Miami seeking first win (and lead) in five weeks, traveling to sold-out Virginia Tech
The University of Miami already proved it could handle one of the toughest, largest and loudest college football environments in the nation when it traveled to College Station to face 107,245 fans at then-No. 24 Texas A&M.
The next step is to win in one.
The Hurricanes will have that chance in their second road game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday (Bally Sports Sun) in Blacksburg, Virginia, where they will take on the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Both teams are in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division and both come into the game with three-game losing streaks.
It will be the first time, in this, their 40th meeting, that the Canes and Hokies enter the game with losing records, per David Teele of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Richmond.com. Miami (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-2) are both trying to stay in the league race and regain relevancy in the college football world.
Miami has not held a lead since their last victory Sept. 10 against Southern Miss.
“Beat Virginia Tech this week, that’s the only goal we’ve got right now,’’ UM middle linebacker Corey Flagg said. “That’s the same goal we had last week — just going 1-0. I don’t know who we play next week. I’m just worried about Virginia Tech. That’s all I’ve got time for right now.’’
Coach Mario Cristobal spoke about Lane Stadium, capacity 65,632, usually packed when Miami comes to town and known as one of the toughest places to play. Saturday’s game is homecoming for the Hokies, with an announced sellout crowd.
“Anytime you’re in an environment like this you practice with noise, and even sometimes when you’re not playing in an environment like this,’’ Cristobal said, “so it’s second nature by the time you get to it. They’ve got a great atmosphere, a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. They play great at home.
“Their defense causes a lot of issues and turnovers, their special teams sets them up with great field position and their offense is coming off one of their best games. Great opportunity, great environment. I think maybe 20 percent of this organization has actually been to Blacksburg and understands the magnitude of their environment and how awesome it is. And the rest have been informed, so they understand the way we prepare always relates to the opponent and the environment.
“So far it’s been a great week of practice.”
In that first road trip to Kyle Field, known as “Home of the 12th man,’’ the noise was nearly deafening but the Hurricanes were flagged for only one procedure penalty, a false start in their opening drive.
Miami has won the past two meetings with Virginia Tech, last year’s a 38-26 UM victory in UM’s final home game of 2021. In 2020 during the pandemic, the Canes beat the Hokies 25-24 at Lane Stadium, with the crowd limited to 1,000.
Virginia Tech struggles
The Hokies, led by first-year coach Brent Pry, started the season with a loss at Old Dominion, followed by home victories against Boston College and Wofford, a home loss against West Virginia and two road losses to North Carolina and Pittsburgh. UM lost 27-24 last week at home to UNC. The Hokies fell the week before to UNC 41-10.
The Hokies’ offense is ranked 111th nationally (332.7 yards a game) among 131 FBS teams, with Miami’s defense 59th (allowing 364.8). Virginia Tech is 112th in red-zone defense, where Miami struggles on the other side with the No. 73 red zone offense. The Canes have entered opponents’ red zones 28 times, with 17 touchdowns and six field goals. Miami has relinquished the ball in the red zone three times on downs.
Offensively, Miami is ranked 22nd (466.6), with the 15th best passing offense and 69th rushing offense. The Hokies are 37th in total defense (341.2).
Both Cristobal and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, whose pass defense has broken down numerous times the past couple games, spoke about the team’s slow starts, indicating at last against UNC the Canes came out tight, not relaxed.
Slow starts
“I wish it came bottled up and you pour it out there and you knew what you were going to get,” Cristobal said. “You work on everything. You want to make sure your team is mentally revved up, but not anxious. Anxiety is the killer of peak performance. We really do spend a lot of time on mental preparation, on the psychological side of it. We feel that in so many ways we have improved the resilience of our football team.
“Sometimes it’s formational. Every single time you play a team, there’s going to be a wrinkle, a new adjustment that may take a play, a series, hopefully not much longer. Sometimes it does take a quarter and a half to get adjusted and play at the level you’re capable of. We immediately get them to the sideline and settle them down...Don’t let the mind drift, social media ain’t part of this. This is football. What you do on the field is going to make the difference.’’
Flagg was asked to UM’s secret to success in handling the environment in its first road game.
“Honestly, there is no secret,’’ he said. “If you practice well you’ll play well and we had a really good week at practice.”
Said safety James Williams: “This crowd is going to be a big factor in this game, and we got to understand that we can’t focus on what’s on the outside of us. We gotta focus on our sideline and [what is] across our chest [and] on our helmet. We gotta focus on what we gotta do to come out 1-0 this week.”
Defensive end Jahfari Harvey said a key in getting this win will be to “come out of the gate ready to play — start fast.”
“Nobody has got their head down,” Harvey assured. “Ain’t nothing you can do but grind. So that’s what we’re doing.’’
This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 1:15 PM.
