Miami (FL) Hurricanes vs Virginia Tech Hokies Match Player Stats On Oct 20, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Oct 20, 2016

Virginia Tech toppled Miami 37-16 Thursday night to stay alive in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division race.

The Hurricanes' title hopes, on the other hand, sustained a serious blow.

Hokies quarterback Jerod Evans passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 98 yards and a score in front of home crowd of 63,507 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. Both of his touchdown passes went to tight end Bucky Hodges.

Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1 ACC) rolled up 523 total yards to end a two-game, head-to-head losing streak to Miami. The Hokies bounced back from an upset loss at Syracuse on Saturday by dispatching a Hurricanes team that has lost three straight games after starting the season 4-0.

Miami (4-3, 1-3) had no answer for the Hokies' swarming defense. Virginia Tech sacked Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya eight times and finished with 12 tackles for loss. Kaaya passed for 323 yards and two touchdowns.

Virginia Tech defensive tackle Woody Baron had 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss. Hokies kicker Joey Slye made field goals of 47, 38 and 27 yards.

Hokies tailback Travon McMillian rushed for 131 yards on 18 carries. Fullback Sam Rogers had two catches for 72 yards, and he also tossed a 13-yard scoring pass to running back Steven Peoples on a trick play in the third quarter.

Joey Slye Tech improved to 4-0 at Lane Stadium this season after going 5-8 at home in the previous two seasons combined.

Hodges' first touchdown catch gave the Hokies a 13-3 advantage in the second quarter, and Slye booted his third field goal, from 38 yards, to increase the lead to 13 with 1:28 left before halftime.

That left just enough time for the Hurricanes to drive for their only touchdown of the first half. Kaaya completed a 39-yard pass to Ahmmon Richards and then found Stacy Coley on a 15-yard, third-down strike.

Kaaya capped the scoring drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios with 19 seconds to go in the second quarter. The score was 16-9 after Michael Badgley missed the extra point.

Evans connected with Hodges on a 7-yard score early in the third quarter to increase the Hokies' lead to 23-9.

Kaaya's 35-yard touchdown throw to Christopher Herndon a few minutes later cut the deficit to 23-16, but Virginia Tech responded with Rogers' trick-play scoring pass to Peoples with 4:01 remaining in the third.

Evans put the finishing touches on the victory with a 34-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.