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Virginia Tech-Miami postgame notes
• Virginia Tech wore maroon helmets, with maroon jerseys and maroon pants for the first time since playing Miami at home in 2009. Tech is now 12-8 all time under head coach Frank Beamer wearing the maroon-maroon-maroon combination.
• Redshirt freshmen Wyatt Teller (offensive guard) and Andrew Motuapuaka (linebacker) made their first career starts Thursday night. Six true or redshirt freshmen have started for the Hokies at some point this season (Bucky Hodges, Isaiah Ford, Cam Phillips and Marshawn Williams).
• With Teller’s start, David Wang moved over and started at center for the first time this season, but for the 14th there time in his career. He has started 31 total games in his six years - 17 at guard and 14 at center. Caleb Farris did not start, breaking his 25-game start streak at center dating back to last season.
• Motuapuaka came into the game with six career tackles and had 11 against Miami.
• Miami’s Duke Johnson, with his 249 yards rushing, became the third Tech opponent to net 100+ yards or more in a game this year, but the first running back. The other two have been quarterbacks. Two additional quarterbacks also rushed for more than 100 yards, but after sacks, they didn’t net 100 yards. Johnson is the first Virginia Tech opponent to rush for 200 or more yards in a game since UNC's Giovanni Bernard ran for 262 yards in 2012.
• The 24-0 deficit it the largest halftime deficit faced by the Hokies since trailing at No. 2 LSU in 2007, 24-0. Tech went on to lose that game 48-7. The largest halftime deficit under head coach Frank Beamer is 28 points, coming in the 1992 Miami game when the Hurricanes led 31-3 and went on to win 43-23.
• The last time Virginia Tech lost three fumbles in a game was in 2006 against North Carolina.
• Marshawn Williams tallied 100 yards rushing for the game, the 100-yard game of his young career. His 21 carries are a new career high.
• Duke Johnson’s 249 yards rushing were a new Lane Stadium record by an opponent, surpassing the 241 yards by Wake Forest’s Josh Harris in 2010. The total is the second-most in a game by a Tech opponent, falling short of UNC’s Giovanni Bernard, who had 262 in 2012.
• Miami’s 364 yards rushing are the most given up by a Frank Beamer-coached Hokie football team, surpassing the 346 allowed to Georgia Tech in 2010.
• Isaiah Ford caught his fifth touchdown pass late in the game, giving him five for the season. The five scores tie the school record for touchdown receptions in a season by a freshman (Josh Hyman, 2004). Hyman did it as a redshirt freshman. It was the most touchdown catches for a true freshman in school history, and he now has 34 receptions for the year, adding to that freshman record.
• Ford’s touchdown with 1:30 left in the game is the latest the Hokies have scored in their 251-game scoring streak and just the eighth time the Hokies have scored just one time in a game during the streak. It’s also just the fifth time during the streak the Hokies had to go to the fourth quarter to extend the streak, the last coming in the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl, a game Tech would go on to win in overtime over Rutgers.
Miami knocks off Tech 30-6
Miami tailback Duke Johnson ran for 249 yards and scored two touchdowns, and the Hurricanes used three second-quarter touchdowns to take command of the game in downing the Hokies 30-6 in an ACC game played Thursday night at Lane Stadium.
With the loss, Tech fell to 4-4 overall, 1-3 in the ACC. Miami moved to 5-3 overall, 2-2 in the ACC.
Johnson’s performance was the best rushing performance by an opponent at Lane Stadium. Wake Forest’s Josh Harris held the previous high, rushing for 241 yards in the Demon Deacons’ loss to the Hokies in 2010.
Miami used a field goal to grab a first-quarter lead and then grabbed a 10-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Gus Edwards in the second quarter. Johnson’s 24-yard touchdown run with 6:21 left in the first half pushed the lead to 17-0 and his 22-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Brad Kaaya with three seconds left in the first half gave Miami a 24-0 lead.
Miami rushed for 364 yards in the game – the most ever against a Frank Beamer coached team. In addition to Johnson’s performance, Edwards rushed for 115 yards. Miami finished with 456 yards of total offense.
The Hokies’ lone score came with 1:30 left in the game. On fourth-and-10 from the Miami 14, backup quarterback Mark Leal threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to receiver Isaiah Ford. Tech went for two points and didn’t get it, but the touchdown extended Tech’s scoring streak to 251 straight games.
Tech’s offense struggled in the first half, amassing just 36 yards and two first downs. The Hokies finished with 262 yards – 77 coming on the final drive. Tailback Marshawn Williams rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries.
The Hokies had chances to score in the third quarter, but three fumble – two in the red zone – killed those chances.
Miami still up big
After three quarters of play, Miami still led 24-0, as neither team could get on the board. The Hokies, though, certainly had their chances.
Tech fumbled on its first three possession of the second half – by three different players. Marshawn Williams’ fumble came inside the Miami 5, Joel Caleb’s fumble came at the Miami 32 and Jerome Wright’s fumble came at the Miami 17. Those killed any chances the Hokies had at cutting into the lead.
Tech looked better offensively in the third quarter. The Hokies amassed 126 yards in the quarter, with 105 of that coming on the ground. Williams leads Tech with 95 yards rushing on 18 carries, including a 41-yard run – which is Tech’s second-longest run of the season and second-longest offensive play of the season.
Miami tailback Duke Johnson is up to 210 yards rushing and averaging 8.4 yards per carry.
The Hokies closed the third quarter with a fourth-down stand, as Miami went for it on fourth-and-goal from the Tech 3. The Hokies’ Dadi Nicolas tackled Gus Edwards for a 1-yard loss on the play.
Virginia Tech-Miami halftime notes
• Virginia Tech is wearing maroon helmets, with maroon jerseys and maroon pants for the first time since playing Miami at home in 2009. Tech is 12-7 all-time under head coach Frank Beamer wearing the maroon-maroon-maroon combination.
• Redshirt freshmen Wyatt Teller (offensive guard) and Andrew Motuapuaka (linebacker) made their first career starts Thursday night. Six true or redshirt freshmen have started for the Hokies at some point this season (Bucky Hodges, Isaiah Ford, Cam Phillips and Marshawn Williams).
• With Teller’s start, David Wang moved over and started at center for the first time this season, but for the 14th there time in his career. He has started 31 totals games in his six years - 17 at guard and 14 at center. Caleb Farris did not start, breaking his 25-game start streak at center dating back to last season.
• Motuapuaka came into the game with six career tackles and had seven alone in the first half against Miami.
• Miami’s Duke Johnson, with his 148 yards rushing at the half, became the third Tech opponent to net 100-plus yards or more in a game this year, but the first running back. The other two have been quarterbacks. The other quarterbacks also rushed for more than 100 yards, but after sacks, they didn’t net 100 yards.
• The Hokies failed to score in the first in half for the first time this season and just the eighth time during Tech’s 250-game scoring streak. The last time Tech was held scoreless in the first half was the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl against Rutgers. The Hokies came back to win that game 13-10 in overtime.
• The 24-0 deficit it the largest halftime deficit faced by the Hokies since trailing at No. 2 LSU in 2007 (also 24-0). Tech went on to lose that game 48-7. The largest halftime deficit under head coach Frank Beamer is 28 points, coming in the 1992 Miami game when the Hurricanes led 31-3 and went on to win 43-23.
• The last time Miami shut out the Hokies in the first half of a game was 2005 when the ’Canes led 10-0 and went on to win 27-7 in Blacksburg.
Miami with huge halftime lead
Miami punched it in three times during the second quarter and took a commanding 24-0 lead on Tech at the break.
On the third play of the second quarter, Miami got in the end zone on a 3-yard run by Gus Edwards. Michael Badgley’s extra point gave the ’Canes a 10-0 lead with 14:11 left in the first half, capping a 12-play, 79-yard drive that chewed more than five minutes off the clock.
The ’Canes’ second score came after terrible punt from Tech’s A.J. Hughes. Punting out of his end zone, Hughes launched a short punt that bounced backward and ended up out of bounds at the Tech 24.
On the next play, Johnson scored on a 24-yard run. Badgley’s extra point gave the ’Canes a 17-0 lead with 6:21 left in the half.
Miami capped its dominating second quarter with a 65-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brad Kaaya to Duke Johnson with just three seconds left in the first half.
Miami finished with 255 yards in the first half. Johnson rushed for 148 yards and caught two passes for 37 yards.
The Hokies had just two first downs and 36 yards of offense on 20 plays in the first half.
Miami up 3-0 after one
Miami got on the board first, scoring on its second possession of the game. The ’Canes drove 51 yards to the Tech 11, but on third-and-10, Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya threw the ball away. Miami settled for a 28-yard field goal by Michael Badgley with 6:30 left in the first quarter to grab a 3-0 lead.
Tech’s offense struggled in the first quarter, amassing just one first down and 12 yards of offense. Miami, in contrast, racked up 119 yards on 20 plays. Tech ran just eight plays.
The ’Canes have a first-and-goal at the Tech 4 as the quarter closed.
Tech dress squad notes
The Virginia Tech coaching staff decided to dress 73 players for tonight’s game against Miami, but noticeable omissions include Chase Williams (knee) and Der’Woun Greene (neck). Both were injured during the Hokies’ 21-16 loss to Pittsburgh.
The staff also elected to dress receiver Josh Stanford, who took a personal leave of absence after Tech’s loss to East Carolina. Stanford rejoined the team last week and worked on the Hokies’ scout team.
Tech’s staff also has decided to place tailback Jerome Wright and rover Zach Snell on the dress squad. Dahman McKinnon, a backup mike linebacker, is back on the dress squad after missing several weeks with a knee injury.
Two other linebackers on the dress squad are walk-on Drew Burns and redshirt sophomore Devin Vandyke. Vandyke has missed the season thus far because of a knee injury.
Memorable Thursday nights at Lane
Tonight’s game vs. Miami will be the Hokies 16th Thursday night appearance on ESPN since the network started broadcasting games on Thursday nights. Tech is 11-4 in previous such games at home, and Lane Stadium has been the site of some memorable moments.
Here is one writer’s top five Thursday night moments:
• Tech vs. Clemson (Sept. 23, 1999) – Corey Moore owned this game from the start, and the Hokies’ 31-11 win over the Tigers really jump-started their run to the national championship game.
Moore (photo below) had five solo tackles, two sacks and five quarterback hurries. He also forced a fumble, which he picked up and returned 32 yards for a touchdown. The score came with 2:31 left in the game and sealed the 31-11 win.
Moore was part of a Tech defense that held Clemson to just 204 yards. Tech tailback Shyrone Stith took care of the Hokies’ offense, rushing for 162 yards and scoring a touchdown.
• Tech vs. West Virginia (Oct. 12, 2000) – The Hokies came into this game ranked No. 3 in the nation with a 5-0 record and a 3-0 mark in BIG EAST play, and they rolled the Mountaineers 48-20 thanks to a huge game from receiver André Davis.
Davis scored three touchdowns three different ways – and all in the third quarter and all within six minutes of each other. His 30-yard run on a reverse helped Tech take a 20-14 lead, and four minutes later, he hauled in a 64-yard scoring pass from Michael Vick to give the Hokies a 27-14 lead. His 76-yard punt return for a score two minutes after that pushed the lead to 34-14.
Davis finished with six receptions for 127 yards in the game. He also amassed 273 all-purpose yards.
• Tech vs. Marshall (Sept. 12, 2002) – Marshall came into this game ranked No. 16 behind quarterback Byron Leftwich, but the 11th-ranked Hokies featured two tailbacks who ran wild, and Tech romped to a 47-21 win over the Thundering Herd.
Kevin Jones and Lee Suggs each rushed 24 times. Jones ran for 171 yards and scored three touchdowns, and Suggs ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, the Hokies rushed for 395 yards.
Leftwich tried to keep Marshall in the game, throwing for 406 yards and three touchdowns. But he threw an interception, and the Herd also fumbled twice, which hurt their chances.
• Tech vs. Texas A&M (Sept. 18, 2003) – Outer bands of wind and rain from Hurricane Isabel pounded a sold-out Lane Stadium on this night, but a hardy throng of Tech fans and players welcomed the elements, and the Hokies throttled the Aggies 35-19.
Kevin Jones ran wild against the Aggies, rushing for 188 yards on 30 carries (6.3 ypc) and scoring three touchdowns. Bryan Randall threw a touchdown pass, and Tech’s defense held an Aggie offense led by talented quarterback Reggie McNeal to just 272 yards.
• Tech vs. Maryland (Nov. 6, 2008) – The Hokies took on a nationally ranked Maryland squad (No. 23) that came in with a 6-2 record, but Tech grabbed a 17-3 halftime lead and never looked back in a 23-13 victory.
The story of the game, though, was Darren Evans. The tailback from Indianapolis, Indiana, rushed for a school-record 253 yards on 32 carries, and he scored a touchdown. He averaged 7.9 yards per carries.
Evans’ record still stands. He broke Mike Imoh’s mark of 243 yards, which came against North Carolina in 2004, and he is one of just nine Tech players to rush for at least 200 yards in a game.
Thoughts on this list? Feedback is certainly welcome on Twitter (@jrobIHS).
Tech backs looking to get back on track
After the Hokies’ 21-16 loss to Pittsburgh this past Thursday night, most of the attention centered on the offense’s struggles, and in particular, the lack of a running game. The Hokies rushed for just 26 yards on the evening.
The offensive line received a lot of blame from fans for the overall struggles, but running backs coach Shane Beamer wasn’t particularly happy with how his running backs performed against the Panthers. It wasn’t so much how they ran with the ball. It was more about how they performed without the football.
“Without the ball in our hands, I thought it was one of the worst games we’ve had as a running back group,” he said.
J.C. Coleman’s fumble led to a Pittsburgh touchdown, and that was the biggest mistake, but Beamer pointed out others. Tech’s running backs allowed a sack, dropped a pass and committed two penalties. Those two were part of eight in the game for the Hokies, continuing a disturbing trend.
“One of those was a holding penalty on Sam [Rogers],” Beamer said. “He got the guy, drove him to the ground and put him on his back. I’m not going to tell the guy to slow down. I love that about him. I love his toughness. He got his hands a little outside. I saw what the official saw. He called holding, but I’m not going to over-coach that one. I like the mentality that he plays with.
“One of the penalties was two men in motion at the same time. That was on us at the running back position. We also gave up a sack. Sam was in position, but he used bad technique and got bull-rushed by the defensive end early in the game. We gave up that sack not because we didn’t know what to do, but because we played with bad technique. So we have some things that we could get better at.
“Running the ball, other than the fumble, I thought we were OK. I was pleased with how hard Joel [Caleb] ran. I was pleased with how hard Sam ran. But we’ve got to be better when the ball isn’t in our hands. Whatever the reason, we made some mistakes and didn’t perform well.”
Rogers led Tech with 19 yards rushing on six carries, but lost four yards on a sack while looking to throw the ball early in the fourth quarter. Caleb (photo below) rushed seven times for 12 yards. A 9-yard run by Rogers was the longest of the evening for Tech.
“We were in some tough situations,” Beamer said. “We’ve got to execute, but coming out from your own 5-yard line twice, that’s tough. If you take those out and take out one of the goal-line runs that Bucky [Hodges] ran [a 1-yard gain], we averaged almost four yards a carry. Now is that good enough? No. We want to run the ball for more than four yards a carry, but we had some productive runs in there.
“Then the game got where we had to throw it in the fourth quarter. We don’t want to run the ball just 20 times and average 2 yards a carry. We’ve got to be better than that. We know that.”
Beamer is right. Tech threw the ball 19 times in the fourth quarter alone and ran it just three times – and two of those were called pass plays that resulted sacks and thus counted as rushes. For the game, the Hokies ran the ball just 22 times and threw it 45 times. Offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler said following the game, “that’s not how we’re wired.”
For sure, playing without one’s top three tailbacks hurts. But the Hokies should get Marshawn Williams back from an ankle injury for the Miami game. He is listed as probable on the injury report and practiced full the past two days. He told media members that he was ready to go.
“I was able to do everything,” Williams said. “Route running, I was struggling a little bit, but everything else I was fine. As far as me running and being able to cut off of it, I feel fine.”
A year ago, Tech rushed for 183 yards against Miami in a 42-24 win. The Hokies have beaten Miami four of the past five times and have averaged 220 yards rushing per game in those four wins.
The Hokies will need more of that to get a win Thursday night.
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— VT Football (@VT_Football) October 21, 2014
Miami game one of extra importance for Tech’s Florida contingent
Virginia Tech’s football game always seems to carry a bit more importance than other games, and this Thursday’s game is no exception. Both teams sport identical 4-3 overall records and 1-2 conference marks, making a win imperative for any hopes of a late-season run to the wide-open Coastal Division.
But the game also carries a bit more importance to the Florida natives on Tech’s roster, many of whom were shown little interest from the ’Canes coaching staff during the recruiting process. The group of Florida natives on Tech’s roster includes Kalvin Cline (Boca Raton), Luther Maddy (Delray Beach), Dadi Nicolas (Delray Beach), Isaiah Ford (Jacksonville, in the photo on the left), Mark Leal (Greenacres), Kyle Chung (Ponte Vedra Beach) and Kendrick Holland (Winter Haven).
“I know a couple of those players on their roster,” Ford said. “I’ve played against them in 7-on-7 [leagues] quite a few times. It is a little personal. Just a little bit.”
Perusing Miami’s roster reveals that only one of Miami’s players is from Jacksonville, only one is from Boca Raton and none are from Delray Beach, Greenacres or Ponte Vedra Beach. Infer from that whatever one wants, but most Florida recruits in those areas would see that as a slight.
Tech’s players from those areas refused to call it that, at least publicly.
“At this point, it’s about the uniform I’m wearing,” Nicolas said. “If I’m wearing maroon and orange, then that’s what I’m representing. Green, white and orange … that’s just the opponent.”
Nicolas, though, admitted the game probably means more to them than any other on Tech’s schedule.
“That’s naturally going to come because you have family and friends that are going to be tuned into this game,” Nicolas said. “Just being from down that way, I definitely want to beat them. Then when I go back home, I’ll have bragging rights. It felt good being able to do that last year.”
Last year’s 42-24 win – arguably the Hokies’ best performance in the past three seasons – continue their string of recent successes over the ’Canes. It marked Tech’s fourth victory in the past five meetings and its’ eighth in the past 11 meetings.
Tech is 13-18 versus Miami all time, but the Hokies have made up some ground in the series, especially considering they lost the first 12 games in the series. They are 13-6 against Miami in the past 19 games.
Only Nicolas and Ford are expected to see any significant action against the ’Canes on Thursday night. Tech announced Tuesday that Maddy, its star defensive tackle, is out for the season because he plans on undergoing a second knee surgery (he underwent knee surgery after Tech’s Sept. 20 loss to Georgia Tech) and will pursue a medical hardship waiver.
“It’s unfortunate what happened to Luther,” Nicolas said. “Now it’s up to me to hold it down for the both of us since we’ve been doing it for previous years. I imagine it’s hard on him, but he’s supporting us the whole way. He’s doing his part.”
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