Virginia Tech Football: 5 Takeaways from the Hokies' Victory over Miami

Saturday night the Virginia Tech Hokies overcame a blown 14 point lead to beat the Miami Hurricanes 38-35 and complete one of the most memorable wins in school history while simultaneously staying competitive in the race for the ACC Championship.

The Virginia Tech offense shook off a disappointing three point output against Clemson the previous week and put up 38 points to go along with 482 yards of total offense. It was the Hokies' best offensive output of the season since the opener against Appalachian State.

The humiliating loss against Clemson exposed a lot of the Hokies' flaws to a national audience but after this exhilarating victory fans can now start to see what they can expect from this year's Hokie football squad moving forward. Here are five things to takeaway from an emotionally charged and unforgettable win:

Logan Thomas Is Capable of Being the Quarterback His Team Needs Him to Be

There were a lot of factors that led to Tech pulling off this victory but none shines brighter than quarterback Logan Thomas. Coming off a game that caused many to question his ability to lead the Hokies' offense, Thomas silenced the critics by putting in a near perfect performance.

Thomas ran or threw for all five of Tech's touchdowns, none more important than the 19 yard scamper with under a minute left that gave Tech the lead for good. However, the thing about Thomas' performance that stood out the most was his ability to throw the ball.

The Lynchburg native completed 23-25 passes for 310 yards and three TDs while throwing no interceptions and adding 28 yards on the ground. After his first two throws of the game hit open receivers lower than intended, Thomas found a rhythm and managed to frustrate the Hurricane defense all day. The only two incompletions he threw were a drop by David Wilson and a busted play where the shotgun snap hit the leg of center Andrew Miller.

On a day where Virginia Tech honored former Hokie QB great Bryan Randall, this No. 3 was as sharp as any quarterback has ever been in a Hokie uniform under Frank Beamer. Thomas' biggest miscue of the day came when he bobbled a shotgun snap in the red zone and cost the Hokies a chance to make it a three score game.

After looking so shaky against Clemson last Saturday, this performance comes as a huge relief to Hokie faithful. Thomas entered the season expected to fill the shoes of ACC Player of the Year Tyrod Taylor and this performance shows he is capable of doing just that. It would be unrealistic to expect this kind of a performance every week but if Logan Thomas can keep the kind of focus up he showed Saturday, the Hokie offense will be able to produce the yards and points needed to win a lot of football games.

Virginia Tech's Receiving Corps Is Dangerous and Dependable

Even down an explosive Dyrell Roberts, this group of receivers draws a lot of comparisons to the Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, Josh Hyman, Justin Harper receiving corps that frustrated ACC Defensive Coordinators four years ago. Even the greatest of quarterbacks can't complete 92 percent of passes unless their pass catchers are open and on Saturday that is exactly what happened.

Very rarely did Logan Thomas need to squeeze a ball into a tight window, and very often receivers were left almost alone. This is due partly to the fact that Miami's secondary is still recovering from suspensions but it seemed on every pass play that at least one maroon jersey would find itself covered by nothing but grass.

Danny Coale and Jarrett Boykin lead this year's group of talented wide outs and it showed Saturday as Coale recorded five catches for 91 yards and Boykin had seven receptions for 120 yards. Each had a long touchdown grab of 40 and 60 yards, respectively, and caught every pass thrown their way. Both seniors are excellent route runners and rarely drop passes.

Tight end Chris Drager added two receptions of his own including a spectacular falling catch on a corner route in the red zone. David Wilson recorded four catches of his own and scored on one right before halftime to push the Hokies' lead to 14. Marcus Davis and D.J. Coles, although sometimes prone to drops, are also explosive targets for Thomas.

As long as these receivers keep finding ways to get open and move the chains on third down, the Hokie offense will not be one-dimensional and fans should expect Tech to move the ball with some consistency.

The Offense Can Run a Two Minute Drill

This may have been the difference in the game as the Hokies scored a whole 14 points in the last minute of halves. Hokie fans know all too well that Tech's success has often been inhibited by late-half production (or lack thereof). Tech's entire offense showed great poise against Miami with the clock ticking down and although the clock management was slightly chaotic, the offense as a unit did a fantastic job of putting points on the board when it mattered most.

On Tech's final drive of the first half the coaching staff did a good job of taking advantage of the clock to mix in a few running plays to keep Al Golden's defense on its toes. However, poor use of timeouts forced Tech to put the ball in the air with ten seconds left. David Wilson cashed in his opportunity to score and the players successfully bailed out the coaches.

The final drive, of course, will be the one that is remembered around Blacksburg for a long time, and justly so. Logan Thomas wasted no time in moving the ball into Miami territory but after three straight read options the drive stalled. Whether it was Mike O'Cain or Bryan Stinespring that made the call to go with a fourth straight read option on fourth and one is unknown but it resulted in wide open grass for Logan Thomas.

Tech not only moved the ball well on both drives but looked really good doing it. Thomas completed all of his passes on both drives and the ball carriers all did a great job of conserving clock by getting out of bounds. If Tech wants to win their big games down the road they'll need to maintain this sort of efficiency in the two minute drill.

The Punting Woes May Be Solved

Through fall camp the punting battle mainly revolved around starting flanker Danny Coale and whether he could steal the starting punter position from Scott Demler. After Demler averaged a mere 33.1 yards per punt in the first five contests, Frank Beamer decided to let true freshman Michael Branthover have his turn.

Branthover's first punt was actually negated by a false start but was still good enough to draw applause from the crowd. On the ensuing play Branthover bombed a 52-yarder with plenty of hang time to earn a standing ovation from the Lane Stadium faithful.

Branthover's second punt took a bad bounce but had enough hang time to keep the ball out of the hands of the dangerous Travis Benjamin.

While punters are often under-appreciated in college football, Virginia Tech is going to need consistent output from Branthover to win field position battles, especially if the defense continues to be sporadic against the run.

Bud Foster's Front Seven Is Hurting (Literally)

Missing half of a defensive line can be disastrous. Missing a whole defensive line except for the youngest starter is downright brutal. That's what Bud Foster was faced with when starting defensive end James Gayle went down with an injury in the first half. With Antoine Hopkins and Kwamaine Battle already out for the year, this was an injury Tech could ill afford. Making matters worse, starting whip linebacker Jeron Gouveia-Winslow also left early with an injury and forced Tech to go small up front.

The lack of size showed in the second half as Miami's backs ran all over the Hokie defense. Miami finished the game with a whopping 236 yards rushing, most of which came after halftime. Jayron Hosley and Eddie Whitley both whiffed on potential interceptions, but the lack of size and depth up front really plagued the Hokie defense.

Bud Foster was forced to play Tyrel Wilson (219 lbs.) at end and Alonzo Tweedy (189 lbs.) at whip for over three quarters thanks to the injuries to Gayle and Gouveia-Winslow. At one point Tech was even forced to play Courtney Prince, who was listed as an offensive guard on the depth chart last week, at defensive tackle. Tech likely won't face another offensive line all over 300 pounds like Miami's but the front seven needs to get healthy and have young players such as Corey Marshall step up or the offense will be forced to continue winning games for the maroon and orange.