Miami Hurricanes Opponent: Virginia Tech Is a Strange Team
The Miami Hurricanes will head into Blacksburg on Thursday night to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in a match up that has huge implications in the hunt for the ACC Coastal title. Virginia Tech and Miami have identical records heading into this game, 4-3 overall and 1-2 in ACC play. The Hokies have had an extremely strange season and are hard to get a read on. They definitely appear to be one of the weaker VT teams in recent years, but have pulled out some decent wins. The Hokies have been very inconsistent as a team this year. They have beat some teams that they were expected to lose to, like Ohio State, and have lost to some teams that they were expected to beat, like Pittsburgh. These inconsistent outcomes can mostly be placed on the Hokies’ offense.
The offense has been a problem for Virginia Tech as they rank 83rd in yards per game and 79th in points per game. New Starting QB Michael Brewer has been very shaky so far and has struggled mightily with turnovers. Brewer has both 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on the year. Oddly enough, the Hokies are 1-3 in games where they pass for over 200 yards and 3-0 in games where they have less than 200 yards passing. Virginia Tech is averaging about 80 less passing yards per game in their wins than in their losses.
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As scary as it is to hear this, Miami will have to stop the run if they want to stop VT. Unlike the passing statistics that are very different from the norms of college football, VT’s rushing statistics are very straight forward. If you allow the Hokies to control the clock and run the ball successfully, they will beat you. VT is 4-0 when rushing for over 125 yards. Tech is averaging 47 carries and 207 yards per game in their wins, compared to just 29 carries for 81 yards in their losses. The Hokies are a one sided offense that is calling plays as if it is a well balanced team. That is a big part of what has lead to their inconsistent showings. VT’s running backs are banged up heading into this weeks’ game against Miami and if Virginia Tech starts trying to throw the ball around a lot, that should be good news for the Canes.
The Hokies defense is very stout and ranks just inside the top 20 in both total defense and scoring defense. The key to Virginia Tech’s offense is the run game and the key to Virginia Tech’s defense is stopping the run. Tech is giving up just 82 rushing yards per game in wins compared to nearly 180 rushing yards per game in losses. Teams are 3-1 when they rush for over 3 yards per carry against VT and 0-3 when they fall short of that 3 yards per carry mark. The Canes will have to use their combo of Duke and Yearby to gash the Hokies defense to win.
Simply put, Virginia Tech is a team that Miami should beat. If the Canes can get over the hump of playing on the road, they are clearly a more talented team than Virginia Tech. Miami’s offensive line will be key against a very aggressive VT defense and Coach Coley will have to use a variety of screen plays to slow up the Hokies’ front seven. On defense, the task sounds simple enough: just slow up Virginia Tech’s battered and bruised running game. If the Canes come out and play like they did against Duke, they should leave Blacksburg with a win and a better shot at the coastal, but you never know when this strangely mediocre Virginia Tech team will play a great game.