Miami Football: Grading the Hurricanes' Loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hurricanes almost stole a game from the 21st-ranked Hokies on Saturday, as it came down to a Virginia Tech fourth-down conversion with just 56 seconds left to play.

Once again the Hurricanes played a horrible first half as Virginia Tech built a 21-7 halftime lead.

The Hurricane offense played a stellar game, racking up 519 total yards against one of the best scoring defenses in the country.

The only problems were Miami kept hurting itself with penalties (nine for 84 yards) and mustered a terrible defensive effort.

Here is my report card for Miami's loss against Virginia Tech.

Quarterbacks: A

Jacory Harris had his best game of the year, throwing for 267 yards and three touchdowns—with no interceptions for the second straight game.

Harris and the offense started off slow but came alive in the second half thanks to great decision-making by Harris.

His leadership shined on Saturday and if he continues to play the way he did against the Hokies, he will give the Hurricanes a chance in every game, no matter how bad the defense is.

Running Backs: A+

I am convinced that Lamar Miller is one of the best running backs in the country—period.

Virginia Tech was giving up just 58 yards per game on the ground but was unable to stop Miller as he ran for 166 yards and a touchdown.

He now has five straight 100-yard rushing games and has had a run of 40 or more yards in every game this year, the only player in FBS to do so.

Miller is third in the country in rushing yards per game with over 135 yards per game.

Mike James also ran the ball well running for 65 yards on just 10 carries.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: A

Travis Benjamin only caught one ball all game, but it went for 77 yards and a touchdown as the Hurricanes receiver were impressive again.

I do not recall a dropped pass all game long and each of them continued to make outstanding catches throughout the night.

Allan Hurns and Tommy Streeter continued to play very well as each player scored a touchdown for Miami.

Freshman tight end Clive Walford had the most catches with four that went for 66 yards.

Offensive Line: B+

The offensive line has put together back to back good games as a unit and is even better when Seantrell Henderson gets in.

Henderson completely dominated in the third and fourth quarter as he looked like a man amongst boys tossing defenders all over the field.

The entire line was able to wear down Virginia Tech defense and provided huge holes for the Hurricane running backs.

The only reason I didn't give the Hurricanes a higher grade was because of the multiple penalties they had throughout the game.

Defensive Line: F-

I have been a Hurricanes fan since the early 80's and never have I seen a Miami defensive line as poor as this one.

I understand that Miami is missing a few players on the line, but they get no pressure on the quarterback and they are unable to stop any rushing attack that is put in front of them.

The Hokies were able to run for over 300 yards becoming the third straight team to gain over 200 yards on the ground against the Miami defense.

If they do not find a way to get the defensive line to improve, it is going to be a long year.

Linebackers: D

Sean Spence of course has played as good as anyone in the country at linebacker, but the rest of the Hurricane linebackers haven't been good.

I will give this grade the benefit of the doubt as many of them are freshmen and sophomore's but it still doesn't mean they aren't playing as good as they need to be.

With the loss of Ramon Buchanan for the year, Denzel Perryman, Jimmy Gaines, Kelvin Cain, and Jordan Futch must find a way to make plays.

Perryman has been the most impressive and looks to have a bright future for the Hurricanes.

All of them, including Spence, must learn to tackle better as so far this season has been the achilles heel for the Hurricanes.

Defensive Backs: D+

All of us knew that Miami was going to struggle at cornerback and they haven't done anything to prove us wrong.

Hokies quarterback Logan Thomas completed 23 of 25 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns against the defensive backs.

The cornerbacks are just too raw and it shows when the continue to get burned on simply go and fade routes.

Ray Ray Armstrong did get limited play time, but was virtually ineffective in his first game of the year.

The only reason I did not give Miami a lower grade was because I do put part of the blame on the lack of pressure from the defensive line.

Special Teams: B+

There wasn't much for the return game for the Hurricanes but they continue to perform very well on kick the kickoff teams limiting the Hokies 17 yards per kick off return.

Jake Wieclaw made all five of his extra points and never attempted a field goal.

Punter Dalton Botts averaged 41 yards per punt and even made a tackle on a Hokie punt return.

Coaches: B-

The coaching staff for the Hurricanes once again made significant changes at halftime and came out and played much better in the second half.

The problem is they keep starting games way too slow.

I am not sure if these kids aren't prepared or if the coaching staff doesn't understand what a fast start is.

I will blame it on both and the main reason I gave the coaching a B- instead of an A-.

Intangibles: B

The Hurricanes weren't suppose to beat the ranked Hokies on Saturday, but with the great play of Jacory Harris and Lamar Miller, they almost pulled off the upset.

Sure the Hurricanes are struggling on defense but with the injuries and suspension this is something that should be expected.

Miami was missing four players on defense in the Virginia Tech game and still almost won.

The offense is getting on track and if the coaches can improve the defense, Miami will be very hard to beat.