Two Truth and a Lie From Virginia Tech Football's Continued Dominance Over Virginia

For the 19th time in the last 20 meetings, the Virginia Tech football team was able to dominate their rivals on the field. This season's 37-17 victory in front of a full Lane Stadium was one that saved Virginia Tech's season from a major disappointment by not becoming bowl-eligible.

The Hokies did it with their third-string quarterback who looked like a seasoned veteran. The win was also big because the loss ended the Cavaliers' season at 5-7 and put a dent into their rebuild. Virginia Tech won't know its bowl destination for another week, but here are two truths and a lie from Tech's 20-point win over their in-state rivals.

Truth: Pop Watson is the real deal

You might think this is an overreaction, but after making an impression at Duke last week in relief of Collin Schlee, freshman Pop Watson looked calm, cool, and collective in his first college start. The Massachusetts native was 14-for-21 through the air for 254 yards and a nice deep ball to Jaylin Lane for a 66-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Watson plays with a swagger and confidence. You can see why he was named the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year. He was confident running the ball, he went through his reads and the only real nitpicking mistake was taking a fourth-quarter sack instead of throwing the ball out of bounds. This next month is huge for him.

Truth: Tyler Bowen called a very good game

There has been a lot of criticism of offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen in the last couple of years and rightfully so, but when he needed to come up with a very good game plan, he did. It's time to give props where props are due with a third-game string quarterback.

He put his young quarterback in a very good position all night long, making simple throws and reads, while keeping the Virginia defense off-balance by mixing up the calls. Of course, the players have to out and execute the plays, but Bowen put his team in position for success all night long, something that hasn't been the case this season.

Lie: Chris Marve made necessary adjustments

One storyline around the Hokies this season was the lack of adjustments made by the coaching staff. Brent Pry addressed multiple times and it never seemed to be fully fixed. After a strong first half from the Virginia Tech defense, it was a tough second half for defensive coordinator Chris Marve.

Virginia put together their two best drives late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to close the gap to 30-17. For some reason, Marve was not able to adjust to Virginia's adjustments and it kept the Cavaliers in the game longer than it should have. Maybe we'll see better adjustments in the bowl game.

Virginia Tech wraps up the regular season at 6-6, but they do get a bowl game and important practice, and another game for the development of the younger guys. Now the question is, who will opt out of the bowl game, and who will suit up? Time will tell.