Hokies Rip Miami, Send Cavs a Message

Virginia Tech 44, Miami 14

BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 17 -- As the clock ticked down Saturday, some of Virginia Tech's starters sipped hot chocolate on the sideline, their work on the field complete. When the final whistle blew -- mercifully for Miami -- some of the 20 seniors playing their final game at Lane Stadium lingered outside the locker room, signing autographs and chatting with fans.

Their focus had already shifted to more pressing matters than pummeling the Hurricanes. Finally, the Hokies could start thinking about next Saturday in Charlottesville.

While Virginia sat home and watched, No. 10 Virginia Tech throttled Miami, 44-14, setting the stage for "the biggest game we've ever played against Virginia, without question," Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer said. The Hokies' performance, combined with the 48-0 thrashing Virginia gave the Hurricanes last week, serves notice that both teams are playing at their highest level one week before their showdown. The game will decide the Coastal Division champion, and therefore which team plays for the ACC championship in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 1.

"I can't think of a bigger game," Hokies quarterback Sean Glennon said. "The winner goes to Jacksonville. The loser has to go home until their bowl game."

While Virginia Tech's victory meant nothing to the ACC race, the victory preserved the Hokies' faint chance to earn an at-large bid to the Bowl Championship Series should the Hokies not win the conference title. It also sunk Miami to a previously unimaginable point for such a vaunted program: If the Hurricanes (5-6, 2-5 ACC) do not win at Boston College next week, they will not qualify for a bowl game.

As Virginia Tech (9-2, 6-1 ACC) prepares for its annual rivalry with Virginia, it will wonder about the health of Tyrod Taylor, one half of its quarterback equation. After rotating in and out with Glennon for the first half, Taylor's final play of the game came about four minutes into the second half. He scrambled 16 yards after darting to the right sideline before safety Willie Cooper ushered him out of bounds. Taylor jogged back to Virginia Tech's sideline holding his left side, then jogged into the locker room. The prognosis: a pulled muscle in his torso.

Taylor was cleared to return before the third quarter even ended, but he did not. Guiding the offense solo, Glennon competed 13 of 24 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. Branden Ore provided Virginia Tech's offense with its best punch, rushing 15 times for 81 yards and two touchdowns. The Hokies gained 358 yards total, cobbling together its third consecutive offensive explosion.

This one sent a message that reverberated 140 miles to northeast, to the team that awaits next week: The Hokies are playing their best at the perfect time.

Virginia Tech's offense, which at one point ranked 112th in the nation, has scored 111 points in the past three weeks, surging with the healing of key players. For the first time all year, Virginia Tech played a full game with its desired offensive line: Ed Wang at right tackle, Ryan Shuman at center and Nick Marshman at left guard.

"It ain't too much to it," wide receiver Justin Harper said. "We just had to make the plays we weren't making earlier in the season. We're making them now. That's what's making this offense roll."

Ore has battled multiple ailments this season, but he said afterward he feels 100 percent for the first time all season. He proved it on Virginia Tech's first touchdown, perhaps Ore's finest play this season, one that stirred echoes of his memorable 2006. Ore plowed through the middle from the 4-yard line and met linebacker Colin McCarthy at the 3, the only impediment between him and the goal line.

"I saw that goal line," Ore said. "There was really nothing that was going to stop me at that point."

Both players lowered their heads and charged forward. Ore plowed through McCarthy, knocking him on his back and into the end zone, giving Virginia Tech a 7-0 lead. The Hokies rolled throughout the rest of the first, outgaining Miami 150 yards to six.

Lopsided as the opening quarter and the final score were, the Hurricanes tested the Hokies for a majority of the game. With 5 minutes 41 seconds left in the third quarter, Miami crept to within 20-14, when wideout Leonard Hankerson caught a one-yard fade for a touchdown. Cornerback Victor Harris objected, arguing that Hankerson had shoved him to create space. Xavier Adibi argued so strongly officials flagged him for a 15-yard misconduct penalty. But the score stood.

Of course, the Hokies answered, playing like "a steam train rolling," linebacker Vince Hall said. Harris intercepted Kyle Wright and raced 44 yards down the left sideline. Jud Dunlevy booted his third field goal of the game. Josh Hyman's 41-yard catch-and-run gave Virginia Tech the ball on the 1, from where fullback Carlton Weatherford plowed into the end zone. Suddenly, Virginia Tech led 37-14.

From there, the lone question was the final score. For Virginia Tech, it allowed players' minds to wander, earlier than expected, to Virginia.

"You want to be playing for something at the end," Beamer said. "We certainly are this year."