UM RALLIES PAST VA. TECH
With COVID-19 forcing many players to miss the game, D’Eriq King and the No. 9 Hurricanes rallied and hung on to beat Virginia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference game, keeping UM alive in the race for the ACC title.
Quarterback D’Eriq King hit Mark Pope for a 36-yard touchdown pass late to give the Hurricanes a 25-24 victory over Virginia Tech and keep their ACC Championship Game hopes alive.
Quarterback D’Eriq King and his No. 9 Miami Hurricanes pulled out another thriller Saturday.
And they did it in the age of COVID-19, with 13 Miami players unavailable for a game that came painfully close to not being played.
One week after an equally exhilarating come-from-behind win, the Hurricanes scored 12 unanswered points and took their first lead with 5:59 left on a 36yard touchdown pass from King to Mark Pope for the eventual 25-24 UM victory at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium.
“The resilience of this team week in and week out is special,” said a fired-up coach Manny Diaz. “Some of the things that we encountered this week and some of the things we had to overcome this week just to get here, just to play, and the attitude that our guys kept and the way they wanted to go play, I’m so proud of them.
“With all the adversity that they have to face, they find a way to make it.”
On Tech’s first play from scrimmage following UM’s goahead touchdown, sophomore cornerback Te’Cory Couch intercepted Hokies quarterback Hendon Hooker, but the Canes went three-and-out.
PHILLIPS LEADS DEFENSE
During the Hokies’ ensuing drive, defensive end Jaelan Phillips took part in his third sack to help UM eventually get the ball back. After calling their final timeout, the Hokies took over at their own 4-yard line with 1:45 left in the game. UM striker Gilbert Frierson’s sack on second
and-3 at the Hokies’ 40yard line was followed by a Hooker completion for first down and, after a spike, the Canes took a timeout.
Miami’s fiery defense, which held the Hokies scoreless the final six minutes of the third quarter and all of the fourth, only allowed Virginia Tech to get as far as its own 43. UM’s defense amassed six sacks and 11 tackles for loss and held the Hokies to a season-low 160 rushing yards.
“First of all, I’ve got to give all the credit to Hendon Hooker,” said Phillips, who led the Canes with 4 1/2 tackles for loss and eight tackles. “He’s a great quarterback. Virginia Tech is a very dynamic team. In the first half, we had a couple mistakes — I know I had a couple.”
But, Phillips said, UM persevered by “honing in, sticking to the game plan and just kind of taking a deep breath and relaxing and playing Canes football like we know how.” FOUR-GAME STREAK
The Hurricanes’ win marked their first fourgame winning streak since 2018, when a five-game streak was followed by four consecutive losses. The Canes (7-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have not had as good a start to a season since 2017, when they went 10-0 before ending with three consecutive losses.
That UM got the victory with 13 players out was extremely impressive. As is customary now during the coronavirus pandemic, the Hurricanes release an “unavailability” list every week about an hour before kickoff. The past three games, the list has grown from six to 11 to this week 13 out. Saturday’s absentees included offensive line starting guard Jakai Clark, former starting left tackle John Campbell Jr., starting defensive tackle Jared Harrison-Hunte and starting linebacker Zach McCloud, with other rotational defensive and offensive linemen out as well.
“It’s definitely hard when you don’t have any backups,” Phillips said. “I really only came out for a handful of snaps today, but you’ve got to step up when the opportunity is there.”
The Hokies, who were favored by two points, fell to 4-4 and 4-3.
KING SHINES AGAIN
Despite being sacked six times, King finished 24 of 38 for 255 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. Factoring in the sack yards, King rushed 18 times for 15 yards, including a 10-yard second-quarter touchdown.
Hooker was 19 of 29 for 202 yards passing with no touchdowns and the pick. He also ran for a 53-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
“With any great team, you’ve got to find ways to win,” said King. “Obviously, this week was really tough for us missing a lot of guys. … “[There] was no doubt in the locker room. Everybody had each other’s back. … The defense stepped up, really, really big. Receivers made plays when they had to. Running backs made plays when they had to.” And the severely deficient offensive line, King pointed out, “did just enough for us to win.”
UM receiver Dee Wiggins led all wideouts with eight catches for 106 yards, and top tailback Cam’Ron Harris (63 yards rushing on 14 carries) came through with a 6-yard touchdown run to cut Virginia Tech’s lead to 24-19 with 1:27 left in the third quarter.
Pope had four catches for 50 yards (1 yard more than Mike Harley’s 51 on six catches) and the winning score.
“It actually felt great putting the team on my back for a moment like that,” Pope said. “I just saw everybody blitzing, King looked at me, gave me a signal and made it happen.”
UM went into the locker room at halftime down 14-13 after kicker Jose Borregales, who had two field goals in the first half, hit a 40-yarder with four seconds left. His first, a 42-yarder, came with 37 seconds left in the opening quarter.
UP NEXT
With three games left in the regular season, the Canes are back home at Hard Rock next Saturday to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-5, 2-4) at 8 p.m. (ACC Network). Georgia Tech’s originally scheduled game with Pitt this weekend, however, was postponed after both teams reported COVID-19 issues. So everyone involved with next week’s game will be waiting and hoping for the best.
Because of the pandemic, this year’s ACC format, usually split into Coastal and Atlantic divisions, has one 15-team division and will take the two teams with the highest league winning percentage for the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 19. Now, the Hurricanes can only hope that they win out and undefeated No. 2 Notre Dame and one-loss No. 4 Clemson start losing. But even then the Canes would likely have to go through a tiebreaker scenario.
Said Diaz: “You have to learn how to win these types of games, and part of the way you do it is when you’re down 11, to not panic and just play the next play. You have to believe that something good is about to happen and play for each other.’’