|
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The final blow that, for all intents and purposes, ended Miami’s hopes for an ACC Coastal Division title was delivered by a plodding, 230-pound fullback, tossing his first career touchdown pass. In practice this week, Sam Rogers had worked on the play, but he kept overthrowing his receiver. “He was really nervous about it,” Rogers said of offensive coordinator Brad Cornelson's playcall. But just as Miami had found some life Thursday, scoring to pull within a touchdown, midway through the third quarter, Cornelson dug into his bag of tricks and had Rogers, who’d already embarrassed Miami twice on long receptions, take a pitch from the quarterback and deliver an easy throw to Steven Peoples in the end zone. It was the coup de grace in a 37-16 Virginia Tech victory in which virtually every move the Hokies made went just right, and Miami -- the No. 10 team in the country just three weeks ago -- looked overmatched in its third consecutive defeat. It was the official point of divergence for two teams headed in opposite directions. “What Coach Fuente instilled in this program from Day 1 was to just draw the line, draw the line on games like this,” said tight end Bucky Hodges, who caught two touchdowns in the win. “It’s little things, attitude and how hard we work. We’re not surprised because we put the work in. Now we’re just reaping the rewards."  After four years of offensive ineptitude, Fuente has injected new life into the Hokies. Highlights on Thursday included Jerod Evans' big block to spring a long run by Travon McMillian, Isaiah Ford's continued brilliance as a downfield receiver and, of course, Rogers’ theatrics. The defense registered eight sacks -- the most since 2013 -- and tormented quarterback Brad Kaaya throughout. In all, Virginia Tech racked up 523 yards and utterly stifled the Canes’ ground attack. It was classic Virginia Tech.
On the other side, Mark Richt’s Miami team was running on fumes. The defense arrived bruised and battered, a host of starters chipped off the depth chart beginning in August and ending with just 26 players active for Thursday’s game. The D, which had been a strength even during Miami’s recent struggles, faced an impossible task. The Canes’ struggles all looked reasonable for a team fighting to rebuild under a first-year coach. The offensive line was overmatched. The lack of depth was exposed. The fight was there, but the production simply wasn’t. And so the Hurricanes (4-3, 1-3 ACC) will almost certainly go another season without a division title, waiting for that moment when, on some distant date, they will be “back.” The funny thing is, Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1) should be in the same boat, but the Hokies don’t look the part of a renovation project. They, too, were without defensive stars Ken Ekanem and Nigel Williams, and it didn’t matter. Fuente and defensive coordinator Bud Foster know some of this might be illusion, that only three players on the roster were recruited by this administration. Last week’s shocking defeat at Syracuse only underscored that the job isn’t done. But Thursday’s game against Miami was a fair measurement of two teams forging similar paths, and there was little doubt the Hokies had navigated well ahead of their rivals. Evans looks to be a star in the making, a bruising runner who plays physically but has an expert touch on his throws. He tossed two touchdowns, ran for a third and finished with more than 350 yards of total offense. The defense looks like those units from the Hokies’ glory years under Foster, utterly overwhelming offensive lines, generating chaos with each snap. Twelve of Miami’s offensive plays were stopped for a loss. And now with victories over both North Carolina and Miami, the Hokies clearly control their destiny. They’ll travel to Pitt next Thursday with a chance to all but wrap up the division. “We know we’ll get everyone’s best shot because we’re Virginia Tech,” Foster said after the game. After four years of looking like ghosts of a once-proud program, this was, indeed, Virginia Tech at its finest, the type of team that gets opponents’ attention. This was Fuente’s initiation to the Thursday night tradition at Lane Stadium, and when the game was over, he celebrated with his team to the roars of a maroon-clad throng. It felt like the old days. It was the first time Richt had coached on a Thursday night at any locale, and he’ll now have a few extra days to contemplate how quickly this season has unraveled. There will be many more matchups between the supposed Coastal powers, but Round 1 went to Fuente. And it ended in a knockout.
|
