Virginia Tech Rains on Miami's Parade

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Late in the second quarter Saturday at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium, Miami quarterback Jacory Harris threw a quick strike over the middle just as official's yellow flag darted through the air toward one of Harris' blockers. Harris put his hands on his hips. His chest heaved with a deep breath. His head rocked back.

Harris was having one of those Murphy's Law moments, and for good reason.

He'd already fumbled, which Virginia Tech turned into a touchdown in little time. A teammate on defense, Chavez Grant, lost his footing on the slip 'n' slide disguised as a football field and got beat on a 48-yard touchdown catch by Hokies receiver Jarrett Boykin. Now a holding call was about to derail some desperately needed momentum for Harris and his Hurricanes as they stared at a 21-0 deficit.

"Things like that happen," Harris said after what turned into a 31-7 beat down by the Hokies. "Now I hope a lot of people ... leave us alone again."

Until further notice, we will.

After all, we the media came over hill and dale -- and muddy trail -- to the mountains of Southern Virginia on Saturday to praise the Hurricanes, not to watch Virginia Tech bury them. We'd just anointed Harris a hot new Heisman candidate. We regaled in Hurricanes lore and wrote of how this bunch -- coached by one of the old 'Canes, Randy Shannon -- looked to be ready to recapture the school's old glory.

But the Hokies forced The U to take a u-turn on the road back to prominence. They turned the Hurricanes into little more than another story du jour so early this season. They reminded that there may be nothing more useless in this country than preseason polls, or early ones. (If there is one thing the BCS does right, and all it does right, it is that it waits until there is more than circumstantial evidence before releasing its rankings.)

The Hokies' thorough dismantling of Miami, bad weather or not, underscored that it is still September, and the college football season is still in an embryonic state with the contenders for its crown not yet fully developed.

Cal didn't prove to be a No. 6 team against once highly thought of Oregon on Saturday, losing 42-3. Ole Miss didn't turn out to be a No. 4 team on Thursday against South Carolina. USC got exposed as something less than a national title game contender last weekend against Washington.

Saturday came the disrobing of the Hurricanes. Their defense was run over roughshod by the Hokies, their high-flying air attack was grounded and their running game was stifled. And that was all shut down by a defense based in Blacksburg that had been run on every week and coughed up big play after big play.

We should've known not to cast such a young Hurricanes club in such bright light even though it beat a ranked Florida State team (which lost Saturday to South Florida and nearly lost two weekends ago to Jacksonville State, sandwiched around a predictably unpredictable rout of BYU) and ranked Georgia Tech team to start the season 2-0. We should've known better than to mention Harris and Heisman in the same sentence. He did start two games last season as a freshman, but the imperative word there is two.

There was no question that weather played a part in Virginia Tech's dominating performance against Miami. The Hokies handled the inclement conditions much better and appeared to be better equipped to do so.

With the ball slippery and more difficult to handle, the Hokies employed a lower-risk running game that churned up nearly 300 yards and kept them out of a lot of third-down and long situations. It also meant their quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, once compared to the Vick brothers who quarterbacked here, didn't have to chance throwing. He didn't, either. He attempted just nine passes and completed four. He ran for 75 yards and passed Michael Vick for third on the rushing list for Hokies quarterbacks.

Harris, on the other hand, never abandoned what brought him and his Hurricanes so much love early this season and didn't have much option with his running backs. He dropped back to throw early and often and finished with just nine completions out of 25 attempts. He was trying to throw a screen pass when he fumbled. He got picked off once later on and should have been intercepted at least two other times.



"I couldn't put nothing on it," said Harris, who looked most of the afternoon as if he was lofting the football. "We couldn't go deep when we wanted to.

"Virginia Tech has an awesome defense."

The Hokies even exercised a little Beamerball, as their coach Frank Beamer's go-get'em style of football is called. Keeping the Hurricanes pinned deep in their own corner on one possession, the Hokies unleashed a furious rush and blocked a punt and turned it into seven more points.

"We talked about what this program has been about," Beamer said of his pep talk going into Saturday's game. "We have been able to win 10 games the past two years, and we have a lot of pride in this program. It is a fact you didn't hear a lot about Virginia Tech this week, you heard a lot about Miami this week and rightfully so. But I am proud of our guys."

The Hokies have bounced back from a season-opening loss to now third-ranked and still undefeated Alabama. Taylor's last minute heroics saved them last weekend against No. 19 Nebraska. Now they've extinguished the hottest story of September.

Spotlight, Hokies. Just be forewarned.