Virginia Tech freshman running back Ryan Williams scores a touchdown in the Hokies’ 31-7 win over Miami.
Box Score | Pictures
So much for the “swagger” being back at the “U”. Or, perhaps it just didn’t make the trip to Blacksburg with the No. 9 ranked Miami Hurricanes. All of the “experts” on ESPN picked the Canes in the day’s only matchup between top 25 teams. No one seemed to think the Hokies could beat a Miami team with a pair of impressive and dominant wins over ranked teams. That was just fine with the Virginia Tech players.
The Hokies dominated Miami today, with the exception of Miami’s opening drive in the second half, which led to their only points of the game. Other than that, Virginia Tech dominated. On offense. On defense. On special teams. All-World redshirt freshman running back Ryan Williams led the Hokies with 150 rushing on 34 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Williams, who has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Rookie of the Week twice this season, has eight TDs in the first four games of the season and is on pace to destroy the freshman record (11) set by Darren Evans just last season. Williams, the ACC’s leading rusher and scorer, was a work horse against Miami and seemed to get stronger as the game went on.
“I’m impressed with that guy,” said Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer of Williams. “He runs hard. He can make a guy miss. He’s got speed, and he hurts those guys when he’s running. I like watching him.”
The offense as a whole played its best game of the season. The offensive line created gaping holes for Tech’s running backs and gave Tyrod Taylor plenty of time the few times the Hokies attempted a pass. Taylor made excellent decisions in the game. Though he only attempted nine passes, he connected on four of them and had one dropped. Considering the weather conditions, it’s not surprising the Hokies kept the ball on the ground. And why pass when your running game is grinding out an average of five yards per play?
From a coaching perspective, I have to give offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring a lot of credit for calling a good game. There was a good mixture of inside/outside runs; enough passes to keep the Canes honest; and a perfectly executed shovel pass. It was probably the best called game by Stinespring in a couple of seasons against a quality opponent.
The Hokies opened the scoring after Tech strong safety Dorian Porch sacked Miami QB Jacory Harris forcing a fumble, which Porched recovered. The Hokies needed just four plays before Williams punched it in for the game’s first touchdown giving Tech a 7-0 lead.
Virginia Tech scored again on its next possession capping a seven-play, 89-yard drive with a 48-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Jarrett Boykin. The Hokies went up 14-0.
The Hokies third score of the first half came in the second quarter on the team’s first blocked punt of the season. Miami was punting deep in their own end when Jacob Sykes came clean off the edge to block the punt, which rolled to near the goal line. Matt Reidy picked it up at the one and stepped into the end zone for the touchdown – 21-0 Virginia Tech at the half.
The second half didn’t start well for the Hokies. Miami came out fired up returning the second half kick off 55 yards to the Tech 46. From there, the Canes methodically knifed through Tech’s defense and in just five plays they marched into the end zone to cut the Tech lead to 21-7.
The Canes marched down the field again on their second possession of the third quarter, but tight end Jimmy Graham dropped two passes to stall the drive deep in Tech territory. Miami went for it on fourth down, but Tech’s defense stepped up and stopped Miami.
Tech added a field goal on its next possession, which ran off nearly five minutes from the clock. That gave the defense time to regroup, rest and then come out to shut Miami down the rest of the way.
The Hokies scored their final touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter after Rashad Carmichael intercepted a Jacory Harris pass and returned it to Miami’s 25 yard line. Five plays later Williams ran it in for his second TD of the game.
Some injury notes: Sergio Render is a warrior. The guy left the game twice with apparent shoulder injuries but came back each time, fighting through the pain to protect Taylor. Also, Blake DeChristopher left the game with an ankle injury – not sure how serious the injury is, but we’ll know more on Thursday when the injury reports come out.
Alright, that’s all for now. I’ll have more tomorrow, including video highlights. A great win for the Hokies. And more importantly, it’s the second straight nationally televised game in which we won a big game against a good team. [Updated] With losses by No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 California and No. 9 Miami, expect the Hokies to move back into the top 10 – they could conceivably move up to No. 7.
Read the HokieSports.com recap.
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