Hokies blast Hurricanes

Virginia Tech moved the football at will against #11 Miami, whipping the Hurricanes 42-24 on the road on Saturday night.  The Hokies moved to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC with the win.  Miami dropped to 7-2 and 3-2.

The Hokies caught a few breaks in Saturday night's game.  The Hurricanes fumbled a punt returned, a kickoff return, and their punter also accidentally took a knee while picking up a low snap deep in his own territory.  Joshua Stanford and Willie Byrn also had two fumbles on scoring drives that were recovered by Tech, and Byrn's fumble was recovered in the endzone by Demitri Knowles for a touchdown.

However, that doesn't discount the fact that the Hokies went up and down the field on Miami at will.  Tech put up 549 yards of total offense - 183 on the ground and 366 through the air.  Logan Thomas played a near-perfect game, going 25-of-31 for 366 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.  Every time Miami presented Tech with an opportunity, the Hokies responded by scoring a touchdown.

Thomas got some help from his receivers for the second week in a row.  Willie Byrn had six catches for 105 yards, while Joshua Stanford had seven receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown.  This was Stanford's second consecutive 100-yard receiving game, and the r-freshman broke a ton of tackles to score on a third and 17 from 32 yards out.

However, the big story of this game was Virginia Tech's running game.  Trey Edmunds had 14 carries for 74 yards and four touchdowns, and he also had a huge catch and run on third and two in the fourth quarter to set up his final touchdown run of the game.  J.C. Coleman added 22 carries for 68 yards, while Logan Thomas had 10 rushes for 42 yards.

Ironically, Virginia Tech's most impressive drive did not result in any points.  With 11:03 left in the game, the Hokies took over on their own 20 leading 42-24, and they wanted to take time off the clock.  That's exactly what they did, as they moved the ball 77 yards on 16 plays, taking 9:06 off the clock.  Though J.C. Coleman was eventually stopped on a fourth down run on the Miami three, the drive prevented any chance of a Hurricane comeback.  Tech converted four third down plays on the drive...

Third and 5 at the VT 25: Thomas to Byrn for 22 yards
Third and 7 at the 50: Thomas to Stanford for 10 yards
Third and 1 at the Miami 31: J.C. Coleman rush for four yards
Third and 8 at the Miami 25: J.C. Coleman rush for 13 yards

It was a dominating, time consuming drive, and it helped the Hokies win the time of possession 39:30 to 20:30.

There is now a four-way tie in the loss column in the Coastal Division...

Georgia Tech (6-3, 5-2): The Jackets have one remaining ACC game left against Clemson.  They lost head-to-head to Miami and Virginia Tech, but beat Duke.

Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2): The Hokies have games against Maryland and UVA.  They hold the head-to-head advantage over Georgia Tech and Miami, but they lost to Duke.

Duke (7-2, 3-2): The Blue Devils beat NC State 38-20 on Saturday.  They lost to Georgia Tech, beat Virginia Tech, and they still have to play Miami.  They also play Wake Forest and UNC.

Miami (7-2, 3-2): The Canes hold the tiebreaker over Georgia Tech, but they lost head-to-head to Virginia Tech.  They still must play Duke, as well as UVA and Pitt.

If the Hokies win out, and assuming Miami beats Duke, Virginia Tech would win the Coastal Division based on their head-to-head wins against Georgia Tech and Miami.  The Yellow Jackets need to beat Clemson to stay in the race, but even if they do that, their head-to-head losses to VT and Miami will sting (pun intended).

Virginia Tech returns to action next Saturday when they host Maryland on Senior Day in Lane Stadium.  Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30pm, and the game will be televised by The ACC Network.