Canes Ready for Primetime vs. Hokies
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes have a Coastal division title in their sights, but defending champion Virginia Tech is ready to make their rival earn it.
The No. 9/6 Canes (7-0, 5-0 ACC) welcome the No. 13 Hokies (7-1, 3-1 ACC) to Hard Rock Stadium for a primetime matchup on ABC with Coastal division implications.
“The opportunity that we have right now, that we came to Miami for, what we came for from a coaching staff standpoint, all of those guys got recruited came here to be a part of great football team, and the stage is set right now with a really good opponent,” offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said. “It’s going to be prime time television, 8 p.m. So it shouldn’t be much of a motivational speech to get you ready for that.”
A year ago, the Hurricanes got the Hokies’ best effort in Blacksburg, Va., falling to Virginia Tech, 37-16. Two weeks later, the Canes beat Pittsburgh, 51-28, to begin what has become a 12-game winning streak. Miami will look to extend that streak to 13, as well as clinch the ACC Coastal division title, with a victory on Saturday.
“We know what’s on the table,” sophomore linebacker Shaquille Quarterman said. “We can’t afford to lose. Miami, we don’t have the room or the margin for error at all, we have none. We focus on every game like it’s our last. If we lose a single game that might be the deciding factor where we’re placed. So, every game we handle with the utmost respect for whoever the opponent is. Especially playing Virginia Tech and what we owe them from last year, it’s a very exciting game.”
While Miami has opened the season with seven consecutive wins, Virginia Tech has been equally as impressive in 2017. The defending Coastal champion Hokies have impressive wins over West Virginia, North Carolina, and Duke.
“Justin Fuente has done a really outstanding job – not just a good job, a great job of putting his team together,’ Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “He has got a great place to coach and I’m sure he inherited some wonderful players. He has done great with them and recruiting well. The job they’re doing there is outstanding.”
Virginia Tech enters Saturday’s contest tied for the most wins in the ACC since joining the conference in 2004. The Hokies also have the most ACC titles (four) and Coastal championships (six) in the same span, proving the sustained excellence their program has had.
“There’s a reason why they’re one of the best teams in America, very highly ranked and undefeated in the Coastal Division,” Richt said. “It’ll be a great battle for us, for sure. We’re looking forward to our fans to be there, loud and proud. I know our students, our band, and our fan base will be there in big numbers and do a great job for us when they have the ball especially.”
In a rivalry that dates back to their days in the BIG EAST, Miami and Virginia Tech are poised for a battle on Saturday night.
“Virginia Tech is a very talented team,” Quarterman said. “Good quarterback, they got a good system going for them. They have a lot of perimeter plays and deep passing threats, so they’re a pretty solid team.”
Miami has won four straight games by eight points or less, including a pair of victories on their final possession against Florida State and Georgia Tech, showing a resilience that has the team feeling confident no matter the situation.
“We have a lot of momentum right now,” tight end Christopher Herndon IV said. “People are saying we’re barely winning, but to us, it means a lot because we know how hard we’ve been working and we didn’t give up, not once so it means a lot to all of us.”
“All we can say is that we’re fighting to the end and we’re not giving up,” Herndon said. “We’re giving our all each and every weekend.”
Senior defensive lineman Chad Thomas is eager to face Virginia Tech one more time in his career, especially after he missed last year’s game due to injury. Thomas, who has 16 tackles (nine solo) and three sacks this season, hopes to play a key role in this week’s big matchup.
“It means a lot to me, like every game,” Thomas said. “We play football. We came to Miami to play football. We play against good teams, so every game means a lot.”
The Hokies lead the ACC and are second in the NCAA in scoring defense (11.5) and their offense is second in the ACC and 29th overall in scoring offense (35.4), but their special teams could prove to make a huge difference Saturday and the Canes know it.
“Talk about effort,” Miami special teams coordinator Todd Harlety said of Virginia Tech. “You turn the film on and those guys fly around. From the time the ball snaps to the time the whistle blows, those guys fly around. They’re very sound schematically, they’re very well coached, they have good players and they’re going to pose a big challenge special teams-wise this week.”
The tough matchup may seem daunting to some, but the Hurricanes are excited to face a great team on a big stage.
“It’s very special,” junior defensive back Jaquan Johnson said. “We worked hard all season to get to this point and we knew that if we did what we’ve done so far that we would get to this point. It feels good.”
