On Thursday night the Virginia Tech Hokies (5-2, 3-1) took control of the game against an injury-plagued Miami Hurricanes (4-3, 1-3) team who was in a do-or-die situation. The Hokies were down two starters on defense but were able to control not only the line of scrimmage but Miami’s Brad Kaaya as the Hokies rout the Hurricanes, 37-16.
The Hokies defense sniffed out eight sacks and topped it off with 12 tackles-for-loss. Woody Baron was the Hokies leader on defense with three sacks and five tackles-for-loss. Tech was able to stop the Hurricanes on third downs, something they failed to do last week against Syracuse.
Miami struggled to move the ball on the Hokies on Thursday night averaging just 1.4 yards per carry. The Hokies did this without Ken Ekanem and Nigel Williams who were both ruled out right before kickoff.
“I felt like, obviously the key to the game is that we needed to stop the run and make Miami one dimensional, and we were able to do that,” Bud Foster said. “I know they have two dynamic running backs that if you give them a crease, as you guys saw there at the end, they’re very explosive and tremendously talented. We really did a great job of attacking the line of scrimmage, keeping the lanes and the gaps tight and keeping those backs in a phone booth, so to speak.”
HOKIES RUSH FOR SEASON-HIGH
The Hokies rushed for a season-high 251 yards against the Hurricanes depleted defense that was lifted by Travon McMillian and Jerod Evans. The pair combined for a total 229 yards on the ground with 131 of that coming from McMillian and 98 from Evans.
Evans also had a stellar night airing it out going 21-for-33 with 259 yards and two touchdowns bringing is total total touchdowns to 19. He was also averaging 7.8 yards per pass attempt. Evans is now five touchdown passes from tying former Hokie Tyrod Taylor for most touchdowns in a season (24). That was accomplished in 2010.
“Marshawn (Williams) didn’t have as many carries, but he had a few and he got in there and did a pretty darn good job as well,” Fuente said.
DEFENSES PLAYED TOUGH, HOKIES PREVAILED
Early and often the Hokies and ‘Canes defense stood tall. The first scoring mark came from the Hokies when Joey Slye tapped off a eight play, 35 yard drive that saw Slye put a 47-yard field goal through the uprights putting Tech on top, 3-0.
On Miami’s third possession of the game was where they tacked on points that tied the game with a 29-yard field goal from Michael Badgley.
The Hokies managed to break off 13 points in the second quarter thanks to two field goals by Slye from 27-yards and 38-yards. Bucky Hodges also got in on the scoring action with a seven yard touchdown reception from Evans gave the Hokies a 16-9 lead going into the half.
The Hokies continued their dominance in the second half scoring on a big pass play from Evans to Hodges — Hodges had to fight for extra yards to get into the end zone dragging a couple defenders with him putting the Hokies up 23-9.
Although when it seemed as if the Hokies could run away with the game, literally, they gave Miami enough room to breathe.
On a broken coverage in the secondary saw the Hurricanes score on a 35-yard pass from Kaaya that found Christopher Herndon streaking down the sideline for a easy six points.
Those points would be all the Hurricanes would get.
Sam Rogers, a tailback, found another tailback in Steven Peoples in the end zone to give the Hokies a 30-16 lead over Miami.
That would be Rogers first throwing touchdown in his career at Virginia Tech.
Evans put the icing on the cake for the Hokies as he took a 34-yard QB draw right up the Hokies sideline with 2:45 left in the game, giving the Hokies a 37-16 lead and the victory.
NEXT OPPONENTS
Miami will prepare for a struggling Notre Dame team. Mark Richt is riding a three-game losing streak and is trying to avoid losing four-straight games as a head coach for the first time in his 16-year career.
Virginia Tech will also go on the road for another Thursday night game where they will take on a very talented Pittsburgh Panthers team.
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