In the pouring rain, Virginia Tech’s Reidy has a moment in the sun

BLACKSBURG — Matt Reidy used to be one of No. 6 Virginia Tech’s unsung heroes. Now he’s getting the star treatment.

“Yeah, he just said he’s not going to hang out with us anymore now that he knows what the end zone is like,” Hokies senior linebacker Cody Grimm joked.

Reidy’s 1-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter of Saturday’s 31-7 win over then-No. 9 Miami propelled him from the under-appreciated world of special teams to the rarefied air of the end zone dwellers.

The 6-foot, 210-pound senior can now walk with the same swagger as quarterback Tyrod Taylor, tailback Ryan Williams and wide receiver Dyrell Roberts, among others.

That hasn’t stopped his teammates from having a laugh or two at his expense.

“He told all the offensive coaches that they need to start giving him the ball … he’s got one touch and one touchdown,” Grimm told a group of reporters Tuesday. “I’m pretty sure (today) in our special teams, he’s going to be back there returning kicks for us.

“Nah, we’re just messing around with him. He knows it’s all fun and games. That was a good play, but he understands that pretty much everyone in this room could make that play.”

It’s hard to argue that point.

Reidy, a Gaithersburg, Md., native, was the beneficiary of a misstep by Marcus Davis who ran to make the recovery, but slipped on the rain-soaked grass and slid past the ball. Reidy turned around, picked it up and jogged into the end zone for his first career score.

“Going into this game, I thought my last touchdown would be in high school,” Reidy told reporters after the game. “I never thought I would score in college.”

It was not only Reidy’s first collegiate score but Tech’s first blocked punt return touchdown in six years (Chris Clifton vs. UConn).

“We’ve got a thing there when we block a kick, the lead guy takes his time and picks it up and everybody else turns and blocks the other jersey to make sure we score with this thing when we get a kick blocked,” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “Somebody said (during film study), ‘Why didn’t you turn and block?’ And he just said, ‘I didn’t need any blocking.’ He got in there and got that one yard by himself.”

All kidding aside, Reidy’s teammates and coaches couldn’t have been happier for the former walk-on whose biggest contributions, before Saturday, were in kickoff and punt coverage.

The former high school running back, who rushed for 1,866 yards and 17 touchdowns his senior year, has a reputation as one of the hardest hitters on the team. He led the Hokies with 17 special-teams tackles in 2008, and also forced a fumble in the Orange Bowl win over Cincinnati.

He is fourth on the team in special-teams tackles this season with seven, but he has something the three players ahead of him don’t — a touchdown.

“I’m never going to score a touchdown, and I never have scored a touchdown, so I kind of live vicariously through my roommates and my neighbors,” said junior center Beau Warren. “It’s very exciting for me.”