Game Nine : Miami 30, Virginia Tech 12

Miami earned its first win over Virginia Tech in four tries on Thursday night, upending the division rival, 30-12 in a must-win game as far as the ACC Coastal race is concerned.

The Canes moved to 5-4 overall – and 4-2 in conference – while the Hokies fell to 4-5 and are now 2-3 in ACC play.

Granted these are a down bunch of Hokies, they still rolled into South Florida a two-point favorite and had beaten the Canes seven of the last nine times the two rivals met.

A handful of times this season UM has found itself in that “most important game of the season” and after failing on a few occasions, Miami rose to the challenge against Virginia Tech and kept a season alive.

Stats-wise, the Hokies won a few battles. Overall yardage (421 to 347), rushing (222 to 157), third-down efficiency (9-20 to 1-12) and time of possession (34:21 to 25:39), most notably – but it was the Canes who rose up, made the bigger player, hit harder and in the end, were more effective.

Logan Thomas, who torched Miami through the air and on the ground last year in Blacksburg, had his Hokies moving early. Starting at the twenty-one, he rushed a few times and completed a few passes, moving the sticks and going fifty-nine yards over seven plays before the Canes’ defense made some magic happen.

Facing a 1st-and-10 from the Miami twenty, Thomas dropped back, looked right and unloaded a pass that Canes’ defensive back Ladarius Gunter jumped on, picked off and returned fifteen yards to the twenty-six.

Miami did nothing offensively on its first drive, going three-and-out, but the once-maligned defense took the field again and made plays.

After an eleven-yard run by Tony Gregory, he went for one on first down and the next two Thomas passes were incomplete — the result of good downfield coverage, as well as a solid pass rush.

Facing a 4th-and-9 and in punt mode, the normally sound special teams-wise Hokies came apart when A.J. Hughes bobbled the snap and the Canes’ Gabe Terry blocked the punt.

Nothing better than giving “Beamer Ball” a taste of their own medicine – and even better, capitalizing on the mistake as Stephen Morris threw a perfect ball to the back shoulder of Allen Hurns for a sixteen-yard touchdown two plays later.

Virginia Tech put together an eleven-play, forty-four yard drive, settling for a field goal after Miami’s defense held strong on three straight plays, originally facing a 1st-and-Goal from the five-yard line and including a super-sized stick from safety Deon Bush on third down to end the drive.

Sitting on a 7-3 lead, again the Canes seized back momentum when Duke Johnson returned the kickoff eighty-one yards to the Hokies nineteen. Mike James picked up three on first down and a play later, some bread and butter when Morris dumped off to James for the sixteen-yard touchdown – as he has often this season. 14-3, Canes.

Neither offense did much until early in the second quarter when Thomas broke off a seventy-three yard touchdown run, pulling to within five after the missed extra point (yet another Hokies special teams gaffe!)

Again, Miami responded as The Duke tore off a sixty-five yard run on first down, setting the Canes up at the Hokies ten. UM settled for three and pushed the lead to 17-9 and the teams traded field goals for a 20-12 half time score.

The third quarter was more back and forth and relatively quiet until the Hokies turned to the ground game and churned out a ten play, forty-five yard drive. Facing a 3rd-and-Goal from the Miami one, Thomas mishandled the snap, both teams pounced and Hurricanes defensive lineman Luther Robinson came away with the ball.

Disaster averted, momentum again seized.

Both UM and VT played for field position over the next few drives, but with 11:36 remaining in the game, Miami went on an eight-play, sixty-nine yard drive, essentially putting the game away.

After starting on its own twenty-six after a first down false start penalty. Morris hit Hurns for five and a dump-off to Duke lost two. Facing a 3rd-and-12 — and the time 0-for-10 on third down — Morris hooked up with Rashawn Scott for a twenty-six yard gain.

Having crossed mid-field, it was three hard runs with James – seven, eight and three – that set up some perfectly-timed trickery from offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.

On 2nd-and-7 Morris dropped back, looked left, fired a pass to Phillip Dorsett and then slipped out of the backfield as Dorsett ran right, stopped and popped to the wide open Morris for a twenty-yard backbreaking gain.

With 1st-and-Goal from the seven, Morris handed off to The Duke, who punched it in for the score. The extra point by Jake Wieclaw made it a 27-12 ball game.

After another Hokies three-and-out, the Canes offense took over, ran hard with Duke and James, setting up another Wieclaw field goal – his third of the night – and Miami tacked on the game’s final score for the decisive 30-12 win.

Thomas coughed up one more interception for good measure, which Jimmy Gaines hauled in, and the Canes ran out the clock, with ACC title game dreams still in tact.

It wasn’t a perfect game for Miami, but it was just what the Canes needed – a win and one that showed markable growth as the season progresses. This team remains banged up, but found a way to capitalize on the bye week and down time.

UM lost both Bush and linebacker Denzel Perryman during the game, but the defense remained strong and shut VT down when it counted, forcing turnovers all night and keeping the Hokies scoreless in the second half.

Minus the long Thomas touchdown run, Miami held Virginia Tech to six points. Weeks back, the Canes were in a 16-13 slugfest with the Seminoles early in the fourth quarter. Prior to that, UM held red hot UNC to eighteen points in a loss — all seemingly unthinkable after the points given up to Kansas State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Notre Dame earlier in the year.

Much like last year, Miami’s defense got better as the year rolled on, with finally players understanding what coordinator Mark D’Onofrio was asking of them. They withstood early suspensions, injuries and new season jitters, truly coming together around this time last year.

Of course all of that went out the window in 2012 due to graduation, early departees and a true lack of depth. Gone were veteran defenders like Sean Spence, Marcus Forston, Olivier Vernon, Ramon Buchanan, Marcus Robinson, JoJo Nicolas, Micanor Regis and Adewale Ojomo — and on came year two, where the Canes have since started twenty underclassmen on the defensive side of the ball.

The Canes have done it with kids this year – literally – and guys like Bush are growing up right before the collective eyes of this fan base, while even some long-time holdovers like Kacy Rodgers II and Brandon McGee are finally playing up to potential, as upperclassmen relegated to back-up duty most of their careers.

The linebacking core has solidified, which is why Perryman has moved back outside – and the defensive line is finally getting some pressure, allowing more blitzes and aggressive calls.

Offensively things remain a bit feast or famine, with the Canes still looking for a true identity – but plays were made when needed against the Hokies, be it Morris finally completing the big pass, a receiver stepping up, James running hard or Duke breaking off something magical, all while the offensive line has held their own and played relatively mistake-free – something that can never be taken for granted.

Three games remain and truth be told, are are winnable. Miami heads to Charlottesville to take on Virginia next Saturday, welcomes South Florida to Sun Life for the season finale a week later, and closes out the season with one last road trip to Duke – on November 24th.
After today, some shake ups in the ACC standings. While Miami jumped to 4-2, while Duke slipped to 3-3 after getting thumped by Clemson in Durham, 56-20.

North Carolina had the weekend off and is 3-2 in conference, with Georgia Tech, Virginia and Maryland remaining, but the Tar Heels are ineligible from post-season play, meaning the Blue Devils are truly the Canes only competition for the Coastal.

Virginia earned its first ACC win this weekend, somehow smashing North Carolina State in Raleigh, 33-6, pitting the Cavaliers at 1-4 in conference. Miami and Virginia will meet at 12pm ET next Saturday at Scott Stadium but won’t have a clear cut answer until day’s end the following weekend as Duke doesn’t take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta until the 17th, enjoying a bye this week.

Earlier this year, the Yellow Jackets lost three straight, falling to 2-4, but are 2-1 since, beating Boston College and Maryland soundly, while getting waxed by BYU.

Miami brass has announced that a post-season decision could be made as early as next Saturday, but that topic is for another time and another place.

Right now it’s about giving this team it’s due for showing up against Virginia Tech, earning a much-needed win, staying alive in conference and getting this season back on track after a three-game skid.

5-4 with three remaining, a legit shot at an 8-4 season and the current odds-on favorite to win the ACC Coastal — all in a down year when 4-8 was a reality and the prediction was fifth in the division.

“The Process” remains underway with all the focus shifting towards Virginia.

Christian Bello has been covering Miami Hurricanes athletics since the mid-1990s. After spending almost a decade as a columnist for CanesTime, he launched allCanesBlog.com. – the official blog for allCanes.com : The #1 Canes Shop Since 1959. Bello has joined up with XOFan.com and will be a guest columnist at CaneInsider.com this fall. Follow him on Twitter @ChristianRBello.

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