2000 Spring Football Game: White 10, Maroon 7
by Will Stewart, HokieCentral.com, 4/30/00

Blacksburg, VA - April 29, 2000

          1  2  3  4  F 
          -  -  -  - -- 
White     0  0  3  7 10 
Maroon    0  7  0  0  7 

Mrn: Davis 84 yard punt return (Mollerup kick)
Wht: Warley 25 yard FG
Wht: Ward 1 yard run (Warley kick)

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Virginia Tech's White team beat the Maroon team 10-7 in the annual Spring Football game, in a contest that was marred by poor passing and offensive struggles by both teams.

In the short, 32-minute contest, both teams were a mix of starters and backups, without a true #1 or #2 offense or defense lining up. Many observers pointed out this mix of starters and backups as the primary reason for the struggles of the offenses, which had limited success on the ground but tallied poor pass completion percentages.

The Maroon offense was led by Heisman candidate Michael Vick and #2 quarterback Dave Meyer, who went a combined 3 of 18 for no touchdowns and one interception by Vick. The White team was quarterbacked primarily by Grant Noel, who went 3 of 11 but had a strong third quarter and led the White team to the only offensive touchdown of the game.

Andre Davis opened the scoring late in the second quarter with an 84-yard punt return for the Maroon Team. Davis took a strong but low punt, cut through a hole to the right, and burst up the sideline for the score. Most observers agreed that Davis was well out of bounds early in the play, but he continued to run and no out-of-bounds call was made. His score came with 35 seconds to go in the second quarter and made it 7-0 Maroon at the half.

In the second half, the White team closed it to 7-3 on their first drive of the third quarter when Cater Warley nailed a 35-yard field goal. The drive started on the White 35-yard line and featured a long option run of 28 yards by Noel. The White attempted an unsuccessful flanker option pass in the drive but was able to add another first down onto Noel's long run, getting Warley close enough to make the kick.

Later in the quarter, David Pugh recovered a Maroon fumble on the Maroon 32 yard line. The fumble occurred during a handoff exchange between Dave Meyer and Lee Suggs, and Pugh, who had made good penetration, pounced on it.

Noel lofted a pretty 29-yard pass to Emmett Johnson that advanced the ball to the 3 yard line, and after two stops, the White team finally got the ball in the end zone on a 1-yard run by Wayne Ward. His score came with 7:12 to go in the fourth quarter and made it 10-7 White, which was the final margin.

The Maroon had a couple of chances to tie or go ahead in the fourth, but on one drive, a fumble by Keith Burnell was recovered by Ron Cook. On their last drive, the Maroon offense sputtered after getting in scoring range on the strength of a 50-yard completion from Meyer to Andrae Harrison.

The best offensive performer of the day by far was Maroon running back Lee Suggs, who gained 72 yards on 12 carries and didn't have a single run that lost yardage. Suggs was voted the offensive MVP of the day.

Defensively, Cory Bird won the MVP with a standout performance that included nine tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception.

Stats Summary:

Maroon Team:
7 first downs
127 yards total offense
26 rushes for 51 yards
3-18 passing for 76 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD's

White Team:
6 first downs
117 yards total offense
28 rushes for 73 yards
3-14 passing for 44 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD's

               

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