The Virginia Tech-Miami has delivered its fair share of instant classics over the years with tonight's matchup proving to be another one of those. This rivalry gained a new memorable moment at the end for Virginia Tech fans but that combined with a couple head-scratching coaching decisions will make this one a heartbreaking night to forget for Tech fans.
Virginia Tech lost to No. 7 Miami 38-34 after a Da'Quan Felton 30-yard hail mary touchdown as time expired was overturned following a six-to-seven minute review by the officials. The loss drops the Hokies to 2-3 including 0-1 in ACC play ahead of a trip to Stanford next Saturday while the Hurricanes improve to 5-0 including 1-0 in ACC play before they face California next week.
The moment that will define this game came at the very end when Da'Quan Felton caught Kyron Drones' heave for a 30-yard touchdown in a play that took 10 to 15 seconds for the refs to discuss and make a ruling. From there, the refs ended up taking a further review that lasted around six to seven minutes with the call on the field being Felton touchdown.
While a Miami player was ripping at the ball, there didn't appear to be enough evidence to overturn it from reviews I saw. However, the refs did somehow feel they had enough to overturn the call, sending the Hokies to defeat after a few minutes of elation on what was seemingly a Miami miracle for the Hokies.
Around 1:15am, the ACC released a statement on the game and the decision at the end of it as first reported by ESPN's Andrea Adelson. The statement follows below.
"During the review process of the last play of the Virginia Tech at Miami game, it was determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play."
I'll be honest, this doesn't make sense to me. It seems pretty clear to me that Felton has control of the ball as he's coming down and when he lands which should be enough for a touchdown. Nonetheless, officials clearly somehow thought otherwise though I don't know why they would to be frank.
Looking back though, there will likely be two other moments that will haunt Brent Pry and led to a six-point swing in essence.
Let's start near the end of the first half when Brent Pry called a timeout with 25 seconds to go ahead of a 57-yard field goal attempt for John Love that he would make. Pry could have either waited to call the timeout with about three seconds left to make it the last play of the half or forced a Mario Cristobal timeout. Instead, Tech gave Miami the ball back and then made an odd squib decision that Chris Johnson Jr returned to near midfield. Throw in a Dorian Strong PI and Miami had three points via a 56-yard field goal from Andres Borregales.
Then there was the fake field goal call where the Hokies could have put three points on the field from short range to go up 13. Instead of kicking or sending the offense out given how well they were doing, Tech pulled the fake field goal that never had a chance costing Tech three points when they didn't have to force something like that.
Some will say it's all execution but at some point, you have to take the points rather than endlessly gamble on a slot machine.
Those decision will likely haunt Brent Pry who now falls to 1-10 in one-score game on a night where a hail mary that should have stood almost bailed the fact that Pry was outcoached by Mario Cristobal in terms of in-game decision making.
There are still a lot of positives though for the Hokies including the fact that they scored 14 points on two first half turnovers. Tech did a great job for much of the night forcing turnovers and taking advantage of the opportunities given to them.
This was the best offensive performance of the season for the Hokies who had a season-high 34 points with six yards per play while only punting twice in this game. Tech did a great job of having good balance for much of the game while letting the run game go to work. They also prioritized getting out in space on the wide sides and away from the Miami strength in the trenches before attacking the middle in a weakened box.
Tech also did a great job keeping drives going with a 9-14 third down conversion rate. An average of 6.4 yards per carry is also something that the Hokies will certainly be very proud of.
The one frustration will be the final drive that seemed to take too long with the first four plays bleeding 1:21 off the clock before the Hokies used a timeout with 36 seconds left and were still not past midfield. That drive was too much dink and dunk while also lacking the up-tempo pressures that was also needed in that moment.
Tech's defense also can be very pleased with their performance against one of the best offenses in the country in Miami. After Cam Ward threw for 176 yards in the first quarter, the Hokies held him to 167 after that turning up the heat during the second quarter to seize control of this game till well into the fourth quarter.
In the end, the defense wore down though in the Miami heat as they struggled to get off the field with the Canes converting 10 of 16 third downs.
Bhayshul Tuten was once again spectacular for the Hokies with a Virginia Tech career high of 141 rushing and one touchdown on 19 carries plus four catches for seven yards. Tuten once again showed why he's one of the best running backs in the country and could end up being an All-American this season.
Kyron Drones' numbers weren't spectacular but he made plenty of winning plays going 19-33 for 189 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception plus 43 rushing yards. Drones made some big throws and runs in big moments including putting the hail mary right where it needed to be for Tech's biggest WR in Da'Quan Felton, a play execution that you couldn't draw up better.
Jaylin Lane had a strong night with four catches for 49 yards plus a 20-yard touchdown run on a perfectly executed reverse off a flip from Collin Schlee's jet sweep. Stephen Gosnell led Tech's receivers with four catches for 53 yards while Benji Gosnell had three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown, and Ayden Greene had three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Mose Phillips was one of Tech's brightest stars in this game with five tackles and a tremendous interception early on while Kaleb Spencer's return to Miami went well with three tackles, an interception, and a QB hurry. Mansoor Delane led the Hokies with seven tackles while Dorian Strong had three tackles and two pass breakups. Antwaun Powell-Ryland extended his lead in the national sack race with his seventh sack of the season being among his three tackles.
John Love had one of the best kicking performances in a long time with made field goals of 57 and 52 yards, becoming the first VT kicker with two 51+ yard field goals in a game since 1972.
There will be plenty of frustration on this night for Tech fans and rightly so given how bizarre of a decision this seemed to be especially given how this appeared to lack any sort of conclusive evidence to overturn the call. There also will be some frustration at Brent Pry and his questionable in-game decisions that made this game come down to a referee's decision in consultation with the ACC's replay center in Charlotte.
However, this was the first time we saw the Virginia Tech team that they thought we would see. And the reason why Tech was in position to win this game was not because Miami played poorly, but because the Hokies played up to their potential for the first time this season. That's a massive positive that the Hokies can take great encouragement from.
Now the next week will be the ultimate test for the Hokies. Stanford won't be there to console the Hokies if they aren't ready to play this game. The response will likely define the trajectory of the rest of this season whether they crumble and miss expectations or rally and make a surge at getting a potential rematch with Miami in the ACC Championship.
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