Tweet

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Virginia Tech turned the ball over four times, and that turned out to be the difference in the game, as Miami converted those turnovers into 10 points and knocked off the Hokies 30-20 in an ACC game played Saturday at Sun Life Stadium.

With the loss, the Hokies fell to 3-4 on the season, 1-2 in ACC play. Miami moved to 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the league.

The loss marked the Hokies’ third in the past four games.

“We’ve got a good football team,” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “I still believe that. We’ve got to keep getting better. We’re young, and that’s part of maturing and part of growing. We plan to finish strong here and see what happens.”

Michael Brewer, who hadn’t played since fracturing his clavicle in the season opener against Ohio State, came into this game toward the end of the third quarter after starter Brenden Motley had committed his third turnover. A Motley interception with 3:34 left in the third led to a 21-yard field goal by Miami kicker Michael Badgley that gave the ’Canes a 23-13 lead with 58 seconds left in the quarter.

The Hokies managed to slice into Miami’s lead on a 33-yard pass from Brewer to Isaiah Ford, and Joey Slye’s extra point cut the lead to 23-20 with 7:20 remaining.

But Tech’s defense couldn’t get a stop. Miami drove 75 yards in nine plays on the ensuing possession and scored on a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brad Kaaya to Rashawn Scott with 2:44 remaining. Badgley’s extra point basically sealed the game.

“It’s frustrating,” Brewer said. “We feel like we’re a lot better team than we’ve been playing. It’s just a play here or there. You hear our coaches talk about that all the time. It’s just a play here or there that can change the whole outcome of a game.

“We spotted a team 14 points [actually 10, off the turnovers] on the road and then turned the ball over. It’s hard to come back from things like that. It just seems like it’s always something each week, and we’ve got to make sure going forward that we don’t look back and say, ‘Well, if we had done this different, then we’d probably be sitting here a lot happier.’ But that’s football. We’ve just got to get back on the practice field and get this bad taste out of our mouth.”

The Hokies finished the game with 361 yards of offense. Motley completed 14 of 23 for 136 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions, while Brewer completed 3 of 4 for 65 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Tailback Travon McMillian led the Hokies' ground game with a career-best 99 yards, and he also caught a touchdown pass from Motley

Kaaya paced Miami’s attack. He completed 19 of 30 for 296 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Miami finished with 395 yards of offense.

Motley’s fumble on the second play from scrimmage led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Miami tailback Joe Yearby to give the ’Canes a 7-0 lead. The two teams then swapped field goals before the Hokies tied the game on Motley’s 9-yard touchdown pass to McMillian.

Tech appeared to be in great shape heading into halftime, tied with Miami at 13. The ’Canes faced a third-and-20 from their own 11, but quarterback Brad Kaaya completed a 45-yard pass to Herb Waters. Three plays later, a roughing-the-passer penalty on Tech gave the ’Canes 15 more yards.

In the end, Miami took advantage of Tech’s mistakes. With 4 seconds left, Kaaya threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Rashawn Scott, and the extra point gave Miami a 20-13 lead at the break.

“If I had it to do over again, I would have played differently at the end of the half,” Beamer said. “At the time, I wanted to make them punt and get something off a possible blocked kick. They’ve had trouble a little bit this year, and if we could have gotten them to punt, maybe it would have worked out.”

Tech continues ACC play next Saturday when it takes on Duke at Lane Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech football, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Football and on Instagram @vthokiefootball