Notable Numbers: Virginia Tech at No. 24 NC State

Stats with Salas

Tale of Two Halves It was like one was watching a completely different game. The first half, the defenses shined and gave up very little of anything. Then, in the second half, the offenses woke up and it was a shootout the final 30 minutes.   

First Half	Second Half
Points	3	40
Total Yards	176	466
TD	0	6

The Long BombDeep shots happened regularly on Thursday, with both teams accounting for five passing plays of over 35 yards. The Hokies were responsible for three of those, with wide receiver Kaleb Smith hauling in an 85-yard touchdown catch and a 50-yarder and tight end Dae'Quan Wright catching a 36-yard pass. Smith's 85-yard play, which was a beautiful throw from quarterback Grant Wells, tied the third-longest passing play since 1987 (Beamer era-present) and marked the longest play of the season, topping the previous high of 65 yards by running back Malachi Thomas versus Boston College on Sept. 10.

Pass Catchers Showing Promise Smith, who now is up to having 14 catches of over 25 yards in his storied career, is playing at an elite level. Before Thursday, he ranked as the fifth-best receiver in the ACC (75.9), according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), and certainly upped his rating after his three-catch, 141-yard outing in Raleigh. At the tight end position, Wright is continuing to emerge and put together his longest catch yet, running a crossing route on a play action and taking it 36 yards. The true freshman finished with two catches for 46 yards.

10-Tackle Club Linebacker Alan Tisdale, who missed the first six games of the season, has made his presence felt in his last two outings, racking up 20 tackles (7 solo), one sack and a quarterback hurry. On Thursday, he tallied a team-high 11 tackles, including five solo stops, and one sack that was a loss of seven yards for the Pack. Defensive back Mansoor Delane had himself a day, too, defensively, turning in a high 10 tackles (4 solo), forced a fumble and had two pass breakups, as all three categories were career highs, with his two pass breakups tying his high he set versus Miami (Fla.) on Oct. 15.  

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Uniform TrackerThe Hokies wore white helmets, white jerseys and white pants for the first time this season. 

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