Virginia Tech sent longtime coach Frank Beamer out a winner Saturday night as the Hokies held on for a wild Independence Bowl victory.
The Hokies won 55-52 over a Tulsa team that would not go away. It made for one of the highest-scoring, wackiest bowl games of the season.
Virginia Tech scored 45 points in the first half alone, taking a two-touchdown lead into the second half. It was 52-37 going into the fourth quarter.
Tulsa scored the final 15 points of the game, however. The game wasn’t over until Tech’s Dadi Nicholas sacked Tulsa’s Dane Evans on fourth-and-10 with 1:17 to play.
Virginia Tech had 598 yards for the game. Tulsa had 563.
For the Hokies, Michael Brewer threw for 344 yards and a touchdown. Isaiah Ford caught 12 passes for 227 yards.
Tulsa’s Evans countered with 374 yards and three touchdowns. D’Angelo Brewer rushed for 105 yards. Joshua Atkinson had 12 catches for 139 yards and Keyarris Garrett caught eight for 137.
The win allowed Beamer to go out with a winning record (7-6). Overall, Beamer was 238-121.
