Blacksburg, Va. ? Virginia Tech’s 47-21 victory over No. 16 Marshall was pretty much a coaching staff’s dream.

The No. 11 Hokies had the game well in hand, then made enough mistakes to realize there’s more to do.

Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich (7) gets sacked by Virginia Tech defenders Nathaniel Adibi (83) and Nate McPeek. Tech won, 47-21, on Thursday in Blacksburg, Va.

Kevin Jones and Lee Suggs each ran for more than 150 yards and combined for five touchdowns, and the Hokies (3-0) contained Byron Leftwich when it mattered en route to their second straight victory over a ranked opponent.

Then, they let Leftwich throw for three touchdowns in the final 12 minutes as a 33-0 defensive masterpiece deteriorated at the finish.

“I guess we kind of let up a little bit,” defensive end Nathaniel Adibi said. “We came in with the mindset of trying to get a goose-egg, but then he did his thing. That didn’t go over too good with our coach.”

Leftwich finished 31-for-49 for 406 yards, his fifth consecutive game with at least 400 yards passing, but the Thundering Herd (1-1) rushed for just 34.

“We came here to get a win,” Leftwich said. “If we didn’t win, we failed.”

Playing rugged defense and challenging the Thundering Herd to stop the running game, the Hokies ran Jones and Suggs through and around Marshall’s 10-man fronts, gaining 395 yards and averaging 6.0 per rush.

Jones had 171 on 24 carries, including scoring bursts of 25, 15 and 1 yard. Suggs had 153 yards on 24 tries, and twice dove in from the 1.

“If everybody on the team is clicking, you know, the linemen and the fullbacks and everybody, there’s no telling what we can do,” Suggs said.

John Candelas added a late touchdown run for Virginia Tech.

Leftwich, burned by a sure touchdown pass that was dropped in the first quarter, another that could have been caught and several other drops, didn’t want to consider what those plays could have meant.

“I’m not an ‘if’ guy,” he said. “It didn’t happen, but we still should have fought and tried to find a way to make plays. But we didn’t.”

The Hokies had a lot to do with it. They repeatedly pinned Marshall deep in its territory and turned two first-half turnovers into field goals. The Herd did not start a drive beyond their 25 until very late.

Leftwich had 15 completions and 197 yards in the final quarter, including touchdown passes of 9 yards to Darius Watts, 18 yards to Denero Marriott and 19 yards to Brad Bates, all in a span of 9:31.

The game began with Marshall hoping to gain respect for its program not afforded by its success in the Mid-American Conference, but the Hokies didn’t let it happen and turned their visitors into the Blundering Herd.