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BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente downplayed any personal satisfaction derived from his teams season-opening performance, but needless to say, he enjoyed most of what he witnessed in his debut as the Hokies head coach.Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans threw for 221 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Hokies to a 36-13 season-opening victory over Liberty on Saturday, handing Fuente his first victory.Fuente, who spent the previous four seasons at Memphis, took over in January for Frank Beamer, who retired after 29 years as Virginia Techs head coach.The atmosphere here is fantastic, Fuente said. Its what college football is all about. People at Virginia Tech take a lot of pride in the game-day atmosphere, and they should. It was incredibleMy thought process coming into the game was how would our kids handle this? How do they respond when things dont go well. There were some times when things were kind of ugly looking, but I liked the way our kids dug in there and plowed away. The atmosphere was fantastic and Im pleased with the way the kids responded to adversity.Fuentes decision last week to name Evans the starting quarterback certainly looked like a good move after Evans completed 20 of 32 passes. He threw touchdown passes on the Hokies last two possessions of the first half to help Virginia Tech rally from a 13-10 deficit.It was a great feeling, Evans said. Its been nine months of hard work. We finally got to showcase what weve been working on for nine long months. We had some mistakes, for sure. I know on my part I had a lot of mistakes that I am going to clean up, but it was exciting.Evans, who won a three-man battle for the job, played less than three quarters. Fuente pulled him after he fumbled on an option pitch -- his second fumble of the game.Some good and some bad would be my first impression, Fuente said of his quarterback. We need to take care of the football. He made some good plays in the passing game. My gut reaction is some good and some bad.Liberty amassed just 160 yards of offense, scoring all of its points off of Virginia Tech turnovers. The Hokies lost four fumbles.They made more plays than we did, but well bounce back, Liberty coach Turner Gill said. We will be a better football team from this ball game.THE TAKEAWAYLIBERTY: Liberty quarterback Stephon Masha got off to a rough start in his attempt to replace Josh Woodrum, a four-year starter. Masha completed 9 of 25 for 70 yards and two interceptions. It was a sloppy debut overall for Liberty, which committed 13 penalties, including eight false-start penalties.VIRGINIA TECH: The Hokies defense struggled with consistency a year ago, but looked good Saturday. Virginia Tech, which intercepted just 10 passes last season, had three, marking the 41st time under defensive coordinator Bud Foster that the Hokies have intercepted at least three passes in a game. Theyre 38-3 in those games.It was a good starting point for us today, Foster said. I was pleased with how we played. We didnt give up any explosive plays. All in all, I thought we did a nice job in some sudden-change situations and on third down. I think they had 11 turnovers last year, so that (forcing the turnovers) was big.UP NEXTLIBERTY: The Flames will serve as hosts to Jacksonville next Saturday in Libertys home opener. The game will be Libertys first against an opponent from the Pioneer Football League.VIRGINIA TECH: The Hokies now get ready to take on Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday night in a game that could set college footballs single-game attendance mark. The two teams havent met in the regular season since 1937. Landry Shamet Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Ivica Zubac Clippers Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. https://www.clipperslockerroom.com/Blake-Griffin-City-Edition-Jersey/ . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. JaMychal Green Jersey . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Kawhi Leonard Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU football coach Les Miles has been visiting with law enforcement in Baton Rouge after an ambush by a lone gunman took the lives of three officers Sunday and wounded three others.Miles had unannounced, private meetings Tuesday with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office, which lost a deputy in the fatal shootings, and Baton Rouge Police, which lost two officers.LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette confirmed the visits witth authorities after the coach was seen entering police headquarters, where he spent more than an hour, by The Associated Press.ddddddddddddBonnette says Miles only wanted to express his support and discuss his appreciation for the courage police show in putting their lives on the line to protect their communities. ' ' '