runs from the 10 netted 6 yards and a field goal. In a game decided by one drive, that's a lot of points left on a wet field.

The Ugly

Hawkins' afternoon

Hawkins, who ran for 749 yards last season, finished with 19 yards on 10 carries. On third-and-10 midway through the third quarter, defensive back Max Tucker knocked the ball loose, and Boston College took over at the Tech 22. It was the game's only turnover.

McKenzie's legs

Boston College's offense was McKenzie, and Tech never solved him. The Saginaw Valley State transfer ran 26 times for 138 yards and scored both Eagles' touchdowns. He accounted for 249 of Boston College's 261 total yards, and everyone else in the BC backfield combined for 13 yards on 11 carries.

He hurt Tech most in the biggest moments. In the third quarter, McKenzie went down grabbing his right shoulder and sat out one snap. He came back in on third-and-4, scrambled 45 yards to the Tech 5, and scored on the next play to give the Eagles a 7-6 lead.

Next up is undefeated Pitt on Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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