Miami Hurricanes survive Virginia Tech scare to open ACC play

Miami, Florida – The seventh-ranked Miami Hurricanes squeaked by the Virginia Tech Hokies 38-34 in a highly contested game decided on a call by the referees. With three seconds remaining Kyron Drones flung it from the Miami 30 into the crowded endzone where Da’Quan Felton seemingly came down with the catch and the final play ruled a touchdown. Chaos ensued as both teams rushed onto the field. Officials bade the two programs to return to the sidelines while they sorted it out. After several minutes of review, the call was reversed stunning the Hokies. Tyler Rowe had broken up the play making sure Felton did not have control of the ball resulting in an incomplete pass.

HAIL MARY NO GOOD 😳

No. 7 Miami outlasted Virginia Tech after the Hokies' final play was ruled incomplete. pic.twitter.com/Xrpl2UFod9

— ESPN (@espn) September 28, 2024

The Cardiac Canes spent most of the night playing from behind. Despite overcoming a bad start the Hurricanes threw away their 14-7 momentum in the second quarter. Miami turned the ball over inside the red zone when Mose Phillips III picked off Ward’s attempt to Xavier Restrepo ultimately opening the door for the Hokies to tie the game. Before the play, Markel Bell was called for a holding penalty setting off the 14-point swing.

Bhayshul Tuten : 19 carries for a season-high 141 yards & a TD; 4 catches for 7 yards (4th straight 100-yard game) pic.twitter.com/xQN4WocGUK

— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) September 28, 2024

On the next possession, Bhayshul Tuten slipped past Francisco Mauigoa’s tackle for the 55-yard rushing touchdown tying it. The Gobblers eventually took the lead on a toss that turned into a reverse pulling off the 20-yard rushing score courtesy of Jayline Lane. After the six-yard TD pass to Cam McCormick Miami got the ball back with 07:47 remaining trailing 34-31. Restrepo made a clutch catch on his back keeping the drive alive on fourth and three. Ward then broke two tackles dumping it to Riley Williams who stiff-armed his way to a 26-yard gain culminating in a one-yard TD pass to Isaiah Horton for the eventual game-winner.

Takeaways

Miami got a big wake-up call

Their performance was sloppy. The turnovers, the missed tackles, and the failure to stop the run all contributed to an ugly win that was ultimately left in the hands of the referees. The offensive line was no longer iron-clad. They were periodically overwhelmed by an aggressive Hokies unit that recorded 13 sacks heading into the week. In addition, the second quarter was Miami’s worst this season producing just 29 yards of offense including one on the ground. Bhayshul Tuten, meanwhile, was already close to the centennial mark by halftime. Tuten finished the night with 141 yards and the touchdown Kiko could’ve stopped. This was also UM’s first game where they did not control the scoreboard. Miami committed three turnovers all of them by Ward. You could see the trouble from the get-go.

Virginia Tech picks off Cam Ward and goes on to tie the game 👀

14-14 on ESPN 🍿 pic.twitter.com/H3ZeCqd3Il

— ESPN (@espn) September 28, 2024

The Canes’ initial drive was abruptly cut short when Ward fumbled on the sack giving Virginia Tech excellent field position on Miami’s 31-yard-line. The Hokies converted on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Benji Gosnell in a busted play. The Hurricanes temporarily recovered. Ward hit Elijah Arroyo for a 45-yard pass followed by a 18-yard touchdown reception to Jacolby George. The offense would find itself back on the field sooner than anticipated. Miami jumped on the opportunity generated by the Mishael Powell interception by calling a play fake as Ward sailed it to a wide-open Arroyo for the 43-yard touchdown. Although he wouldn’t record a third catch for the duration of the contest Arroyo generated 88 yards.

Cam Ward to Elijah Arroyo for the wide-open touchdown off play action.
pic.twitter.com/1cCXSTT6ia

— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) September 28, 2024

Once again the running backs got involved in the second half which they should have done earlier. In fact, for a brief time, Ward was the top rusher. Damien Martinez was the only productive tailback generating 60 yards on the ground. The Hurricanes are now 3-6 at home versus the ACC in the Cristobal Era.

Cam Ward struggled

There’s a lot to learn from this. On the one hand, the Heisman hopeful completed 24 of 38 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns with another on the ground. On the other, he threw two picks and fumbled the football raising the question if he’s still the frontrunner. I saw a quarterback that tried to do too much at certain points. Ward stared down his receivers for far too long sometimes missing wide-open guys. There were several unnecessarily risky passes with some overthrows sprinkled in.

Holy cow! What a catch by X!🤯#GoCanespic.twitter.com/aLIaVdQDp0

— Gabriel Garcia (@Gabewritesports) September 28, 2024

I also saw a leader brimming with resiliency. If Ward was ever rattled he certainly didn’t show it. He didn’t quit and neither did the team. The Hurricanes kept on fighting scoring touchdowns on their last three possessions. They were 10-for-16 on third down, one of one on fourth thanks to X’s heroics, and were four-for-five in the red zone. Restrepo finished with five catches for 60 yards.  George caught four for 59 yards and a TD while Horton made three catches for 34 yards and a score.

Can't keep Cam Ward down 🤯

📺: ESPN#GoCanes https://t.co/ydpPSpvc0P pic.twitter.com/Lf0Hxqt1mG

— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) September 28, 2024

Officiating was terrible

Even though the refs made the right call in the end their overall performance sucked. The holding penalty on Bell was controversial and don’t forget the pass interference to end the third quarter. Folks were saying that the officials bailed out Miami when they were hamstringing them during key points. This is nothing new. We all recall the painful Georgia Tech game. Regardless, the calls are no excuse for the hole UM dig themselves in. The last time VT won on the road versus a Top-10 opponent was back in 2018 at Ohio State and they nearly succeeded thanks in part to the officiating.

After further review …
CANES WIN!!! 🙌 #ItsAllAboutTheU // #GoCanes pic.twitter.com/hD80ctLQe9

— Lemon City Live (@LemonCityLive) September 28, 2024