The Miami Hurricanes have been flirting with disaster but that was far from the case Saturday night in the win over Virginia Tech.
Yes, the Miami Hurricanes entered Saturday night with a 7-0 record on the year, but no one was really buying them as legitimate contenders in the grand scheme of things. They weren’t being perceived in that light because while carrying an unblemished record, most of their wins haven’t been all that convincing against some inferior opponents. More or less, this Miami team was the poster child of lucky wins.
That luck was supposed to run out completely on Saturday night, as the Hurricanes took on the Virginia Tech Hokies in a pivotal ACC Coastal Division matchup. The ruse was up, and this Virginia Tech team, anchored by one of the most stifling defenses in the country, was headed to South Beach to flat-out expose Mark Richt’s fraud of a team.
That … did not happen. Miami improved to 8-0 on Saturday night with a win over No. 13 Virginia Tech, and there was no question who the better team was on the field inside Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes kept their winning ways going with a 28-10 victory over the team that was supposed to send a message to the country about this squad.
Miami was stellar on the offensive side of the ball, where they thoroughly handled one of the best defenses in the nation. Coming into this matchup on Saturday, Virginia Tech was No. 2 in scoring defense, right behind Alabama, at 11.5 points per game. What did Miami do? They hung 28 points on them. The Hokies were ninth in total defense, allowing 284.5 yards per game. So, what did Miami do? They abused defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s vaunted unit for 429 yards.
But, maybe the most telling part of this win on Saturday was the domination of the Hurricanes’ defense. They limited Virginia Tech to just 299 yards of total offense, and they infamous turnover bling chain of theirs was brought out quite a bit, as they took the ball away from the Hokies four times in this one.
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Overall, Saturday night was maybe the most complete effort from this Miami team we have seen all year long to this point. People have been waiting to be overly-impressed by Mark Richt’s group as they continue on this undefeated run of theirs, chasing the ACC title and a spot in the College Football Playoff down the line. If the Canes’ performance on Saturday night didn’t open everyone’s eyes, then maybe nothing will.
The 2017 Miami Hurricanes are indeed a very good football team, folks. Now, just how good are they? Well, we’ll find out for certain next week when they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.