TAMPA—Darren Evans ran for 109 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Tyrod Taylor ran for two scores in Virginia Tech’s 30-12 victory over No. 18 Boston College in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game today. The Hokies defense held the Eagles to 49 yards rushing and forced three turnovers, one an Orion Martin 17-yard fumble return for a touchdown, that led to 14 points. Taylor was named the game’s MVP.

Virginia Tech has received its 17th commitment for the Class of 2009, from DeAntre Rhodes, a 6-3, 270-pound defensive tackle from Varina. Rhodes said he chose Tech over Georgia and Virginia. He said he also considered Tennessee but shied away after Volunteers coach Phillip Fulmer announced his forced resignation Nov. 3. Rhodes had 26 solo tackles and 22 assists this season, but 14½ were for a loss - which Varina coach Stu Brown finds impressive because he uses a 4-4 defense in which a defensive tackle’s primary role is to contain offensive linemen and free the linebackers to make tackles. Rhodes also had 4½ sacks.

BLACKSBURG—Even after A.D. Vassallo hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 7 seconds left last night and the Cassell Coliseum crowd roared around him, he settled his nerves and told himself to hurry up, get back on defense. He remembered Virginia Tech’s Nov. 21 game against Xavier, during which the Hokies celebrated a put-back that gave them a two-point lead, then paid for it moments later when the Musketeers beat the buzzer with a game-winning half-court heave.

When Virginia Tech and Boston College played in last season’s ACC championship game, the Eagles’ quarterback was senior Matt Ryan, a starter since midway through his sophomore season. In Saturday’s rematch in Tampa, Fla., Boston College will start a quarterback at the opposite end of the experience spectrum—redshirt freshman Dominique Davis, who was expected to become the Eagles’ starter next season but ended up getting an early jump on that role.

With the stock market lurching like an erratic elevator, the housing bust and credit crunch tipping the nation into recession and financial institutions struggling to find cash, it seems a wildly uncertain time to be learning about investment. Especially if you’re using nearly $5 million of someone else’s money to get the education. But that’s what about 15 Virginia Tech students are doing, and indications are they’re doing fine.

Two Richmond-area Virginia Tech fans enjoy extra bragging rights today beyond the satisfaction that came with the Hokies defeating Virginia in their annual rivalry football game.

Regardless of which side you favor in today’s game between Virginia and Virginia Tech, you have to marvel at the position the Hokies find themselves with one game remaining in the regular season.

Jennifer McQueeney’s house is decorated for Christmas. It just so happens that everything is orange and maroon and has Virginia Tech logos on it.

An important deadline is looming for Athletic Director Craig Littlepage. He has until Monday to decide whether U.Va. will add another year to coach Al Groh’s contract. Groh’s deal runs through Dec. 31, 2011. Each December, the school has the option of adding a year to Groh’s contract. If U.Va. chooses to do so this year, Groh would again have four seasons left on his deal.

When Wilbur and Orville Wright flew the first successful powered airplane in 1903, part of their success came from what they learned building bicycles. Lacking a wind tunnel, they tested different wing shapes by mounting them on a free-turning wheel attached to a bicycle’s handlebars. When Dr. William Buckner Haile Jr. commuted the 25 miles to his job early in his career in the aerospace industry, he did so by bike.

The football game Saturday between Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia in Blacksburg will start at noon, the ACC announced this morning. ESPN will televise the battle for the Commonwealth Cup, which goes to the winner of this game each year. The Hokies (4-3, 7-4) will represent the Coastal Division in the ACC championship game if they beat the Cavaliers (3-4, 5-6). U.Va. must win Saturday to become bowl-eligible. If the Hokies lose Saturday, Georgia Tech will advance to the ACC championship game from the Coastal.

CHANTILLY—Virginia Tech massacre survivors and victims’ families are scheduled to meet with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine this afternoon. The governor is also holding a meeting tomorrow at the State Capitol. Both sessions are private. Families said they plan to raise concerns about how Tech officials responded on April 16, 2007, when student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people.

From the time he was 12, David Alexander Ward’s sole objective was to become an entrepreneur. Working for someone else “just wasn’t in the cards,“ he recalled in a 1990 Richmond Times-Dispatch interview. His mother fueled this spirit in him by collecting the profits he made on a paper route.

THIS WEEK
  Miami—The Hurricanes have won five consecutive games, tied with Virginia Tech for the longest winning streak in the ACC this season. Of course, the Hurricanes beat the Hokies last Thursday. Miami (4-2 ACC, 7-3) will make the ACC championship game if it closes the regular season with wins over Georgia Tech and N.C. State.

Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver spent part of yesterday researching Texas’ decision to designate its defensive coordinator as its future head coach. Weaver wants to find out if, and how, a similar arrangement could work at Tech, presumably with defensive coordinator Bud Foster.