A pristine November afternoon in Blacksburg, Va. set the scene for a duel between the Miami Hurricanes and the Virginia Tech Hokies. Despite a late-game comeback from the Hokies, Miami escaped with a 34-17 win.
With less than three minutes in the game and down by ten, Virginia Tech went for an onside kick and with a lucky bounce picked the ball up. And in the witching hours of the game, all the momentum seemed to be on the Hokies side.
But on second down in UM territory, Miami’s defense stood strong as Akheem Mesidor forced a fumble which Zechariah Poyser recovered and ’Canes fans around the country breathed a side of relief.
Mesidor’s strip sack was the biggest of one of his best performances of the season. The sixth-year redshirt senior finished the game with five total tackles, sack, and two forced fumbles.
And with just about two minutes to go, the Hurricanes drove it down field and iced the game with a spectacular 20-yard grab in the right corner of the endzone by true freshman Malachi Toney.
Toney had his fingerprints on the Miami offense all afternoon, making his presence felt on nearly every play. The 18-year old finished the day with 12 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown — only 90 yards away from breaking Ahmonn Richard’s freshman receiving yards record set in 2016.
The electrifying tunes of “Enter Sandman” by Metallica did not faze sixth-year redshirt senior quarterback Carson Beck in the hostile Blacksburg crowd. Beck finished the game completing 27 of 32 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns.
He opened the game completing his first 11 passes which included a methodical opening drive down the field on eight plays that was capped off on a 20-yard touchdown pass over the middle of the field to sophomore tight end Elija Lofton – his second score in as many games.
“We continued to get better offensively for the last several weeks and I think it was just carry over from that,” Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said.
The Hokies responded quickly with an eight play, 48-yard drive that was capped off with a 30-yard field goal by John Love.
It was the ground game that got the Hokies going, as redshirt junior running back Marcellous Hawkins ran up the left side for a 33-yard pickup.
Miami rebounded on a long 14-play 75-yard drive that was primarily in an effort from Beck and freshman wideout Malachi Toney. On the drive, Toney had five receptions for 46 yards but putting it in the endzone was junior running back Mark Fletcher Jr. who caught a three yard rollout pass — marking his first receiving touchdown of his career.
“Just felt super comfortable out there,” Beck said. “I thought the gameplan was really really good going into the week.”
Miami’s defense remained poised during the second quarter, not allowing Virginia Tech to score as the half ended, with Miami leading 20-3.
Virginia Tech came out of the locker room firing, and the running game continued to be effective. After 80 rushing yards in the second quarter, freshman running back Jeffery Overton Jr. took it to the house on a 38-yard run, moving the score within 10.
The Hokies run game was strong against a stout Miami defense that allowed just 81.8 rushing yards per game.
Overton and Hawkins combined for 141 rushing yards, while the entire team amassed 194 yards on the ground.
Penalties started to be an issue on both sides of the ball for the Hurricanes. They had three penalties for 28 yards in the third quarter and finished the game with nine for 88 yards.
Despite only 82 rushing yards for Miami, freshman Girard Pringle Jr. continued to shine. Picking up 49 rushing yards, he became the second back to catch a touchdown pass. Midway through the third, Beck found him wide open on a wheel route for a 16-yard touchdown to move the game to 27-10.
But despite the 17-point lead, a weakness that has plagued this Hurricane team all year has been the ability to finish the game strong.
With both defenses holding strong midway through the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech had some momentum going as sophomore backup quarterback William Watson Jr. went in the game and heaved a deep ball to junior wide receiver Ayden Greene for a 39-yard gain. Just three yards from the endzone, Watson ran it in to push the score to 27-17 with a little over three minutes to play.
A recovered onside kick followed for the Hokies, but Miami was able to calm the storm thanks to Mesidor’s forced fumble. Toney’s late touchdown added some style points on a game that nearly got out of hand, as the Hurricanes managed to escape in Blacksburg.
After the 34-17 win, the Hurricanes (9-2, 5-2 ACC) will stay in the Northeast as they are set to play Pittsburgh next Saturday at Acrisure stadium with a trip to the College Football Playoff on the line.