University of Miami vs. Virginia Tech Post-Game Notes

Nov. 14, 2008

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University of Miami vs. Virginia TechNov. 13, 2008 | Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla. | Postgame Notes

THURSDAY NIGHT DOMINATION: With tonight’s win, the Hurricanes improve to 13-1 all-time in ESPN’s Thursday night feature game and have won 11 straight ESPN Thursday games. The Hokies are now 15-4 in these games and have gone 3-3 in their last six ESPN Thursday games. This was the first ESPN Thursday night meeting between the Hurricanes and Hokies. COASTING: With the win, the Hurricanes put together their first five-game win streak since 2005 and improve to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC, moving into sole possession of first place in the division (with North Carolina (7-2, 3-2) scheduled to play at Maryland on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.). THE SERIES: With tonight’s win, Miami extended its all-time series lead to 17-9, snapping Virginia Tech’s two-game win streak over the Hurricanes. BEST OF THE BEST: Former Hurricanes Edgerrin James, Jim Kelly, Cortez Kennedy, Jim Otto and Gino Torretta were all inducted into UM’s Ring of Honor during halftime of today’s game, joining current members Ottis Anderson, Don Bosseler, Jim Dooley, Ted Hendricks, Bernie Kosar, George Mira, Burgess Owens and Vinny Testaverde. SENIOR CELEBRATION: Tonight marks the final home game for 20 Hurricanes: Spencer Adkins, Carlos Armour, Tyrone Byrd, Jake Byrne, Glenn Cook, Romeo Davis, Antonio Dixon, Kayne Farquharson, Dwayne Hendricks, Eric Houston, Bruce Johnson, Khalil Jones, Matt Perrelli, Lovon Ponder, Chris Rutledge, Xavier Shannon, Derron Thomas, Terrance Thomason, Reggie Youngblood and Chris Zellner. They were honored at midfield prior to kickoff. SACK ATTACK: Miami set a season high with seven sacks tonight. Marcus Forston recorded his first collegiate sack in the second quarter, tackling Virginia Tech QB Tyrod Taylor in the backfield for a 10-yard loss. Marcus Robinson got in on the action later in the second quarter with his first collegiate sack, a nine-yard loss for Hokies QB Sean Glennon, and finished with three sacks for 22 yards. Joe Joseph recorded his first sack of the season for a one-yard Virginia Tech loss, and Allen Bailey registered UM’s sixth sack with his team-high fourth sack of 2008 (-7 yards) on a critical fourth-down stop of Taylor with just two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. STOPPING THE RUN: After the Hokies rushed for a season-high 273 yards one week ago versus Maryland, Miami kept Virginia Tech to a season-low 77 yards rushing on 38 carries. It was the fewest rushing yards by the Hokies since a 71-yard performance in a 48-7 loss at LSU on Sept. 8, 2007. BACK ON TRACK: Javarris James rushed for his second touchdown of the season with a three-yard run in the first quarter. After missing four games this season with a high ankle sprain, James has seen increasingly more action since returning to the field on Oct. 18 at Duke. He scored his first TD of 2008 in the season-opening win over Charleston Southern.

James caught a season-long 19-yard pass from Robert Marve in the third quarter, en route to Matt Bosher’s second field goal, putting the Hurricanes up 13-7.

UNDER 20: Miami has kept its opponents under 20 points in four of its last five games. MARVE ON THE MOVE: Robert Marve’s 15-yard run for a first down in the first quarter was his second longest of the season – until the third quarter when he rushed for 18 yards to give the Hurricanes a first down on the seven-yard line. He finished the game with 44 rushing yards, his second-best performance of the season (56 yards vs. Wake Forest, 10/25). SUPER COOPER: With 52 rushing yards versus the Hokies, Graig Cooper set a new single-season high with 686 rushing yards, breaking his 2007 mark of 682 yards. SPLITTING THE UPRIGHTS: With 80 points this season, Matt Bosher has scored more than twice as many points as the team’s second-leading scorer (Graig Cooper, 36). With 10 points versus Virginia Tech (3 field goals, 1 extra point), Bosher posted his fifth double-figure scoring game of the season and his second straight. HURRI-KAYNE: The Hurricanes have 21 plays of 30-or-more yards this season, including Kayne Farquharson’s career-long 37-yard catch in the second quarter of tonight’s game.

2008 Longest Plays (30+ yards)

IN THE ZONE: The Hurricanes have converted on 19 straight red zone attempts and are a near-perfect and ACC-best 36-of-38 in the red zone on offense this season, converting 23 touchdowns and 13 field goals. SECOND HALF SUCCESS: Over the last six games, the Hurricanes’ have scored 124 of their 164 points (.756) after halftime, going 5-1 in that span. Miami has outscored its opponents 43-7 in the second half of its last three games and 78-21 after the break in its last four games. NOVEMBER REIGN: Since Jimmy Johnson’s tenure began at Miami in 1984, the Hurricanes are 74-19 in the month of November. SPREADING IT AROUND: Miami has had an NCAA-high 17 different players score a touchdown this season, including an NCAA-best eight freshmen. Eighteen Hurricanes have caught a pass this season, tops among BCS teams. TODAY’S CAPTAINS: Today’s captains for Miami are Jason Fox, Glenn Cook and Chavez Grant. START IT UP… Miami’s offensive starters today are: Aldarius Johnson (WR), Travis Benjamin (WR), AJ Trump (RG), Xavier Shannon (C), Orlando Franklin (LG), Chris Rutledge (RT), Chris Zellner (TE), Reggie Youngblood (LT), Robert Marve (QB), Patrick Hill (FB) and Graig Cooper (HB).

Miami’s defensive starters are: Chavez Grant (LCB), JoJo Nicolas (S), Sean Spence (WLB), Steven Wesley (LE), Dwayne Hendricks (RT), Joe Joseph (LT), Marcus Robinson (RE), Romeo Davis (SLB), Glenn Cook (MLB), Bruce Johnson (RCB) and Anthony Reddick (S).