Blacksburg, VA - Virginia Tech used two defensive touchdowns to toss a huge monkey off their back, destroying second-ranked Miami 31-7 for their first-ever win over a top 5 team. Galvanized by a raucous crowd of 65,115, the Hokies got a second-quarter score from DeAngelo Hall on a 28-yard fumble return and a third-quarter 51-yard interception return from Eric Green to catapult them to the win.

Hall stripped the ball from Miami wide receiver Roscoe Parrish on an end around, and when the ball popped up in the air, Hall snagged it and raced untouched for the score, putting Tech up 7-0. Green's score came when he cut in front of a Miami pass and ran down the left sideline to put the Hokies up 17-0 in the third quarter.

The Hokies were outgained 377 yards to 219, but they capitalized on four Miami turnovers for three touchdowns. In addition to the scores by Hall and Green, Michael Crawford returned a third-quarter interception 44 yards to the Miami ten-yard line, setting up a two-yard run by Kevin Jones.

Jones paced an otherwise tepid Hokie offense, rushing 26 times for 124 yards and a TD. Virginia Tech didn't complete a single pass in the first half, spurring head coach Frank Beamer to replace ineffective starter Bryan Randall with Marcus Vick for the majority of the second half. Vick was 2-for-4 and made the second completion count, hitting Ernest Wilford for a beautiful 46-yard scoring strike that put VT up 31-0 late in the third quarter.

Randall was 0-for-4 on the night with an interception on the first drive of the game, and he ran five times for 15 yards.

Other than Jones and Vick, this game was all about the Hokie defense. Tech had a season-high four sacks for 18 yards in losses, and they held all-world tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr. to just 48 yards and no touchdowns on 8 catches. Starting Miami QB Brock Berlin had a bad night, going 16-for-25 for 164 yards, but throwing the two costly interceptions and failing to lead Miami to a score. The Hurricanes replaced Berlin with backup Derrick Crudup, and Crudup led the Hurricanes to a cosmetic touchdown on a 12-play, 66-yard drive in the fourth quarter.

Hall's and Green's scores vindicated the two cornerbacks for different reasons. Hall backed up his talk from earlier in the week, when he said that this year's Miami team wasn't as talented as other recent Miami teams. Green atoned for a miserable outing as a true freshman in 2000, when he was torched repeatedly in the Orange Bowl during a 41-21 VT loss.

Hall was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter for a personal foul, along with Miami's Antrel Rolle. Tech's Vincent Fuller picked off a Crudup pass in the Tech end zone and returned it out to the Hokie 33-yard line, where he was the victim of a Miami late hit out of bounds on the Hurricane sideline. Hall raced over to the Miami sideline and mixed it up with Rolle, and both players were thrown out.

It's a collegiate rule that players who are ejected fighting are supposed to sit out the next game, but according to Coach Beamer on the post-game radio show, Hall will be able to play next week against Pittsburgh.

The Hokies are now 7-1 on the year, 3-1 in the Big East. Miami falls to 7-1 (3-1). Pittsburgh is now in sole possession of first place with a 3-0 league record (6-2 overall). The Hokies and Panthers play next Saturday night at 7:45 in Pittsburgh, on either ESPN or ESPN2.

Game Notes

• The win over Miami breaks the Hurricanes' 27-game Big East winning streak, 39-game regular season winning streak, and 18-game road winning streak.

• Miami had scored on 29 of 35 (83%) red zone possessions coming into the game, but they were just 1 of 4 on trips inside the red zone in this game.

• The Hokies blocked a first-quarter Miami field goal in this game, VT's fourth blocked kick of the year and 101st in 196 games under Frank Beamer. Eric Green blocked the attempt, the fourth blocked kick of his career and second against Miami (he blocked a punt in the 2001 Miami game).

• The Hokies have now beaten Miami six of the last nine times the teams have played, after losing the first 12 games in the series.

• Wilford's TD catch was the 100th reception of his career, tying him for fifth on the Tech career receptions list with Myron Richardson (1986-89). Wilford was helped off the field for a foot injury and was X-rayed. The X-rays were negative, and Wilford's status for next week is unknown at this point.

• Kevin Jones now has 863 yards on the season, giving him 2,691 yards for his career, good for sixth on the VT all-time list, just five yards behind Dwayne Thomas (1992-95).

• The Hokies had 10 penalties on the night, for 85 yards, giving them 23 penalties in the last two games. Miami had 14 penalties for 117 yards.

• Miami ran 85 offensive plays to just 49 for Tech, and the Canes had a 9:10 advantage in time of possession.

• The Hokies had a season-high 13 tackles for loss (preliminary defensive statistics).

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