RALEIGH, N.C. — The Virginia Tech offensive line looked at Terion Stewart and said, “I got you.” The Hokies’ running back responded, “OK, watch this.”
He proceeded to bolt up the middle and rip off an 85-yard run, the longest of his career, and set Tech up at the NC State 4-yard line. It scored one play later on an RPO from Kyron Drones to Cam Seldon and went up 20-14 with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Stewart made a statement in the 23-21 victory on first-and-10 from the Hokies’ own 11-yard line, taking the handoff, running behind left tackle Johnny Garrett, breaking two tackles and bursting into the open field. He was off to the races after that, with only NC State safety JJ Johnson — whom he juked out — in front of him.
TERION STEWART WITH THE 85-YARD RUN!!!! @HokiesFB pic.twitter.com/vHkqdtqbBQ
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 28, 2025
“It was just perfect timing,” Stewart said of the seas parting. “You got to speak stuff sometimes into existence, imagine the play you’re going to make before you go out there, and we actually did that and succeeded.”
The Wolfpack’s Asaad Brown and Sabastian Harsh eventually caught him, but it was a tone-setting run by the Bowling Green transfer — something the Hokies haven’t seen much of this year.
Banged up in preseason camp, he missed the opener vs. South Carolina before carrying the ball 11 times for 65 yards over the next two weeks against Vanderbilt and Old Dominion. Tech rested him with Wofford in town with the goal of him being “full speed” heading into conference play, per running backs coach Elijah Brooks — a smart move that paid dividends on Saturday night in Carter-Finley Stadium.
Stewart effectively broke the Wolfpack, racking up a career-high 174 yards on 15 carries — equating to 11.6 yards per attempt — and sparking a Hokies offense that sputtered in its first three clashes with FBS foes.
“He’s continued to battle, he’s worked his way through some stuff and stepped up big for us tonight,” interim head coach Philip Montgomery said of Stewart. “Offensive line and everybody’s part of that, and Terion would probably be the first one to tell you that, but he made some runs, put his foot in the ground, broke tackles. The explosive run right there late in the game? What a huge play that was.
“He’s a guy that continues to want to work, continues to want to get better, but it couldn’t have gone any better for him tonight.”
Stewart’s first three carries went for 14, 13 and 10 yards, respectively. He only had five totes at halftime, though, and it felt like Tech wasn’t using him enough.
That changed quickly after intermission. Of his next six, four went for first downs — gains of 11 (twice), 13 and the 85-yarder. Even without that long run, he had 89 yards on 14 attempts for a 6.4 average. That one just broke the dam — and led to the Hokies’ lone second-half touchdown.
“He’s got good vision,” Montgomery said of the former All-MAC first-team performer. “He’s got good contact balance. He’s got good speed, obviously. You saw that today. He’s the guy that can break tackles, but when he puts his foot in the ground, he's hard to get a hold of. And so he did a really nice job tonight. So did [Marcellous Hawkins]. So did all those guys that had an opportunity to carry it.”
Stewart’s patience and ability to make something out of nothing while not getting dragged down behind the chains — he only lost one yard on the night — gave the Hokies a different element. When he committed to Tech over the summer, the hope was that he’d be a game-changer, and he lived up to the billing in Raleigh.
“I’ve been waiting to see him just be full go, just fully be able to let the dog out the leash and let him run,” Hokies safety Isaiah Cash said of Stewart. “And I saw how fast he actually is and how many moves and how hard he is to tackle, and I think he’s just a great asset for our team.”
You Can’t Hurry Love
Trailing 21-20 with 10 minutes remaining after a 1-yard rushing touchdown from NC State, Virginia Tech slowly moved down the field, courtesy of Stewart’s 13-yard rush and Drones’ 14-yard heave on third down that tight end Benji Gosnell snagged in acrobatic fashion.
It was a crucial possession that set up a field goal from John Love. It wasn’t an entirely smooth operation, though.
As the drive stalled on the Wolfpack’s 25-yard line, Love trotted out to attempt a 43-yard field goal. He converted it, but the play was blown dead prior to the snap for a delay of game penalty.
The Hokies scooted back to the 30 and Love, holder Nick Veltsistas and long snapper Christian Epling set up again — not an easy task considering he just made the first kick from a shorter distance.
No matter. Love was cool, calm and collected as he knocked through a 49-yarder, which was the game-clinching field goal and made it 23-21.
“John is an absolute stud,” Montgomery said. “Whether you’re talking about him being a captain and his leadership role on our football team and the voice that he has, what he does on the field and how he continues to step up in big-time moments, we had the delay right there, and John immediately looks at Coach [Stu] Holt and myself and says, ‘That’s my fault.’ And then he stepped right back up and knocked another one down because that’s what John does. Nothing fazes him.”
It was the third made kick of the day for the redshirt junior, who nailed a 39-yarder for the contest’s opening score in the first quarter and was money from 32 in the second.
He’s 9-of-10 this season, with the miss coming from 59 yards against Wofford at the end of the first half. He’s 25-of-28 dating back to last season, including 10-of-12 from 40-plus, with one blocked at Old Dominion and a missed 55-yarder vs. Clemson.
You can even go further back to the beginning of his career. He was 1-of-2 in his rookie season and 22-of-24 as a redshirt freshman — 48-of-54 in all. He’s also 99-of-99 on extra points.
Simply put, Love has solidified himself as one of the most clutch kickers in program history, as well as the country. He’s now up to eighth on the Hokies’ all-time scoring list with 243 points. He surpassed Chris Kinzer and Cody Journell with his heroics in Raleigh.
“He’s as cool as a cucumber,” Montgomery said. “He’s got tons of confidence, and we have tons of confidence in him, and I’m glad he's on our football team.”
Defense Stymies Wolfpack
NC State running back Hollywood Smothers entered the day as the ACC’s lone player averaging over 100 yards per game and led the conference with 6.3 yards per carry.
His numbers against the Hokies, who allowed 512 rushing yards in back-to-back games vs. Vanderbilt and Old Dominion: 16 carries, 67 yards, 4.2 average.
“I think just everybody rallying to the football,” Cash said of what worked against Smothers. “We knew he’s a great player and he’s going to find gaps in our defense and try and hit home run plays, but we knew if we could contain him, then we’d have success against them.”
It wasn’t just the star tailback. Tech sacked Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey five times. In the four games leading into Saturday, it had only given up four.
The first came from true freshman linebacker Noah Chambers in the second quarter of his collegiate debut. Jason Abbey got to Bailey a few plays later and Cash forced an intentional grounding later in the sequence. Elhadj Fall brought him down for a loss of nine on the next series and Ben Bell tacked on the fifth sack.
On the surface, the sophomore signal-caller was an efficient 26-of-34 for 240 yards and two touchdowns, yet he and the offense stalled out a number of times against a Hokies defense that was flying around making plays. NC State had five punts, four of which capped off three-and-outs, and two drives ended with a turnover on downs.
“Obviously, our defensive staff did a really good job of creating some opportunities with movement and different pressure packages and things that they installed this week for this,” Montgomery said, “but those guys on the field go make it happen, right? They went and executed at a really high level and they were tenacious about it, right?
“They were relentless about it, and he [CJ Bailey] got away from us a few times, but we got him a few times, and that’s what we felt like we had to do — get him off the spot, get a bunch of guys around him, be relentless about it and try to keep him uncomfortable.”
It was a variety of guys, too. Kaleb Spencer led Tech with 11 tackles and set the tone early. Chambers was active with six tackles — including three on his first three snaps — and the aforementioned sack, leading Montgomery to say, “The dude’s special.” Fellow true freshman Sheldon Robinson was also productive with six tackles and one TFL.
Then there were the contributions from safety Christian Ellis, who finished with three pass breakups, including one on the most important play of the game — NC State’s fourth-and-1 pass attempt to tight end Justin Joly.
“Young guys stepping up and making plays, old guys stepping up and making plays,” Montgomery said. “But just a full team win and couldn't be more proud.”