Senior Quarterback Tyrod Taylor doing a victory dance after running a touchdown.
MIAMI — No. 16 Virginia Tech topped No. 24 Miami Saturday, securing a trip to the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 4 by clinching the Coastal Division.
The 31-17 win at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., gave the Hokies their ninth consecutive win.
“I’m really proud of our football team,” said Frank Beamer, head coach. “Early in the game a couple of our guys go down and we left a couple of other fast guys back in Blacksburg and we’re still able to make plays against a good (Miami) team. They’re hard to block and broke a couple of runs on us. To come down here and win after things didn’t look great makes this seem like a special group. They work close and hard and support each other. It’s really a neat feeling to be the head coach of a crowd like this.”
Running back Ryan Williams ran for an 84-yard touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to give the Hokies a 24-17 lead and ultimately their first victory at Miami since the 2006 season.
Sophomore cornerback Jayron Hosley intercepted a pass from Miami quarterback freshman Stephen Morris for 32 yards on the following drive to set up an 18-yard touchdown run by senior quarteback Tyrod Taylor, which sealed the game for the visitors with six-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Another Tech interception by senior rover Davon Morgan on the subsequent effort by the Miami offense sent most of the fans in attendance not dressed in maroon and orange heading for the exits.
The game was a virtual gridiron chess match for the first three quarters, with each team’s scoring effort being matched with one of equal amount by the opponent until the Hokies scored consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The Hokies final drive of the first quarter saw Taylor knocked out momentarily on a strong hit by a Miami lineman. With Taylor sidelined for one play, backup quarterback Logan Thomas entered and was able to convert on 3rd and 16 with a 24-yard pass to wide receiver Danny Coale, The conversion led to a 14-yard touchdown run by Williams moments later to tie the game, 7-7.
A version of this article appeared in the Nov 20 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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