ORLANDO, Fla. — It was not the type of game that deserved extra plays, but the Russell Athletic Bowl provided them anyway Friday night, going to overtime to produce a 13-10 victory for Virginia Tech against Rutgers, decided by Cody Journell’s 22-yard field goal.  The Scarlet Knights (9-4) had a chance to tie in overtime, but Nick Borgese’s 42-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right.  The game set two Russell Athletic Bowl records, neither of which makes for exciting football — most punts (21) and fewest points (23).  The game did start with excitement, though, even if it was of the blooper-film variety.  On the second play from scrimmage, Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas settled into the shotgun. But even with his 6-foot-6 frame, Thomas could not corral a snap that surprised him, skipped past his left arm and skittered 22 yards behind him into the Hokies’ end zone. By the time Thomas got the ball in his hands, it was too late, and the ball was knocked loose by Rutgers linebacker Khaseem Greene.  Greene, thinking he had recorded a sack that would double as a safety, began celebrating by making the overhead signal of a safety. But then he saw the ball on the ground in the end zone and scooped it up, this time raising his arms in a touchdown signal.  Just like that, 17 seconds into the game, Rutgers had an unexpected 7 points. What was not expected was that the Scarlet Knights’ offense would fail the entire game to score anything but a field goal, that also coming in the first quarter.  Punctuating Rutgers’s poor offensive showing was the play of the sophomore quarterback Gary Nova, who completed 17 of 40 passes for 130 yards and threw a fourth-quarter interception that directly led to Virginia Tech’s only touchdown.  Afterward, Nova answered questions blankly, often refusing to elaborate or evaluate his play.  “It’s a bad pass; that’s it,” he said of the interception that changed the game.  Rutgers Coach Kyle Flood defended sticking with Nova even as he struggled all night, perhaps aware that the Scarlet Knights’ previous coach, Greg Schiano, often employed a quick hook.  “I don’t believe in throwing things away,” Flood said. “With the reps we’d invested in him, I felt he was going to get better during the game. Did he? I’m not sure. I think there’s blame everywhere. But it’s the quarterback who is out there. He’s the first reason for success, and he’s the first reason for failure.”  Failure seemed to be the way Rutgers stumbled to the finish this season. After racing to a 9-1 start and looking as if they would become the first team in program history to earn a berth in a Bowl Championship Series game, the Scarlet Knights lost their final two regular-season games, to Pittsburgh and Louisville.  Rutgers had to settle for the consolation prize of playing an old Big East foe, even while it prepares its own departure from the conference, to join the 14-team Big Ten in 2014. Like Rutgers, Virginia Tech (7-6) joined the Big East in 1991, before bolting for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004 and becoming part of the early trend of conference jumping.  With the loss Friday, the Scarlet Knights missed an opportunity to become the university’s third team to record double-digit wins. The others were in 1976 and 2006.  After the sudden touchdown that started the game, the game plodded through a steady stream of punts. Finally, Virginia Tech punched through for the game’s lone offensive touchdown, on a 21-yard, fourth-quarter pass from Thomas to Corey Fuller.  The Scarlet Knights’ only score besides Greene’s recovery came when Borgese connected on a 36-yard, first-quarter field goal.  It was not so much that the Hokies finally started playing better in the fourth quarter, but rather that they benefited from Rutgers’s poor play, particularly from Nova. He might have had more than one interception had Hokies defenders not dropped several of his errant passes.  Similarly, Virginia Tech was often crippled by the inefficient play of Thomas, who was 15 of 39 for 192 yards.  “Nothing comes easy for us,” Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer said. “It’s work. A lot of it is just hanging in there.”  And they did, until they finally scored twice in the fourth quarter and then once in overtime to eventually bring a game devoid of much offensive excitement to an end.
Rutgers faltered after a promising start to the Russell Athletic Bowl on Friday, falling to Virginia Tech in overtime and ending its season with three straight losses.