Miami Gardens, FL — Coming out of a bye we would expect the Miami Hurricanes to start a home game with coastal division opponent Virginia Tech with a renowned focus.
Negative.
An average Hokie team came into South Florida and jumped out to a 28-0 lead over the Miami Hurricanes en route to a 42-35 victory. A valiant effort for a comeback falls short as the Canes committed five first-half turnovers and could not get the defensive stops in the most critical moments.
Virginia Tech came into the game with two wins. The first: a one-touchdown win over FCS Furman. The second: a 31-17 win over a now (1-3) Old Dominion team. The Hokies also suffered an embarrassing loss to Duke last week losing 45-10 at home.
Today Tech looked like a contender for the ACC coastal title. At least against Miami, they looked they were. At quarterback, first-time starter, redshirt sophomore Hendon Hooker put his athleticism on display as he ran away from Miami defenders and consistently found the open man. In particular, his junior tight end Dalton Keane who he hooked up three times for touchdowns. Hooker would finish the game completing 10 of his 20 passes for 184 yards with the three passing touchdowns and registered 76 net yards rushing with a rushing touchdown.
“Credit to him for his first start, he did a good job.” said senior linebacker Michael Pinkney. “They did a good job of delaying the tight end. That’s something that we really didn’t see too much of.”
Head Coach Manny Diaz: “Jarren is our guy.” Coach said there was nothing physicallly wrong with @CanesFootball QB Jarren Williams and states, “we were not hitting the throws we were expecting to hit.” RBs Dallas and Harris had 8 total carries. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/vCtEVE5jqn
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) October 6, 2019
Jarren Williams threw his first pick of the year with his second throw of the game on an inside slant to KJ Osborn that was deflected, popped up in the air and intercepted by sophomore Jermaine Waller. The Hokies would score on the granted possession with a 12-yard touchdown run by Hooker.
The Canes’ second possession ended with Williams’s second interception when he tried to connect with Dee Wiggins in the endzone. Redshirt sophomore Caleb Farley came down with the football and thus ended consecutive Hurricane drives. Miami’s third drive ended with, you guessed it, another Williams interception. Waller would get his second of the day as Williams was again looking for Wiggins and Waller would return the football to the Miami 23-yard line. Two plays later, Hooker hooked up with the junior Keene for a 20-yard touchdown.
Backup quarterback N’Kosi Perry was plugged into the game on Miami’s next possession.
“We felt like the way Jarren started the game, that we felt like N’kosi had a chance to come in and see what was going on there and see if he could light a spark.”
Perry would hand the ball off to junior Mike Harley Jr. on his first snap who would fumble the football for the Canes’ fourth turnover in the 1st quarter. The Hokies would take advantage and score yet again, this time on a James Mitchell one-yard touchdown run. The stunned crowd at Hard Rock Stadium did not know what hit them. The disbelief would continue in the second quarter as Hooker would hook up with Keene for the second time with a 17-yard touchdown with 9:30 to go in the first half.
The Canes seemed as if they would need a miracle if they were to come back in this game. A miracle they would get. Perry would send the ball to the end zone with a hail mary throw and the ball would carom to sophomore receiver Mark Pope Jr. for his first career touchdown.
“The hail mary boosted our confidence,” said wide receiver Jeff Thomas. “It really sparked our offense.”
Perry’s first drive in the second half gave Canes fans hopes of a turnaround. An eight-play 88-yard drive ended with a Brevin Jordan yard touchdown to cut the Hokie lead in half.
Later in the fourth quarter, Perry would pull his team back in the game with a pair of touchdown passes to Thomas. Thomas would score for the first time since 2018 with a 13-yard grab and drew his team closer with a 25-yard touchdown.
After the second score, Diaz decided to roll the dice and go for two down by eight. Dee-Jay Dallas from the wildcat took the snap and ran right with the football and dove for the pylon to convert. The play was described as a busted play.
“That two-point conversion was not even supposed to go like that, said Brevin Jordan. “It just happened.”
Dallas would do one more for an encore as he broke out for a huge 62-yard touchdown run weaving through the Hokie secondary.
Dallas had six carries for 68 yards for an 11 yards a carry average. The Canes had 23 rushing attempts compared to 55 passing attempts. Virginia Tech came into the game as the 104th rushing defense.
“Of course there was [a plan to run the ball more],” said Head Coach Manny Diaz. “We had to loosen them up [with the passing game] because of the numbers they play around the box.”
After the Dallas touchdown, kicker Bubba Baxa, who has missed game-deciding kicks this season would miss another critical kick forcing the ball wide right on the extra point.
Tied at 35, Virginia Tech would need a score to keep their hopes of getting a solid road win alive. The Hokies would convert on two big plays when Hooker found Damon Hazleton on a 29-yard connection and Keene for 26 yards to get to the Miami three-yard line. Running back DeShawn Mclease would finish off the drive with a three-yard touchdown to reclaim a seven-point lead.
Perry had one final shot to bring his time back but his pass would fall short in the end zone in the game’s final seconds. Perry went 28 of 47 for 422 yards and 4 touchdowns and an interception but was sacked six times. Williams went 4 of 7 with three interceptions and sacked once.
“I should have put it up higher to give my receiver a better chance to catch the ball,” said Perry. “I wish I would have one of the plays back for sure. I feel like I could have hit a different target. Regardless of what happened, you learn from it.”
Miami has a quick turnaround to right the wrongs in this game as they host Virginia Friday night. Virginia Tech will look to keep it rolling against Rhode Island next week.
Attendance 53,183
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