On Friday night, the seventh-ranked Miami Hurricanes (4-0) will play host to the Virginia Tech Hokies (2-2) in the ACC opener for both teams.
Miami began the week more than a two-touchdown favorite. The Hurricanes are led by quarterback Cam Ward, who tops the nation with 14 touchdown passes and ranks second with 359.8 passing yards per game.
Ward will get a chance on Friday to add to his statistics in a Miami offense that ranks fourth in the nation in points per game (52.2).
Largely due to Ward’s pocket awareness and elusiveness as well as his passing accuracy, Miami leads the nation in third-down-conversion percentage (64.3).
Miami has outscored its opponents by 168 points, a program record through four games.
“We’re excited about the progress we’ve made,” said Miami coach Mario Cristobal, whose team went 7-6 last year. “But we’re not content. We’re driven.”
Miami leads its series with Virginia Tech, 25-15, with the Hurricanes winning seven of the past nine games, including the last three in a row.
This year’s version of the Hokies has played a relatively soft schedule, including losses to Vanderbilt, which was predicted to finish last in the SEC, and Rutgers, picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten.
The Hokies have started slowly in all four games, including wins over Marshall and Old Dominion.
Hokies coach Brent Pry said he has changed the way his team practices, and he has tried to alter his team’s mindset.
“We’ll have to look at some more (changes),” Pry said.
Virginia Tech’s top threats include quarterback Kyron Drones, running back Bhayshul Tuten and wide receiver Jaylin Lane.
Drones, a 21-year-old from Texas, spent his first two years in college as a Baylor reserve. He became a starter last year for the Hokies.
This year, Drones is completing 59.8 percent of his passes, and he has four touchdown tosses and three interceptions. His TD percentage has dropped from last year, when he had 17, and his interception rate has increased, as he threw three picks all last season.
But Drones is dangerous on the ground. He ran for 818 yards and five touchdowns last season, and he has 209 yards and two scores this season.
Tuten led the Hokies last year with 863 rushing yards, a 5.0-yard average and 12 total touchdowns. This year, he has 391 rushing yards, a 5.8-yard average and eight total touchdowns.
Miami’s top concern will be stopping Drones and Tuten on the ground, but Hurricanes defensive backs will also attempt to blanket the 5-foot-10 Lane, who leads the Hokies with 17 receptions and 247 receiving yards (a 14.5 average).
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s defense has quite a challenge in facing Miami’s offense.
Ward is completing 72.4 percent of his passes, and the Hurricanes don’t mind throwing the ball early to set up the run late in the game.
In last week’s 50-15 win over host South Florida, for example, Miami didn’t break off a long run until true freshman Jordan Lyle’s 91-yard TD with 3:09 left in the game.
Miami’s starting running back, Damien Martinez, had three short TD runs last week. He has rushed for just 190 yards this season, but in his two previous seasons at Oregon State, he averaged more than 1,000 yards per season.
Xavier Restrepo leads Miami in receptions (20) and yards (362). Considered one of the top receivers in the ACC, Restrepo last season caught 85 passes for 1,092 yards and eight touchdowns.
In addition, Cristobal said it looks like two of his stars — left tackle Jalen Rivers and defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. — should return Friday after missing a couple of weeks due to injury.
They are needed, the coach said.
“We’re playing a great team this week,” Cristobal said of the Hokies. “All our focus is on them.” –Field Level Media
