-Hokies win 44-14.
-A 41-yard pass from Glennon to Hyman sets up a 1-yard touchdown run by Carlton Weatherford -- his first career touchdown run. With 11:33 remaining in the game, it's now 37-14 Hokies. About time to head down for interviews. Back with final score after the game.
-A 44-yard interception return by Macho Harris sets up a 37-yard field goal by Jud Dunlevy. With :28 remaining in the third quarter, it's now 30-14 Hokies.
-Branden Ore scores from seven yards out to give the Hokies a 27-14 lead with 3:01 remaining in the third quarter. Tyrod Taylor has been cleared to return to the game.
-Kyle Wright throws a 1-yard touchdown pass Leonard Hankerson to cut the Tech lead to 20-14. Fans aren't happy here, and they have a right to be angry. Replays showed that Hankerson pushed off on defender Macho Harris before catching the pass. Regardless, with 5:41 left in the third quarter, we've got a six-point game.
-Jud Dunlevy makes a 44-yard field goal on Tech's first drive of the second half. With 10:22 remaining in the third quarter, it's 20-7 Hokies. Still no update on Taylor's condition.
-Tyrod Tayor heads off the field and to the locker room with an unknown injury early in the third quarter.
HALFTIME THOUGHTS: The Hokies head to the locker room leading Miami 17-7, but they have to be disappointed in the drop-off in offensive production in the second quarter. After putting up 150 yards in the first quarter, Tech actually went backwards in the second and now have 138 total yards at the half. After switching QBs 12 times in the first three drives, the coaches stuck with Sean Glennon throughout the second quarter.
Why? Well, they guess here is they didn't want to reveal a ton of tendencies for next week's winner-take-the-Coastal game at UVa. Remember, this dual-QB system is still new, and it's hard to say how many plays they actually have set aside for Tyrod Taylor to run in it. With a 17-0 lead, it made some sense to scale back and play a little bit more conservatively. But now that the Hurricanes have trimmed the deficit to 10, you should see both quarterbacks again in the third quarter. In all, Glennon has taken 25 snaps and Taylor 9.
A few other notes: Center Ryan Shuman returned to the starting lineup for the first time since injuring his ankle in the BC game...linebacker Vince Hall, who returned to the lineup for the first time since breaking his wrist in the Clemson game, has seven tackles at the half....Branden Ore has averaged 6.0 yards on eight carries today...Glennon was sacked twice in the second quarter after not being sacked in the first....Sam Shields has four catches for 72 yards for Miami...The Hurricanes have minus-2 rushing yards, thanks in large part to the three sacks of QB Kyle Wright.
-The Hurricanes elect to take points off the board, and it pays. On 4th-and-3 from the Tech 9, Francesco Zampogna boots a successful 27-yard field goal, but officials call the Hokies for an offsides penalty. Miami takes the penalty and the first down that accompanies it, and quarterback Kyle Wright runs it in on the next play for a touchdown to make it 17-7 Hokies with :21 remaining in the half.
-The Hurricanes have a first-and-goal from the Tech 3 but cannot convert, as four straight runs up the middle don't cross the goal line. With 2:45 left in the half, the Hokies face a 3rd-and-9 from their own 2. Sean Glennon has played quarterback the majority of this quarter.
-We've hit a scoring lull here in the second quarter. Tech went three plays and out for the first time after forcing a fumble to thwart a Miami scoring opportunity. With 8:00 left in the half, it's still 17-0 Hokies.
-Jud Dunlevy tacks on a 40-yard field goal less than a minute into the second quarter. It's now 17-0 Hokies.
-And the new-and-improved Tech offense rolls on. Sean Glennon hits Justin Harper for a 15-yard touchdown pass on third down, giving the Hokies a 14-0 lead with 5:07 left in the first quarter. Tech's coaches have swapped quarterbacks eight times so far, and both have played well.
-Branden Ore looks solid early, bursting off right tackle for a 22-yard gain on Tech's first possession. Later, he powers over Miami's Colin McCarthy into the end zone from 4 yards out. With 10:12 remaining in the first quarter, it's 7-0 Hokies.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
VT—Ore 4 run (Dunlevy kick), 10:12. Drive: Eight plays, 61 yards, 2:46. Key plays: Ore 22 run to UM 20; Glennon 2 run on 4th-and-1 to UM 9. Virginia Tech 7, Miami 0.
VT—Harper 15 pass from Glennon (Dunlevy kick), 5:07. Drive: Nine plays, 57 yards, 3:23. Key play: Hyman 14 pass from Glennon on 3rd-and-10 to UM 19. Virginia Tech 14, Miami 0.
SECOND QUARTER
VT—FG Dunlevy 40, 14:17. Drive: Nine plays, 34 yards, 3:14. Key play: Weatherford 10 pass from Glennon plus 5 facemask penalty to UM 27. Virginia Tech 17, Miami 0.
UM—Wright 4 run (Zampogna kick), :21. Drive: Seven plays, 30 yards, 2:04. Key play: VT 5 offsides penalty to VT 4. Virginia Tech 17, Miami 7.
THIRD QUARTER
VT—FG Dunlevy 44, 10:28. Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards, 4:32. Key plays: Harper 23 pass from Glennon on 3rd-and-8 to VT 38; Ore 20 pass from Glennon on 3rd-and-13 to UM 45. Virginia Tech 20, Miami 7.
UM—Hankerson 1 pass from Wright (Zampogna kick), 5:41. Drive: 12 plays, 53 yards, 4:47. Key play: James 8 pass plus 7 personal foul penalty on 3rd-and-4 to VT 6. Virginia Tech 20, Miami 14.
VT—Ore 7 run (Dunlevy kick), 3:01. Drive: Seven plays, 68 yards, 2:40. Key play: Smith 20 pass from Glennon to UM 48. Virginia Tech 27, Miami 14.
VT—FG Dunlevy 37, :28. Drive: Four plays, 1 yard, 1:31. Key play: Harris 44 interception return to UM 20. Virginia Tech 30, Miami 14.
FOURTH QUARTER
VT—Weatherford 1 run (Dunlevy kick), 11:33. Drive: Five plays, 65 yards, 1:55. Key play: Hyman 41 pass from Glennon to UM 1. Virginia Tech 37, Miami 14.
VT—Cheeseman 2 run (Dunlevy kick), 5:48. Drive: Three plays, 9 yards, 1:21. Key play: Flowers fumble recovery at UM 9. Virginia Tech 44, Miami 14.
SOLO/ASSISTS/SACKS
Miami, McCarthy 3-6-0, Sharpton 3-6-0, Cooper 6-2-0, Phillips 3-4-0, Franklin 2-3-1, Gooden 1-4-0, Moncur 2-2-1.5, McCray 1-3-1, Johnson 1-3-0, Joseph 1-3-.5, Van Dyke 3-0-0, Ponder 1-2-0, Abdallah 2-0-0, Hill 1-1-0, Berry 1-1-0, Sharpe 1-1-0, Campbell 0-2-0, Abramson 1-0-0, Rutledge 1-0-0, Dixon 0-1-0, Gordon 0-1-0, Wesley 0-1-0, Grant 0-1-0, Zellner 0-1-0, Totals 34-48-4.
Virginia Tech, Hall 1-12-0, C. Martin 3-8-1.5, Adibi 3-7-0, Ellis 3-3-1, Flowers 5-0-0, Porch 3-1-0, Powell 1-3-0, Chancellor 1-3-0, Booker 2-1-1, Virgil 2-1-1, O. Martin 1-2-0, Reidy 1-2-0, Parker 0-3-0, Grimm 1-1-0, Br. Warren 1-1-0, Morgan 0-2-0, Brown 1-0-0, Harris 1-0-0, Boone 1-0-0, Taylor 0-1-0, Pickle 0-1-0, Worilds 0-1-.5, Carmichael 0-1-0, Dunlevy 0-1-0, Luckett 0-1-0, Totals 31-56-5.
PREGAME: Sean Glennon is listed as the No. 1 quarterback on the game-day depth charts provided to the media today. That doesn't necessarily mean he'll start, though. So why did I just provide this nugget of information? Because I have utterly nothing to say. Until this game actually kicks off, I can't try to sell you that you should be psyched for it. We're all just kind of killing time until next Saturday, aren't we?
You never know, though. Maybe we'll see a classic. The oddsmakers doubt it, as the line as ticked up to Hokies by 16.5 with the over-under set at 42. Kinda like the under here. You figure both teams will want to establish a ground game today -- the Hokies because they want to have that tuned up for next week; the Hurricanes because their passing game is dreadful and Kyle Wright is still hobbled. A lot of tailbacks running means a lot of clock running, and presumably fewer quick-strike scores and turnovers.
(I reserve the right to delete the preceding paragraph if the score is 24-20 after the first quarter. The deletion would be for entertainment purposes only, of course).
Had an interesting discussion with a couple of colleagues at the office yesterday. Can you imagine if the Hokies had held that 10-point lead against BC and were still sitting there with one loss? The way this season has gone, they'd still be in the hunt. You've got to assume the Big 12 champion will get the second BCS slot if LSU wins out, but stranger things have happened. Unfortunately for Tech, a stranger thing did happen that night, and that's why we don't have to worry about it.
-- Aaron McFarling
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