Keyjuan Brown scored twice in the second half to lead the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals, who rallied for a 28-16 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
Brown needed only 12 carries to get 94 yards. He scored the go-ahead touchdown for Louisville (7-1, 4-1 ACC) with 5:01 left in the third quarter on a 2-yard plunge. Then, on the same drive that leading running back Isaac Brown went down with a leg injury, he sealed the win with a 24-yard scoring run with 2:16 left in the game.
The Cardinals defense, which entered Saturday ranked 14th nationally allowing just 286.3 yards, limited the Hokies (3-6, 2-3) to just 240. Only 99 of those came in the second half as Louisville shut out their hosts after halftime.
Louisville got 231 yards on the ground. Isaac Brown ran 16 times for 126 yards and a 52-yard touchdown, but he grabbed his leg after going out of bounds with 5:40 left in the game.
The Cardinals struck quickly. After forcing the Hokies to punt, they needed just two plays to go up 7-0 on Isaac Brown’s big play just 2:02 into the game. The sophomore who entered Saturday with an FBS-best 8.7 yards per carry now has busted out five runs of 50 or more yards this season.
The rest of the half, though, belonged to the Hokies, who took advantage of short fields and a couple big plays on defense and special teams.
Isaiah Cash picked off a Moss pass, giving Virginia Tech the ball at the Louisville 37. Nine plays later, Drones tied the game on a 3-yard run with 1:57 left in the first quarter. The Hokies took the lead on Louisville’s next drive thanks to P.J. Prioleau blocking a punt that rolled through the end zone for a safety with :52 to go in the first 15 minutes.
Drones extended the lead to 16-7 with 8:25 left in the first half, throwing a 5-yard scoring pass to Cameron Seldon. That capped an eight-play, 54-yard drive.
Drones completed just 11 of 24 passes for 76 yards. The Hokies quarterback also got 85 rushing yards on 14 carries.
