BLACKSBURG, Va. – Bhayshul Tuten ran for 120 yards and scored a touchdown to lead Virginia Tech to a 31-14 victory over Marshall on Saturday.

Kyron Drones ran for a touchdown and threw another for the Hokies, who started slow and took a 10-7 halftime field goal lead, but they caught fire after the break, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half to pull away.

“We wanted them to stop us and I think we did that in the second half,” Tuten said. “It definitely worked. I got going, Kyron got going and Mal (Malachi Thomas) got going and that was definitely needed.”

Tuten scored a touchdown from one yard out on Virginia Tech’s first drive of the second half to give Virginia Tech (1-1) a 17-7 lead. Marshall (1-1) answered with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Stone Earle to Christian Fitzpatrick to make it 17-14, but the Hokies answered with Drones, who scored on a 3-yard run on the Hokies’ next possession and then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Da’Quan Felton early in the fourth quarter, pushing Virginia Tech’s lead to 17.

“I thought the offensive staff did a great job at halftime,” Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said. “And the players were very determined. It felt different. I thought there was a good energy and a good attitude. … I thought the ability to run the ball and make a statement at the start of the second half set the tone for the half.”

Tuten’s performance was his fifth 100-yard rushing game as a Hokie and the 15th of his career. Virginia Tech finished with 208 rushing yards.

After Marshall had amassed 549 yards in the season opener against Stony Brook, he finished with just 278 yards.

“Some of the things that were seen this week weren’t seen last week,” Marshall coach Charles Huff said. “We’ve got to keep working on that. It’s going to take a while to understand who this team really is. Last week we were the more dominant team and probably got away with some things because we were more physically dominant. This week we were even unmatched in some situations, so we can learn from that.”

“We take responsibility. We missed some opportunities. We had the chance to make some plays that could have changed the course of the game against us. We just didn’t make them.”

RESULTS

Marshall: The Herd used three quarterbacks in the season opener, but stuck with Stone Earle this time. The transfer from North Texas completed just 13 of 36 passes for 129 yards against the Hokies. He – and Marshall’s offense – will have to improve significantly to have a chance against No. 2 Ohio State in two weeks.

“What we wanted to do (before the game) was within Stone’s control,” Huff said. “I thought he played hard and gave us a chance. He ran fast and got the ball out of his hands quickly, which was a big part of what we were trying to do. We just need to make some more plays.”

Virginia Tech: The defense rebounded big time after allowing 294 yards and three touchdowns to Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia in their opening loss. The Hokies sacked Earle twice, intercepted him once and held Marshall to just 5 of 17 third down attempts.

“Thank God the defense played really well,” Pry said. “They really kept the game on track.”

Next

Marshall: The Herd will play at No. 2 Ohio State on September 21

Virginia Tech: The Hokies play at Old Dominion on Saturday.

——

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football