CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — On a cold, rainy, windy afternoon where offense was hard to come by, Virginia Tech waited and waited for a big play that would break things open.
Jeffrey Overton Jr. answered the call.
Overton burst off the right edge, getting to the sideline and going untouched on a 76-yard touchdown run with five minutes left, lifting the Hokies to a come-from-behind 21-14 win at Alumni Stadium and helping Tech improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2017.
Overton, the nominal backup who splits carries with Marcellous Hawkins, finished with a career-high 209 rushing yards.
It finished off a comeback for the Hokies (1-0 ACC), who faced their first serious adversity all season, trailing for the first time this year and needing to mount a comeback in the teeth of a nor’easter that resulted in steady rain and 39 mph winds — the hardest in a Tech game since at least 1987, eclipsing a 1994 contest at East Carolina that had 25-35 mph winds.
Still, the Hokies found a way. Down 14-6 early in the fourth quarter after the second touchdown run of the day by Boston College quarterback Mason McKenzie, who ran for 138 yards, they finally put together a long drive.
Tech went 80 yards in 10 plays, a drive extended by a fourth-down holding call against Boston College (2-2, 0-1 ACC) after a defensive back hooked receiver Que’Sean Brown coming out of a break. Brown followed that up with catches of 7 and 9 yards before Ethan Grunkemeyer connected with Marlion Jackson on a 14-yard back-shoulder pass for a touchdown.
The Hokies got the 2-point conversion on an Overton run up the middle to tie the game at 14 with 8:05 left.
Tech’s defense got a stop before Overton struck again. Taking the ball off the right side, the back followed a Ja’Ricous Hairston block through the hole and was sprung by a downfield block by Layth Ghannam. The Eagles couldn’t get a hand on the tailback as Overton raced 76 yards up the sideline for the longest run of his career to make it 21-14.
The Hokies’ defense got a stop on BC’s ensuing possession before Overton put the game away, getting a tough 2-yard run on third-and-1 run before ripping off another 10-yard gain that made it nearly impossible for BC to get the ball back.
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His 209 rushing yards are the most by a Tech tailback since Bhayshul Tuten’s 266-yard effort against Boston College in Lane Stadium in 2024. It was the most on the road by a Hokies tailback since Mike Imoh’s 243-yard game at North Carolina in 2004.
Offense was tough to come by for most of the day, however. After a punt-fest in the first half that saw both teams finish with 117 yards and the only scoring come from a 45-yard field goal just before the break by the Hokies’ John Love, the offense picked up in the second half.
Tech got its first huge play early in the third quarter. After Aycen Stevens got a third-down sack to force a punt, Boston College punted to Brown, who took a low liner and weaved through the coverage before being tripped up at the Eagles’ 10 after going 50 yards.
The Hokies couldn’t punt it in, though, getting stuffed on second- and third-down runs. Love booted a 22-yard field goal to make it 6-0 Hokies with 11:58 left in the third.
Boston College answered the only way it had all day — with McKenzie running the ball.
The quarterback broke free off the right side for a 45-yard run, barely getting tripped up downfield by safety Tyson Flowers but not before he rumbled all the way to the Hokies’ 5-yard line.
On the next play, McKenzie pulled the ball on a read play and scampered off the left edge for a touchdown run. Luca Lombardo’s extra point gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead with 9:52 left in the third quarter — the first time the Hokies have trailed all season.
After going down 14-6, Tech’s response: 15 unanswered points to run away with it in Chestnut Hill.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 21, Boston College 14
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