Blacksburg, VA - Fifth-ranked Virginia Tech scored two special teams touchdowns and one defensive touchdown to spur a 47-13 rout of Connecticut, giving the Hokies a 4-0 record heading into Big East play.

Leading 10-0 twenty minutes into the game, VT was sparked by an 84-yard interception return for a TD by cornerback Eric Green. Green picked off a fourth-and-four pass by UConn's Dan Orlovsky and motored from the Hokie 16 yard line to paydirt, cutting back across the grain about halfway to the end zone.

Green's score helped the Hokies to a 27-0 half time lead, and then reserve running back Mike Imoh returned the opening kickoff of the second half 91 yards for a TD. The return was Tech's first for a touchdown since Tony Kennedy took one back against Louisville in 1992.

On UConn's next possession, Nathaniel Adibi broke through and blocked a punt attempt by Adam Coles, VT's first kick block of the season. The ball ricocheted backwards and hopped cleanly into the arms of Tech's Chris Clifton on the 16-yard line. Clifton took it in untouched for the score, spotting the Hokies to a 40-0 lead.

The game was marred by a leg injury suffered by UConn's great running back, Terry Caulley, who was leading the nation in rushing. On just his second carry of the game, Caulley was hurt on a routine tackle. He was carried off the field, treated on the sidelines for a while, and then carried to the locker room, finishing the game with two carries for six yards.

UConn won the statistical battle handily, except for the most important statistic: the score. The Huskies had more first downs (19 to 16), outgained Tech 443-368, ran 84 offensive plays to Tech's 47, and held the ball for 41 minutes and 24 seconds, to just 18:36 for Tech.

But the Hokies bludgeoned UConn with big plays. In addition to the three special teams and defensive TDs, Tech scored on runs of 23 yards by Kevin Jones, 58 yards by Cedric Humes, and a pass play of 28 yards to Ernest Wilford.

Connecticut opened the game with a 52-yard pass from Orlovsky to Shaun Feldeisen on the first play from scrimmage, spotting the ball at the Tech 28-yard line. The Hokies recovered to hold UConn to a missed 40-yard field goal.

Tech got a 38-yard field goal from Carter Warley on their second possession of the game, then scored their first TD two drives later, using just two plays to go from their 37-yard line to the end zone. First Tech QB Bryan Randall ran for 35 yards on an option keeper, and then he hit a wide open Ernest Wilford, who made a great diving catch for the 28-yard TD.

The two teams traded punts for a while, until Green had his 84-yard interception return. On VT's next offensive possession, punter Vinnie Burns, who averaged 45.2 yards on six kicks, boomed a 57-yarder that pinned UConn at their 1-yard line. When the Huskies punted from their 5-yard line, DeAngelo Hall returned it 13 yards to the UConn 42-yard line, and the Hokies again scored in two plays.

First backup QB Marcus Vick hit Wilford for 19 yards, and then Heisman hopeful Kevin Jones, who rushed 12 times for 105 yards, blew through a huge hole on the right side of the VT line, going 23 yards for the score to make it 24-0, Hokies.

Warley added a 35-yard field goal with 38 seconds to go in the half to make the half time score 27-0, Tech.

That set the stage for Imoh's kickoff return to open the second half. Imoh fielded the ball cleanly at the 9 yard line, burst through containment around the 20, accelerated upfield, and tied UConn's kicker into knots on his way to the end zone for a standup TD. It was the first time a kickoff had been returned for a touchdown in a Virginia Tech game in ten seasons (Jeyson Wilson of Syracuse took one 86 yards for a score against the Hokies in 1993).

The Hokies kept pouring it on. When UConn set up to punt from their 40-yard line on their next possession, Nathaniel Adibi broke through and blocked it easily. The punt rolled toward the sideline, and a posse of Hokies, led by wide receiver Chris Clifton, tracked it down. The ball bounced up cleanly into Clifton's belly, reminiscent of Lawrence Lewis' scoop of a blocked punt in the 1993 Independence Bowl, and like Lewis, Clifton rumbled into the end zone for the easy score. A bad snap led to a missed extra point for VT, and the Hokies led 40-0, with over 25 minutes to go in the game.

From that point on, the Hokies cleared both the offensive and defensive benches, and UConn, who left their starters in for the whole game, was able to put together a couple of scores. The Huskies had scoring drives of 8 plays, 80 yards, and 15 plays, 97 yards against Tech's backups. Meanwhile, the Tech offense fizzled, except for a 58-yard touchdown run by Cedric Humes that came with 6:44 to go and made the final score 47-13.

With the win, the Hokies complete their season-opening, out-of-conference home stand with a 4-0 record and a likely #4 ranking, with #3 USC losing to California late Saturday night. Virginia Tech travels to Rutgers next Saturday for a noon game against the Scarlet Knights. The game will be televised on ESPN Regional/Big East Game of the Week.

• Green's interception return is the 12th-longest in Hokie history. The Tech record is 100 yards, by Keion Carpenter against Miami in 1996.

• Connecticut's first nine possessions, all in the first half, averaged 4 plays, 13.7 yards. Their last five possessions, all in the second half, averaged 9.6 plays, 58.4 yards.

• With four catches on the day, Ernest Wilford now has 89 career receptions, putting him 8th all time at Virginia Tech. Next up: Mike Burnop (90 receptions) and Donald Wayne Snell (92 receptions). Wilford's TD catch is his first of the season and 9th of his career.

• Tackle stat of the day: Starter Michael Crawford (9 tackles) and backup James Griffin (9 tackles) together combined for 18 tackles from the Rover position.

• The Hokies gave up their first sack of the season, for a measly one yard loss in the first quarter, to UConn's Uyi Osunde. Meanwhile, the Hokies failed to register a sack of their own for the first time this year, despite 40 passing attempts by UConn. The Hokies have out-sacked their opponents 8 to 1 this season.

• After passing for 431 yards in the first two games, Bryan Randall has thrown for just 127 yards in the last two games. On the season, he is now 50-of-75 (66.7%) for 558 yards, 5 touchdowns, and just 1 interception.

• Gimme a C-note: After ripping off a 12-yard run in the third quarter to give him 105 yards on the day, Kevin Jones was immediately pulled and sat out the rest of the game. Jones now has eight 100-yard rushing games for his career, tied for 8th in Virginia Tech history. The record is sixteen 100-yard games, held by Cyrus Lawrence.

• Weird stat of the day: the Hokies were an ugly 0-for-8 on third down conversions.

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