In a national spotlight game Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes forced four turnovers en route to a 28-10 win over No. 13 Virginia Tech.
The Hurricanes moved closer to clinching their first ever ACC Championship game appearance where they’ll likely meet Clemson.
Fueled by the dual-threat effort of quarterback Malik Roiser, the Hurricanes proved resilient as the redshirt junior struggled through a game where they gave the ball away three times. But Rosier proved resilient and threw two touchdowns, one to Braxton Berrios and one to Chris Herndon on the night.
“The biggest thing was every time I throw an interception, someone on the defense would come up and tell me ‘we got your back, you’re fine,'” Rosier said after the game.
Most impressive, however, were the plays he made with his feet. An element Miami hasn’t had at the quarterback position in recent memory. Rosier finished with 13 rushing attempts for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Saturday’s effort by Rosier was by far his sloppiest game as a Hurricane but he’s still undefeated as a starter in college football. He’s still never lost a start in nine attempts. That is impressive.
“The stat that means the most is victory,” said Mark Richt after the game.
STINGY DEFENSE
The stingy Miami Hurricanes’ defense also helped to erase many wrongs on the night, serving as Rosier’s best friend. A forced fumble by safety Jaquan Johnson, recovered by defensive tackle RJ McIntosh got the turnover chain party started. Johnson would later add his own interception and the true defensive end Jonathan Garvin forced and recovered his own fumble before the game sealing INT by safety Sheldrick Redwine.
“It was a night of turnovers,” Richt said. “When you take shots, that’s what happens.”
The key defensive effort on the night was the play of Johnson according to defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. But perhaps his speech to the team the night before during what the Hurricanes call ‘players coaching players,’ set the tone for a dominate day.
“I just said, what are we waiting for,” Johnson said post game. “Let’s just go out there and dominate these people.”
And that’s exactly what the Hurricanes defense did.
While giving up 101 yards to star Virginia Tech wide out Cam Philips, the Hurricanes didn’t allow him to score or freshman Hookie QB Josh Jackson to really ever find a rhythm. As soon as it looked like the Hookies were driving, Miami found a way to force a turnover.
COLLEGE GAME DAY
During the game, ESPN announced that College Game Day is coming to town for next week’s November 11th game versus Notre Dame. it will again be a game broadcast to the nation on ABC Television Network at 8 PM EST.
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