Virginia Tech Hokies vs UCLA Bruins Match Player Stats On Dec 31, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 31, 2013


No. 18 UCLA 42, Virginia Tech 12: Brett Hundley rushed for a career-high high 161 yards and two touchdowns and threw for an additional 226 yards and two scores as the Bruins ran away from the Hokies in the fourth quarter to win the Hyundai Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, and complete their first 10-win season since 2005.

Hundley completed 16-of-27 passes with no interceptions for the fifth time in the last six games and needed just 10 carries to surpass the 100-yard mark for the first time in his UCLA career. Virginia Tech entered the game with the nation’s fourth-ranked defense but it was UCLA (10-3) that limited the Hokies to one touchdown while scoring one on Myles Jack’s 24-yard interception return and setting up another on Jordan Zumwalt’s pick that iced the game in the fourth quarter.

Virginia Tech quarterback Mark Leal replaced starter Logan Thomas after he suffered neck and shoulder injuries following Zumwalt’s violent hit early in the second quarter, and completed 12-of-25 passes for 130 yards. Thomas led the Hokies (8-5) in rushing with 49 yards.

The key series came with the score tied at 7 and Virginia Tech nearing midfield following a 25-yard run by Thomas in which he plowed over Jack. Thomas rolled out to his left and completed a 3-yard pass to Joshua Stanford on third-and-9, but was drilled by Zumwalt after releasing the pass, knocking the three-year starter from the game and drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Leal, who had attempted just four passes all season, came on for Thomas but couldn’t generate another first down on the drive, the Hokies punted and Hundley broke loose on an 86-yard touchdown run two plays later for a 14-7 lead that stood up until the half. The Bruins began their second drive of the third quarter on their 15 and Hundley completed all six passes for 77 yards before running back Paul Perkins ran untouched into the end zone from 5 yards out for a 21-10 lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, the first of four straight touchdowns for the Bruins.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hundley's 86-yard touchdown run was the longest offensive play by a UCLA player in any bowl game and the longest run by a Bruin overall since DeShaun Foster had a 92-yard scamper in 2001. … Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer told reporters on Monday that DB Kyle Fuller, a first-team all-ACC pick last season, would play after undergoing surgery Nov. 19 to repair core muscle damage in his lower abdomen, but Fuller did not dress. The Hokies were also without fellow CB Antone Exum because of a sprained ankle … Michael Branthover, the fourth PK used by Virginia Tech this season, booted his first collegiate field goal late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 14-10.