NCAAF VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI FLA NOTE: RE-SENDING FINAL TO CORRECT YARDAGE ON GAME-WINNING TOUCHDOWN.
Extended BoxNCAAF 1 2 3 4 OT F - - - - -- -- Virginia Tech (21) 0 10 7 3 7 27 Miami Fla 7 6 0 7 0 20 FINAL
Miami Fla-S Moss 47 pass from Covington (Crosland kick) Virginia Tech-FG Graham 38 Miami Fla-Wayne 15 pass from Covington (kick failed) Virginia Tech-Hawkes 14 pass from Clark (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-Clark 13 run (Graham kick) Miami Fla-Wayne 84 pass from Covington (Crosland kick) Virginia Tech-FG Graham 19 Virginia Tech-Hall 24 pass from Clark (Graham kick)
Virginia Tech Miami Fla First downs 19 15 Rushed-yards 48-119 36-37 Passing yards 153 282 Sacked-yards lost 3-25 5-44 Return yards 26 9 Passes 14-26-1 13-28-1 Punts 8-32.9 5-39.0 Fumbles-lost 1-0 6-4 Penalties-yards 7-68 13-96 Time of possession 27:30 32:30
Individual Statistics RUSHING: Virginia Tech-Stith 16-63, Pegues 14-22, Clark 13-15, Hawkins 2-10, J Ferguson 2-6, Kibble 1-3. Miami Fla-James 17-96, Jackson 9-minus 2, Covington 10-minus 57.
PASSING: Virginia Tech-Clark 14-26-1-153. Miami Fla-Covington 13-28-1-282.
RECEIVING: Virginia Tech-Hall 4-47, Samuel 3-33, Hawkins 3-30, Stith 2-15, Carter 1-17, Harrison 1-11. Miami Fla-Wayne 6-153, S Moss 3-92, Jackson 3-23, King 1-14.
Att: 41,155
Game StoryMIAMI (Ticker) -- Al Clark's 24-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Hall on the first possession of overtime lifted 21st-ranked Virginia Tech to a dramatic 27-20 victory over Miami in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
Virginia Tech (3-0, 1-0 Big East) had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but Shayne Graham's 35-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining sailed wide right.
Miami (2-1, 0-1) won the overtime coin coss and gave the Hokies the ball. After Shyrone Stith was stopped for a one-yard gain on the first play, Clark lifted a floater into the right corner of the end zone and Hall outleaped cornerback Nick Ward to make the catch.
"I just knew that we had to come out and make a big play," said Hall, and I was hoping that we'd have enough stamina and poise on the line so we could block them off and we could put a win to the end of this game."
The Hurricanes then self-destructed on their possession. First they were whistled for illegal motion, their 13th penalty of the game. Quarterback Scott Covington was sacked on the next two plays, and after a short completion to Andre King, Covington's desperation pass was deflected away, sealing the Hokies' fourth straight victory over Miami. The Hurricanes won the first 12 meetings between the schools.
"Virginia Tech deserved to win," said Miami coach Butch Davis. "They were the better football team tonight. Individually we had some great accomplishments, but the (four) turnovers counteracted all of that."
Clark completed 17-of-25 passes for 139 yards and two scores for Virginia Tech, which has won its first three games for the third consecutive season.
"This is the third week of the season. We have a long way to go," said Hokies coach Frank Beamer. "This was our first conference win, but I do know this. We beat a really good football team that played awfully hard and aggressive and had some big-time players and made some big-time plays."
The Hurricanes jumped out to an early lead just under 10 minutes in when Scott Covington found a streaking Santana Moss for a 47-yard score. Graham's 38-yarder early in the second quarter got the Hokies on the scoreboard, but Covington answered again, finding Reggie Wayne on a 15-yard TD strike.
Covington connected on 13-of-28 for 153 yards and three scores. Wayne hauled in six passes for a career-high 153 yards and two scores.
"Individual things do not matter," said Wayne. "As far as the team goes, we have to cut out the mistakes."
Clark's 14-yard scoring strike to Michael Hawkes 30 seconds before halftime brought Virginia Tech within 13-10 and he gave the Hokies the lead midway on a 13-yard run midway through the third quarter.
Miami was deep in its own territory to begin the fourth period when Covington threw a short out to Wayne, who shook three tacklers with great moves as he scampered 84 yards for a score, giving the Hurricanes a 20-17 lead. But Graham tied the game with 8:35 remaining in regulation by connecting on a 19-yarder.
Edgerrin James rushed 17 times for 96 yards for the Hurricanes, who totaled just 37 yards on the ground because Covington was sacked five times for minus-57 yards.
Stith was the Hokies' leading rusher, totaling 66 yards on 16 carries.