Hurricanes Hosting VT Under the Lights
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Bright lights, loud crowds and a national television audience, Manny Diaz remembers it like it was yesterday.
The son of former City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and current Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator was 14 when he attended his hometown Hurricanes’ season opener in 1988 against the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
“The place was just electric that night,” Diaz said while reminiscing about the sixth-ranked Hurricanes’ 31-0 win over No. 1 FSU in the Orange Bowl nearly 30 years ago.
Diaz recalls attending so many big night games while growing up in Miami. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Florida and Florida State were just some of the Who’s Who of college football titans that came into town for a marquee matchup against the Hurricanes and left experiencing the wrath of the Canes on the field and their fans in the stands.
“There was a time that when you came to Miami and you found out that the game was at night, you knew that your chances of victory were very low because the city brought it,” Diaz said. “The Orange Bowl and Hard Rock [Stadium] now with the roof, it’s been fantastic all year, that place can get spooky now and that’s what we need on Saturday night.”
Miami’s next primetime matchup is set for 8 p.m., Saturday, as the No. 9/6 Hurricanes (7-0, 5-0 ACC) welcome No. 13 Virginia Tech (7-1, 3-1 ACC) to Hard Rock Stadium in a game that will be broadcast on ABC. Adding to the excitement, the Hurricanes will be wearing their “Miami Nights” all-black uniforms for the first time when they take the field against the Hokies.
“Personally, this is the game you dream of, playing for something big,” defensive back Michael Jackson said. “This is a game we’ll remember for a long time.”
The Hurricanes appeared in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, coming in at No. 10 in a list that was released on Tuesday. Miami is one of only five remaining unbeaten teams in FBS and has the longest active winning streak at the FBS level at 12 games dating back to October 2016.
The Hokies come to Miami on a three-game winning streak and have consistently been one of the top teams in the ACC since joining the conference in 2004. Virginia Tech’s 78 wins, four ACC championships and six division titles all rank first among conference members since 2004.
The winner of Saturday’s matchup between Miami and Virginia Tech will have the fast track to the Coastal Division title and a spot in the 2017 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, N.C.
“This is what we want,” wide receiver Braxton Berrios said. “It comes down to this…that’s the moment you want as a team and as a player, you want to be able to control your own destiny. That’s exactly what we have. We have it all in our hands. If we go out there and win, it’s all in our hands. If we go out there and we don’t play right and we lose, we got to hope, like all the years previous that something happens. They beat them – they lose to them – and then maybe we can squeak in. We don’t want to do that. It’s finally in our hands, it’s right here. It all comes down to Saturday, this is what you play for.”
The Hurricanes and Hokies have played outstanding football all season, catapulting the two longtime foes to the top of the Coastal Division. Miami has won several close games lately, including a pair of victories on their final possession of the game, but the Canes are determined to be ready to go when they hit the field against Virginia Tech.
“The space for error is getting short each and every game,” tight end Christopher Herndon IV said. “Starting with practice, we have to practice at a high level, focus, meetings, getting extra treatment for our bodies. Make sure we’re taking care of ourselves so Saturday we can play to the best of our abilities.”
Miami and Virginia Tech feature two of the premier defenses in the country and both units will look to shut down the opposing offense in what is expected to be a tough battle on Saturday.
“It’s a very important game for the Coastal,” defensive lineman RJ McIntosh said. “We understand how important it is to come out and play the best game we’ve played so far. We understand they’re a good team and we’re really looking forward to playing this game and winning this game.”
The Hurricanes lead the ACC and are third nationally in passing efficiency defense (97.90) and rank in the top 15 in yards per play (4.5, #14), yards per point (19.6, #10), and points per play (0.231, #11). Miami is also 22nd nationally in points per game (19.7).
“Toledo is the only team that’s had more than five yards a play on us,” Diaz said. “We had 17 possessions of defense last week and in a normal game, there are 13. We played five quarters of football. We three-and-outed them or less eight out of 17 times. Our kids aren’t perfect, but they’re playing pretty damn good by all the metrics. There are a couple of things that we would love to do better. Our third down defense started poorly and it’s been improving. Our run defense is suffering from a couple mistakes. People are starting to run their quarterback against us, which to me is a sign of respect that we are shutting down their running back. If you look at where we are and what we are doing and the fact that what it all comes down to is that we’re not allowing points because we don’t give up long runs or passes for touchdowns and then we have the mental toughness to stop people in the red zone. We never have panic. That’s why when the ball was fumbled last week and 11 guys had to take the field, we knew we were going to get the ball back. We didn’t know how and we didn’t know who, but we knew we were going to get it done. Like anything else, we always have room to grow. We hope that our best game is always our next game, but I think our kids are playing pretty hard right now.”
The Hokies defense is as strong as ever, ranking first in the ACC in scoring defense (11.5 points) and in rushing defense (110.8). Bud Foster’s defense will pose a significant challenge for Miami’s offense when it takes the field at Hard Rock Stadium.
“They’re so aggressive,” Diaz said. “They’re going to put a bunch of people right by the line of scrimmage and make it very hard for you to run the football just by the sheer volume of numbers of humans that they’ve devoted to stop it. At the same time, they’re going to deny everything in the throwing game. Like any defense would want to do, what’s easy to do they do a good job of taking away and they force you to try to beat them in low percentage-type plays. They’ve been doing it a long time and recruiting to that system for a long time. Bud Foster is obviously as good as they come as defensive coordinators.”
Virginia Tech enters this weekend’s game second in the ACC in scoring offense, averaging 35.4 points per game. The Hokies are averaging 180 rushing yards per game, ranking fifth in the ACC, and will look to establish the run against Miami.
“That is where it begins with them,” Diaz said. “You have to match the tempo. You’ve got to match all the motions. You’ve got to match all the eye deception, a lot of misdirection in their offense. It’s almost similar to a Georgia Tech in theory where if you get so geared up in the run and your eyes got to the wrong place, that’s where they hit you in the passing game. If you look at their yards per pass attempt, they’re one of the top teams in the country. When they’re attempting passes, they’re getting them in chunks. It’s a game where everybody has to be where they’re supposed to be and have their eyes dialed into the right spots.”
Quarterback Josh Jackson is averaging 266.5 yards passing per game and he will look early and often for Cam Philips, who is VT’s all-time leading receiver with 216 catches and has caught a pass in a school-record 35 straight games.
“Virginia Tech’s offense is not unique, but it’s very multiple,” defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski said. “North Carolina runs a lot of the same plays as they did, but they run more. Syracuse ran a lot of the same plays as they did, but they run more. They have more offense than most teams carry into a game, so it’s a challenge to prepare for them to make sure everybody’s got their responsibilities and option plays.”
Miami’s defense has risen to the challenge every week in 2017. Whether it was slowing a high-powered attack like Toledo, or limiting ACC foes Duke, Florida State Georgia Tech, Syracuse and North Carolina to 24 points or less, the Hurricanes have done what it takes to win.
“I think the strange dynamic of this year with missing a game and spending a week in Orlando, I think this team was forced into some resiliency,” Diaz said. “I think that’s why we play well in the red zone and I think that’s something that’s ingrained in us now where there is not panic and guys just want to go out there and just do their job and persevere. I think that makes you good at winning. There is one thing that we’re excellent at. We’re excellent at winning and we’re playing a team that is excellent at winning, as well. I don’t mean to make light of that. Some teams are good at losing and we’ve not been good at losing. The things it takes to win a football game, we’ve been good at creating those things. Another thing we are doing is we are creating turnovers, which we bemoaned not doing a year ago.”
While the Canes have developed self-confidence and trust in one another, they also feed off the support of their fans and that is something that could help make a difference in Saturday’s matchup.
“It’s a loud environment and in this conference, there are not as many loud environments,” Kuligowski said. “When you’re a team and you get used to things a certain way, communications a certain way, and you get into a really loud environment, it’s a lot tougher to communicate. You don’t hear things you normally hear. Sometimes if you don’t see the guy directly, you don’t get it and you can get an advantage, maybe get a break on a couple plays here and there.”
Much like the Orange Bowl was for a big night game, Hard Rock Stadium has a heightened energy when the Hurricanes are hosting a marquee game.
“I think it can really be a big-time advantage,” Diaz said. “They have not played a lot of road games. They have a great environment there. It was hard on us to play up there a year ago and we need to return the favor to them this year.”
