Canes Rewind: A Look Back at the Win over Virginia Tech
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Each week this season, we’ll take a look at the game that was for the Hurricanes.
Here are some key storylines, numbers of note and quotes from eighth-ranked Miami’s 38-34 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night.
The Recap
For the better part of their first four games, the Hurricanes have dominated.
Behind stellar play from quarterback Cam Ward and the offense and some impressive showings by the defense, Miami came into its ACC opener against Virginia Tech having notched four wins and outscoring its opponents 209-41 in the process.
But they expected things would be different against their longtime conference foe.
Those expectations were well founded.
Virginia Tech, which entered Friday’s game looking to bounce back after a close, hard-fought loss to Rutgers, staked itself to an early lead when it capitalized on a Ward turnover on Miami’s first possession.
The Hokies took the quarterback’s fumble deep in Miami territory and four plays later, scored their first of four touchdowns on the night.
Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC) would answer in quick fashion, putting together back-to-back touchdown drives that had Ward completing scoring passes to Jacolby George and Elijah Arroyo, respectively.
Virginia Tech, though, wasn’t fazed.
The Hokies (2-3, 0-1) were able to move the ball consistently for much of the night, thanks to quarterback Kyron Drones – Ward’s cousin – and running back Bhayshul Tuten.
They even built a 24-17 halftime lead that could have been a double-digit margin were it not for Hurricanes kicker Andy Borregales hitting a career-long 56-yard field goal just before both teams headed into the locker room.
It marked the first time this season Miami trailed at halftime.
The Hokies added to their lead in the third quarter and while Miami was able to cut the deficit to 27-24 late in the quarter when Ward scored on a 17-yard scamper, Virginia Tech answered again.
Drones connected with Ayden Greene for a 16-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Hokies a 10-point lead with 12:05 left and put the Hurricanes on the ropes.
But Miami scored two touchdowns in the game’s final eight minutes, the first coming when Ward threw a 6-yard pass to Cam McCormick and the second coming when Isaiah Horton caught a 1-yard touchdown pass that capped an eventful final drive for the Hurricanes.
On that possession, wide receiver Xavier Restrepo caught a crucial fourth-down pass on his back and moments later, Ward eluded multiple Virginia Tech defenders, turning a potential costly sack into a 26-yard gain after the quarterback got the ball in the hands of tight end Riley Williams.
That set up Miami’s final touchdown – a 1-yard pass from Ward to Horton that put Miami on top with 1:52 left and gave the Hurricanes their first lead since early in the first quarter.
Virginia Tech did have one final opportunity to try and snatch the win back, but Drones’ desperation heave on the game’s final play was incomplete and Miami escaped with its record still unblemished – though coaches and players acknowledged the Hurricanes weren’t at their best on Friday night.
“There’s a lot to learn off this film. It’s one of those days where you are fortunate enough where you can learn a lot of your lessons without having to suffer the consequence of a loss. We turned the ball over uncharacteristically. We had some pressure on our own quarterback. We had about five guys go down on defense,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said. “A lot of guys had to step up and some were ready and some battled hard but not quite as ready as those front-line guys. … But a lot of credit to just the resiliency of the team because that one field goal before halftime was invaluable. To come back and then go down by 10 points and come back and score again just kept us in it and fighting. And then finally, that three and out before the offense took the ball and went down the field and scored, that was ultimately the difference in the football game. [There’s] a lot of stuff that we need to clean up, but certainly a lot of stuff to be proud of as well.”
Numbers to Know
508 – Total yards generated by the Miami offense in Friday’s win. It marked the fifth time this season the Hurricanes totaled more than 500 yards. The Hurricanes are now averaging 585.6 yards per game. That ranks second nationally among FBS programs.
56 – Yards on Andy Borregales’ field goal just before halftime. It marked the longest field goal of his Hurricanes career and the fourth longest in program history.
10 – Third-down conversions by the Hurricanes offense against Virginia Tech. Through its first five games, Miami has converted on 37 of 57 third-down opportunities. That 64.9 percent success rate is tops in the nation.
6 – Tackles for loss totaled by the Miami defense. That brings the unit’s season total to 40 on the season, which ranks sixth nationally.
4 – Touchdown passes for quarterback Cam Ward against the Hokies. He now has a nation-leading 18 scoring passes this season.
Quotable
“It was that kind of night, it really was. It was the kind of the night where [it’s like] ‘Man, is this going to happen?’ But look, we see those guys make those plays in practice in even more contorted positions than he did there. I mean, there’s a lot of faith and a lot of trust that they’re going to find a way to get it done. As to the question, which I don’t think I answered, these guys, they’re resilient, man. They just go. They go. They didn’t flinch. We’ve been growing this program for a couple years now and I’ve seen our teams be a little deflated. I’ve seen our teams be a little bit in a mode where they’re flinching. I didn’t see that at all in this group. I saw a team that was upset. They were pissed. They should’ve been pissed. We all were. It’s not the standard that we play, but I don’t want to focus on that. We found a way to win and I’m proud of the way these guys fought.”
– Head coach Mario Cristobal, on Xavier Restrepo’s fourth-down catch and the way the Hurricanes responded after falling behind in the game
“Virginia Tech is an amazing team. They’re a really, really good team. They’ve got a really old team, 21 or 22 starters [back] I believe. I mean, we have extreme respect for those guys over there. We weren’t executing to our potential in the first half and that led to some bad things. But again, we kept fighting and I’m just super proud to see my brothers go out there and get a dub.”
– Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo, on the Hurricanes’ resiliency after falling behind
“I just saw opportunity and I knew the team, we needed a stop, so I got back there. But it was a team effort, though, always. I’m glad I was in the position to make a play.”
– Defensive end Malik Bryant, on the stop he made on Virginia Tech’s fake field goal attempt
“We were hurting ourselves on both sides of the ball and once we got in the locker room, Coach Cristobal didn’t say [anything]. It was all of us and that’s something we [pride] ourselves on, as being a player-led team and it showed up tonight. At the end of the day, both sides of the ball never flinched. We all leaned on each other. We were motivating each other as the game went on. We knew the defense gave us something, we had to respond. So, it’s a good team win tonight.”
– Quarterback Cam Ward, on Miami’s performance against Virginia Tech
“Winning isn’t easy. … Just the fight that this team has overall, this is really the first big challenge that we’ve had as a team, and I think we did a really good job responding.”
– Tight end Elijah Arroyo, on Miami’s comeback effort
Up Next
The Hurricanes will make their first trip out west to face one of the ACC’s newest teams, California, and the game is already generating plenty of buzz.
It’ll be the ACC home opener for the Bears, who are set to host ESPN’s College GameDay hours before kicking off against the Hurricanes.
Cal, which had a bye this week, will be looking for its first conference win after coming up short, 14-9, in their ACC opener at Florida State on Sept. 21.
In that game, Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza – a Miami native who played at Christopher Columbus High School – threw for 303 yards, but was sacked seven times and Cal’s scoring was ultimately just three field goals from kicker Ryan Coe.
Miami and Cal have met four times, most recently in the 2008 Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. The all-time series is tied 2-2.
