What's that LOLgan Thomas? I can't hear you. Oh well, I'm too distracted by the fact that we're in first place in the division and you're not, to really care what you say anyway. Good luck against the Noles next week. BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
UM needed this win badly. It was ugly but I'm not even worried about it. Virginia Tech sucks, and it doesn't diminish my joy that we beat these slack-jawed hayseeds one bit. We won without probably our 2 best defensive players (Bush & Perryman) for the entire second half. Oh and in that second half, we shut them out, beating them 30-12.
We beat Virginia Tech by winning the turnover battle and by being better on special teams, which is what they're known for. Also, we haven't won a game since the month of September, excuse me if I'm not critical of this team after the game. These are so much more fun to post when we're winning.
This is pretty much me right now:
Highlights:
[video=youtube;wYXMTPm_57M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYXMTPm_57M[/video]
and
Here
Here's what I said were the keys to victory in the gameday post:
1.
Duke Johnson had 100 yards rushing and a score, while Mike James tacked on an additional 50. It was good to see Duke back in form.
2.
Crawford barely played, and the only impactful play he had was when he went under center to run the wildcat in the redzone. It was a different look and he was able to rifle a pass into the endzone, but Dye couldn't hall it in.
3.
Nothing good about having a completion percentage under 50%. He was 13/28 for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. There were moments in the 3rd and 4th quarters where it was downright embarrassing. It wasn't until about 8 or 9 minutes left in the game that he was able to hit Rashawn Scott on a 3rd down pass. The offense got out of their funk from that moment on.
4.
He was 19/37 for 199 yards with 1 fumble and two picks. He also had 124 yards rushing, including this 73 yard touchdown run:
[video=youtube;naZ4yWzLaDY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naZ4yWzLaDY[/video]
When you consider the fact that the defense shut them out in the second half, and forced him into 3 turnovers, it's a good job. Even better when compared to last year (albeit that's not a very high bar to leap over).
Lets Recap.
1st Quarter:
VT received to open the game. Before you could be embarrassed about the crowd, Thomas had the Hokies in the redzone. Miami finally forced a 4th and 1, but Olsen Pierre jumped offside to continue the Hokie's drive. It appeared it was going to be the same 'ol story with this defense, that was when Gunter stepped up and picked off one of Thomas' ****** passes.
UM couldn't do anything with it and quickly punted it back. The defense continues with some solid play by forcing VT to punt after a 3 and out. Gabe Terry blocks the punt, and Rayshawn Jenkins recovers inside the redzone.
BEAMER BALL!!!!!!!!
2 plays later Morris hits Hurns on a back shoulder fade. 7-0 UM.
The Hokies get a good return on the kickoff, and begin to march inside the 10. UM forced the Hokies into a field goal after Bush broke up a touchdown pass to Roberts. Bush hurt his shoulder on the play but he toughed it out for a while. 7-3 UM.
Duke returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards down to the VT 20.
MOAR BEAMER BALL!!!!!!!!
2 plays later Morris hits Mike James on a slip-screen to make it 14-3
2nd Quarter:
The Hokies and Canes trade punts, then UM's defense forces VT into a 3rd and short situation. The Hokies called a designed QB sneak and the entire middle of the field was completely empty. Thomas ran 73 yards untouched for the score. They missed the XP to make the score 14-9.
****.
If you look at the video above, Perryman slipped and aggravated his ankle. He didn't play the rest of the game. Gif that summed up that play:
On Miami's ensuing drive, Duke Johnson takes a handoff 64 yards on the first play.
The offense couldn't get out of their own way and settled for 3. 17-9 UM.
VT still can't do anything and punts back to Miami. Dorsett mistakenly fields the punt inside the 10 and is immediately tackled. Miami starts out inside their own 5. Morris hits Scott twice to get the team out to the 30 yard line. Then he hits Walford up the seam for a big gain into Hokie territory. Morris hits Walford on the next play on a drag route for another big gain. Waldord's two catches were his only of the game, but he led the team in receiving yards with 56. All of a suddenly, UM is in the redzone. UM had to settle for another field goal to make it 20-9.
Tech is driving again out to mid-field. Deon Bush makes a big hit on the running back, which draws a huge "ohhhhhh" from the crowd. It also drew a flag from the officials for leading with the helmet. Total bull****. Bush re-aggravated his shoulder injury from earlier and didn't return to the game. Now Bush and Perryman are done for the game. I don't know about you guys, but my butt-hole clenched shut.
VT keeps driving and is inside the 10 now with under 1 minute left. Then Thomas and the VT sideline completely botch the clock management going into the half and end up settling for a field goal. 20-12 at the half.
3rd Quarter:
The 3rd quarter might be the most inept display of offense by two teams I've ever seen. Both teams were trying to give the game away it seemed. Eventually the Hokies got a drive going and were running the ball on every play it seemed. On this drive VT went over 200 yards rushing as a team, making them the 8th straight team to do this against UM's defense this year (since Kansas St.).
This drive was pretty funny to me, because Eddie Johnson started talking **** to the two fat guys in charge of applying baby-powder to Beamer's herpes-ridden neck. They *****ed for a facemask call on one of his tackles and he told them to shut the **** up. A couple of plays later he made a hard tackle right in front of him and he started talking **** to them again. I laughed.
With how ineffective UM's offense was at this point, I felt like whatever happened on this drive was going to be the turning point of the game. UM forces a 3rd and 1 inside the 5 yardline, but Thomas fumbles the snap. Thomas jumps right into the pile and it looks like he's gonna get the ball. At this point Gionni Paul has the presence of mind to quickly yank Thomas out of the pile and UM ends up with the ball. UM went 3 & out and I wasn't even mad.
That was a huge mental letdown for VT and they never reached the redzone again the rest of the game. On VT's next drive they settled for a 47 yard field goal attempt, this time it sailed wide left.
MOAR BEAMER BALL!!!!!!!!
Miami goes 3 and out again before you know what's going on. UM had a total of 3 yards in the 3rd quarter. Still 20-12 UM.
4th Quarter:
Tech is driving into UM territory again and are faced with a 4th and 1. They run play action and VT's fullback sneaks out to the flat and is wide open. Thomas throws it 50 feet over his head. Lulz. The teams trade 3 & outs after that. VT's 3 & out possession was noteworthy for the fact that Tyriq McCord executes a beautiful Tazz-plex on Logan Thomas. I almost started chanting ECW in my living room.
UM needed to seal this game now, and finally put a drive together. They hadn't gotten a 1st down since Walford's catch on a drag route in the 2nd quarter. Morris finds a wide open Scott for a big gain, and after that Miami's offense got out of their funk. Mike James started running downhill for the first time all game and was punishing defenders when he lowered his shoulder. Fisch calls another Dorsett to Morris throwback that goes for a big gain. Duke Johnson punches it in later to make it 27-12 UM.
UM's defense started to pin their ears back now, and Olsen Pierre started living up to his 'Lucifer' nickname. He recorded a sack and deflected pass on back to back plays to force another punt.
Duke broke a big run off the left tackle and UM started bleeding the clock. Eventually Wieclaw tacked on his 3rd field goal of the game to make it 30-12. Virginia Tech futilely attempted to put together a drive out of pride, but Jimmy Gaines intercepted a tipped pass and UM ran out the clock. 30-12 was the final.
After a big win like this I didn't think anything could make this win better for me. Then I saw this on the twitter machine:
Run your mouth, play like ***, then refuse to speak to media afterwards?
