No. 7 Hurricanes rally, hold on in chaotic finish to beat Virginia Tech in ACC opener
As they waited out the uncertainty of the final play on Friday night, the Miami Hurricanes had a wave of emotions and thoughts running through their heads.
“Just pain,” quarterback Cam Ward said. “You ain’t got no control of the game.”
“Nervous, happy, excited,” tight end Elijah Arroyo said. “It was a crazy feeling.”
“I was praying,” added wide receiver Xavier Restrepo.
And defensive lineman Malik Bryant: “Emotions were definitely high. We just always want the outcome that we wish for.”
Mario Cristobal’s only thought?
“I saw an incomplete pass,” the Hurricanes’ coach said.
Eventually, finally, mercifully, the referees saw the same thing.
Kyron Drones’ Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the game — originally ruled a 30-yard, go-ahead, walk-off touchdown to Da’Quan Felton — was ruled incomplete.
After pandemonium on the field as the referees figured out what actually happened, with both sides at one point or another over the five-ish minutes believing they had won, the No. 7 Hurricanes left Hard Rock Stadium with a 38-34 win over Virginia Tech to begin Atlantic Coast Conference play.
“A tremendous game,” Cristobal said, “and one that we overcame a lot of stuff, a lot of self-inflicted issues, to find a way to pull it out.”
The Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0 ACC) overcame a pair of 10-point, second-half deficits before the madness of the final play to hold off Virginia Tech (2-3, 0-1 ACC).
Ward led touchdown drives of 89, 70 and 57 yards in the second half, with the final of those drives being arguably the most impressive.
It included a fourth-down pass from Ward to Xavier Restrepo, who slipped but still made the catch while lying on his back. It included Ward evading a pair of potential sacks before heaving a chest pass to tight end Riley Williams, who broke a pair of tackles for a 26-yard gain. And, finally, it included a 1-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Horton to give Miami the lead with 1:57 left to play.
“He is that man,” Arroyo, who had two catches for 88 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, said of Ward. “Like, there’s nobody else I would have seen that would have made that play. It’s just crazy to watch up close.”
Ward finished the game completing 24 of 38 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns while running for a fifth. He has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in all five games of his UM career.
The other two Miami touchdown drives in the second half ended with a 17-yard Ward touchdown run and a 6-yard pass to tight end Cam McCormick.
“Look, that guy, you saw all the stuff went through and the times he was hit,” Cristobal said. “He had some sacks, had [two interceptions] and what did the guy do? He just kept going and going and going. He’s unfazed. I’m proud of him for being a tough-ass and finding a way to win.”
Now, let’s make something clear: The Hurricanes were far from their best on Friday night.
Early on, they were inconsistent on offense, sloppy on defense and failed to get enough consistent momentum.
Ward turned the ball over three times — throwing a pair of interceptions and fumbling the ball — which led to 14 of Virginia Tech’s points.
Miami trailed 24-17 at halftime, 27-17 early in the third quarter and 34-24 with 12:05 left to play.
“We all leaned on each other,” Bryant said. “We just knew what we needed to get done.”
And when it mattered the most, they did enough to keep their season perfect.
And there were plenty of moments that will fly under the radar that helped Miami get to the point where that chaotic final play mattered.
There was Andres Borregales’ career-long 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half to have Miami go into the locker room down by just one score.
There was Bryant’s ability to sniff out Virginia Tech’s fake field goal attempt late in the third quarter following Ward’s second interception.
There was Ward evading pressure and extending plays like he has so many times already this season.
There was the defense forcing a three and out in between the offense’s final two touchdown drives.
And eventually, finally, mercifully, they got a win.
“We just found a way,” Cristobal said.
This story was originally published September 27, 2024 at 11:31 PM.
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