Here’s what we learned from the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes’ impressive 28-10 win over the No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday night.
For the past several weeks, the narrative surrounding the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes was that their pattern of close wins was unsustainable against better competition. That changed dramatically on Saturday night, as the Hurricanes scored an impressive 28-10 victory over No. 13 Virginia Tech to take control of the ACC Coastal.
With both defenses ranking among the nation’s best heading into Saturday’s game at an energetic Hard Rock Stadium, the expected defensive slugfest played out early on. Virginia Tech came up with a huge goal line stand on Miami’s opening drive to key a scoreless first quarter.
The Hurricanes finally broke through with five minutes gone in the second quarter on a short touchdown pass from Malik Rosier to Braxton Berrios, a combination that was worked nicely all year long. Two minutes later, it was suddenly a 14-0 game on Travis Homer’s 64-yard touchdown run, as the sophomore continued to do a nice job in relief of injured star Mark Walton.
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s offense could simply generate nothing outside of a long field goal late in the half. The Hokies had to feel fortunate to be down only 14-3 at the break despite being outgained 274-139, and a Sean Savoy fumble near midfield with under a minute to go didn’t help matters.
With the offense flailing, the Hokies came up with their second interception of the day on Miami’s opening drive of the second half, and cut the lead to 14-10 on Josh Jackson’s touchdown run. Virginia Tech looked to be in business again shortly after on a Greg Stroman interception, but gave the ball right back on a botched snap.
Miami took advantage, extending the lead back to 21-10 on a 43-yard scamper by Christopher Herndon IV three plays later. Virginia Tech’s line continued to be overwhelmed by the Miami defense, and the turnover chain was out once again a few plays later on a Jaquan Johnson interception.
The rout was on 20 seconds into the fourth quarter when Rosier scrambled 13 yards in the end zone to push the lead to 28-10. Another Jackson fumble midway through the fourth effectively sealed the victory for the Hurricanes, who easily ran out the clock for the huge victory.
Here’s what we learned from the impressive performance, which ranked as Miami’s best of the season.
3 takeaways
Miami’s defense is title worthy
Miami wasn’t taken seriously as a College Football Playoff contender before this week, but has the ability to win a national championship behind an elite defensive unit.
The Hurricanes entered the season with a ton of young talent on the defensive side of the ball, and the rapidly improving unit ranked 18th nationally in points per game allowed at 18.7. That mark is going to get better after a tremendous performance on Saturday, as the Hurricanes surrendered just 306 total yards of offense and broke out the turnover chain five different times.
Miami’s front seven was effective in particular and harassed Jackson on just about every dropback. With stars like Michael Jackson and Shaquille Quarterman leading the unit, Miami’s defense is good enough to challenge Notre Dame and Clemson in upcoming weeks.
The rest of Virginia Tech’s season should be about developing Josh Jackson
With their major bowl hopes almost certainly dashed, Virginia Tech should start focusing on its promising future. That starts with getting better on the offensive end, particularly at the quarterback position.
The Hokies were devastated over the offseason by Jerod Evans’ surprising departure to the NFL, leaving Jackson under center. Jackson has not been bad as a true freshman by any means, but rough games against Clemson and now Miami shows he’s not quite ready to lead a championship team yet.
Fuente should put all of his effort into developing Jackson and the rest of the offense for the next three years. Virginia Tech’s defense is going to be just fine as long as Bud Foster is around, and the 2018 Hokies could be special if Jackson makes a leap while improving chemistry with the rest of the offense.
Christopher Herndon IV and Travis Homer are the big play threats Miami needs
The Hurricanes don’t have a great offense, but the big play ability of Herndon IV and Homer might just be enough for them to run the table.
There was plenty of concern in Miami when star running back Mark Walton was lost for the year with an ankle injury in early September. Homer has been a terrific fill-in with 95 carries for 612 yards, and torched a good Hokies defense with a 64-yard touchdown on Saturday night.
Herndon IV broke out two weeks ago with a huge game against Syracuse, and turned in an impressive 43-yard catch and run for a key score against Virginia Tech. With Rosier struggling a bit, Herndon IV was a welcome target at 6-4, 252 pounds with plus speed in the open field.
Again, Miami’s defense is one of the best in the ACC, so all it takes for the Hurricanes to win is a handful of splash plays on offense.