Despite stoppages and reviews, Hurricanes maintain composure in win over Hokies
Zechariah Poyser was all but certain that he had just sealed the Miami Hurricanes’ win on Saturday afternoon. He had scooped up a Virginia Tech fumble forced by teammate Akheem Mesidor and returned it 18 yards, giving UM the ball with just over two minutes left and a double-digit lead.
Then again, on a day when so many plays were reviewed, nearly nothing was certain.
“I mean, I was kind of nervous about it,” Poyser said, “but I knew what it was. Shout out to [Rueben] Bain and Mes for getting it done.”
The Hurricanes, No. 13 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, as a whole got it done with their 34-17 win over Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium. Miami (9-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast conference) never trailed and had control essentially from start to finish.
But like so many games throughout the ACC this season, Saturday in Blacksburg had its share of — shall we say, interesting — moments.
The highlights:
-Virginia Tech getting three chances at a fourth and 1 near midfield in the second quarter. Miami called a timeout before the first. The second, which Miami stopped and also had a pair of offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, was negated when the refs decided to review the third-down play that preceded it (which was upheld). The Hokies ultimately converted on the third try.
-A miraculous third-down play in the third quarter from Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones — one where he evaded a sack and heaved a completion down the sideline — that was for naught because a referee blew an inadvertent whistle. Instead, Miami got a sack the next play and forced a punt.
-A Virginia Tech fumble in the fourth quarter for a loss of 10 being overturned after Drones’ pass was ultimately ruled incomplete.
It even got to the point where on that last example the press box announcer had to clarify that it was going to be fourth and 21 “assuming that’s a fumble.”
(Spoiler alert: It was not a fumble after “further discussion,” setting up a fourth and 11 instead of the aforementioned fourth and 21).
And then, for good measure, they reviewed Poyser’s fumble recovery.
“Got to know those officials really well,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal quipped postgame.
To their credit, the Hurricanes handled their business well even if it wasn’t the cleanest game. Miami was called for nine penalties — including an unnecessary roughness on a kickoff return, two unsportsmanlike conducts (one of which forced Miami to settle for a field goal) and a facemask call (that might not have been a facemask) that negated a fourth-down stop — but minimized the damage overall by making big plays when it mattered.
The defense had nine tackles for loss, five sacks, four quarterback hurries and Poyser’s fumble recovery. Virginia Tech went just 3 for 12 on third down despite racking up 395 yards of offense (including 194 rushing yards).
The offense, meanwhile, scored on six of eight possessions, including each of its first five to build a 27-10 lead.
“It’s everybody involved,” Cristobal said. “We made a commitment before we left the locker room. There’s 70,000 people out there, but our energy is all that matters. Not a single person in those seats is going to make a play, and they’re not going to bring energy for us. Hope it gets you fired up to be able to play in front of just a great atmosphere ... but our guys know that we have gotten so much better. We’ve won a lot of games over the last two years, and we’re getting better. We still have to get better to accomplish things we want to accomplish. They know part of that is between the ears.”
Added Poyser, who finished with 10 tackles, one sack, a pass breakup and the fumble recovery: “Shout out to the coaches. They keep us calm. They keep us collected. We’ve got to control what we can at the end of the day. It’s all about us. We can’t control the call or the officials. We just control what we can and do us.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM.
.JPG)