The Briefing: Hokies' heartbroken in controversial 38-34 loss to Miami
Coral Gables, Fla. — No matter your favorite movie, play, TV show, or novel, those glances into another life are scripted at the end of the day. It is moments like Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium where scripts can't be written. While it looked like David would strike down Goliath, in the end, No. 7 Miami prevailed.
"We didn't come down here just to play close," said head coach Brent Pry when discussing his team's risky play calling, which included a double end-around touchdown and a controversial fake field goal that was ultimately snuffed out.
The Hokies found themselves in a favorable position inside the Hurricanes’ red zone with just under six minutes to go in the third quarter, up by 10 and looking to push the lead to 17 when Harrison St. Germain was swarmed on a run that swung the momentum toward Miami.
While this will ultimately be one of the talking points of the night, it's important to detail why the Hokies were even in the position to extend a once unthinkable lead.
Tech came out of the blocks firing, and after an early Cameron Ward fumble, Kyron Drones found a wide-open Benji Gosnell, who strolled into the end zone with no one within a country mile of him.
Mario Cristobal's Miami side did not waver and capitalized with back-to-back touchdowns, which sandwiched a Drones interception.
When the game started to look like it would get out of hand midway through the first, the Hokies showed real backbone. Sophomore safety Mose Phillips III swooped in, just outside the Tech endzone and pried the ball intended for Xavier Restrepo out of the air before setting the Hokies up for an eventual Bhayshul Tuten 55-yard touchdown run.
The Maroon and Orange stood firm defensively on their next assignment of stopping Ward. After came the double end-around play, which resulted in Lane being escorted into the end zone, giving the Blacksburg side a well-deserved 21-14 lead.
A 57-yard John Love field goal took Tech’s lead to double digits before Miami kicker Andres Borregales sliced the deficit to seven heading into the break.
Following another Love kick and a Caleb Spencer interception, which put the Hokies in prime position, Virginia Tech committed the questionable fake field goal. Many will debate whether Love should have been sent out for another possession; Pry stated later that after practicing the fake field goal for weeks, the Hurricanes gave Tech a look that the Hokie staff felt comfortable taking.
With the score at 27-17 in favor of Virginia Tech, Miami dominated their next three drives, scoring three smooth touchdowns that highlighted Ward’s exceptional play. Even though Drones was forced to make a Heisman-level heave to Ayden Greene in the end zone to temporarily cease the Ducks' momentum, Cristobal's side eventually regained the lead with 1:57 to go.
This was it—it was make or break. Unlike in those books and shows we watch repeatedly, where you know who will come out on top, no one knew what was next amongst the bed of stars above. What lay on the table was a coach, Pry, who had a real chance to solidify a landmark win in Hokie football history, and it all rested on the shoulders of Houston, Texas, native Drones.
Jaylin Lane, Stephen Gosnell, Bhayshul Tuten, and Da'Quan Felton alleviated some of that world-weighing pressure on the second-year Hokie quarterback with catches that pushed the team to the Miami 30. However, it would always come down to a Hail Mary to cap off a spectacular night of this rivalry, which was brewing with tension and constantly amplifying the pressure on the Hokies to break the hearts of the highly touted Hurricanes.
With three seconds to play, Drones used his powerful arm to loft a ball into a scrum of players from both sides, each clawing at the pigskin, looking to stake their claim and end the night’s madness. At first, Miami picked themselves off the canvas with the ball in hand, parading it around the field with the floodlights flickering, signifying a fifth win on the string. Just before the eyes panned to the zebra-striped referees, who signaled that, amidst the madness, Hokie, Da'Quan Felton had secured the game-winning catch, marking a night to remember for Tech faithful for years to come.
"I ran over and said, 'How did you rule it?' He said touchdown." Stammered a beat-red Pry at his postgame news conference. Yet, the ACC crew then took what felt like years of agonizing minutes before you could hear a pin drop just seconds before they announced that Felton did not complete the catch, sending those at Hard Rock donning their signature U-shaped hand motion into a fury of happiness while the heads of the Hokies dropped, after once believing they had slain the giant.
