Miami, Florida – It wasn’t pretty but the Miami Hurricanes rallied late, holding on to squeak by the Virginia Tech Hokies 25-24 Saturday afternoon. D’Eriq King led the way with a touchdown in the air and another on the ground, passing for 255 yards. Cam’Ron Harris, meanwhile, rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries nabbing his own TD in the waning minutes of the third quarter.
Run through 'em then @polo_man_cam 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/5xUUyvBQSJ
— Miami Hurricanes (@MiamiHurricanes) November 14, 2020
Virginia Tech gave the No. 9 ranked Hurricanes quite a challenge. The Hokies were trying to bounce back after a tough 38-35 loss to Liberty and nearly succeeded. Striking first, they kept the edge at the half. Hendon Hooker faked the handoff and ran 53 yards into the endzone for the early first-quarter score. Despite winning time of possession, the offense struggled a bit putting points on the board as King was sacked no less than six times. Miami didn’t lead until late in the game when Mark Pope Jr. scored on a 36-yard touchdown reception with just under six minutes to go.
Dee Wiggins had plenty of reasons to celebrate. Catching eight passes for 106 yards, it was his first career game reaching the centennial mark.
The defense kept the team competitive throughout the game, coming up with a timely interception by Te’Cory Couch right after Pope’s TD for the game’s lone turnover. Virginia Tech was unable to recover as UM scored 12 unanswered points for the win. Jaelan Phillips took charge recording 8 tackles including 2.5 sacks and 4.5 Tackles for Loss. The Canes collected six sacks of their own.
TC [tee-cee] 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯
1. Te'Cory Couch
2. Turnover Chain pic.twitter.com/IBxcLJ4T1v— Canes F😷😷tball (@CanesFootball) November 14, 2020
Plenty of room for improvement
The last time these two teams met, the Hokies held off a furious rally, defeating the Hurricanes 42-35 at Hard Rock Stadium. The win moves up Miami to 7-1 but it was hardly convincing. Ever since they took care of Pittsburgh, the Canes seem to be just barely escaping their opponents. The week prior they outlasted NC State in a shootout. After the Wolfpack blew a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter, Miami stormed back to win 44-41 on the strength of five touchdowns by King. Despite his heroics, it was a terrible game for the defense that broke down time and again before finally tightening up in the last three possessions. Their efforts resulted in two punts and then an INT to end the Wolfpack’s hopes.
The 19-14 win over Virginia wasn’t exactly something to write home about either.
As they say, a win is a win and with it, the Canes are still in the hunt for the ACC Championship game. They will now host Georgia Tech at the Hard Rock with just three games to go in the season.
That's how many dubs in a row, @NJS_ERA?! pic.twitter.com/j2RhRdx5QH
— Canes F😷😷tball (@CanesFootball) November 14, 2020
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