Game To Watch: #9 Miami at Virginia Tech, November 14, 2020

Miami and Virginia Tech are set to face off this Saturday at noon. The Hurricanes are 6 -1 overall and 5 -1 in conference play, while the Hokies are 4 – 3 overall and 4 – 2 in conference play. Miami has a chance to make the ACC title game but would have to win out and need Clemson to lose one game or Notre Dame to lose two. Virginia Tech’s odds are even longer with two conference losses already.

Recent History

Miami beat Virginia Tech soundly in 2017 and 2018, winning by a score of 28 – 10 in 2017 and following that up with a 38 – 14 win in 2018. Virginia Tech won the 2019 meeting between the two schools 42 – 35. In that game the Hokies jumped out to a 28 – 0 lead before watching Miami storm all the way back and tie the game at 35. The Hokies were able to drive down the field and score the winning touchdown with 1:03 left in the game to get the win.

Top Players

What To Watch For…

Can Virginia Tech slow down D’Eriq King?

King has been the catalyst for the Miami offense in 2020. He has completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,831 yards with 16 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions. On the ground he has added another 406 yards on 82 carries and 2 touchdowns. It’s hard to keep in mind that this is King’s first year at Miami and this offense is completely new for him. For the most part, he has taken to Rhett Lashlee’s offense like a fish to water, and his strong play has carried Miami in 2020. It’s not a coincidence that Miami’s one loss this year was the only game King struggled in. Clemson was able to get pressure on the Miami quarterback by bringing extra rushers and playing man to man coverage on the outside. The Hurricanes receivers were unable to win those one on one match-ups and King struggled. Virginia Tech does not have the personnel Clemson does to play man across the board or to get instant pressure up front. It will be nearly impossible for the Hokies to stop everything King does, they should instead focus on limiting his effectiveness as a runner and try to force Miami to be one dimensional on Saturday.

Will Khalil Herbert play and be effective?

Herbert has been the focal point of the Virginia Tech offense this season. The star running back transferred from Kansas and was nearly unstoppable until a hamstring injury on the opening kickoff return forced him out of the game against Liberty last weekend. There has been no official word if Herbert will play or not, but hamstrings can be tricky, even if he does play there is no way to be sure he will be 100 percent. Herbert is the best player on Virginia Tech’s offense, carrying the ball 96 times for 803 yards and 6 touchdowns this season. That’s a whopping 8.4 yards per carry for the season and 114.7 yards per game. Herbert had only failed to reach the 100 yard mark once this season before the Liberty game, in a 23 – 16 loss to Wake Forest. In short, when Herbert has been ineffective or unable to play, Virginia Tech has lost. The Hokies will not only need the star running back to suit up Saturday, they will need him to be on top of his game. That’s a tough ask for a player one week removed from a hamstring injury.

Which defense will make a big stop?

There was a time this question would seem ludicrous when discussing these two teams, but in 2020 both defenses have seen their share of struggles, especially recently. Virginia Tech is allowing 31.6 points per game and has given up over 35 points in their last two games. Virginia Tech has not played well on defense all season and that does not bode well for a team taking on a dynamic quarterback. On the other side of the field, Miami has been better allowing 24.9 points per game, but gave up 41 points to NC State just last week. For Miami this could be a one week aberration, but you can bet Virginia Tech has studied what worked for NC State and will try to exploit the same weaknesses this week. The Hurricanes will have to prove last week was an outlier and their defense has made the necessary corrections. One of these two defenses will be on the winning side, it remains to be seen if that is because of the way they play or in spite of it.

Prediction

Despite Miami being ranked #9 in the polls, Virginia Tech is a 2.5 point favorite in the game, normally that means Vegas knows something the public doesn’t. That said, expect D’Eriq King to have an excellent game again on Saturday, controlling the game when Miami has the ball and scoring north of 35 points. Miami’s defense has taken a lot of flack after a poor showing against NC State, but this is a unit that had played better up to that point. With Herbert potentially out, or not at 100 percent this weekend, the defense should play better and return to form. Miami turned the ball over a lot last year to give the Hokies a big lead before roaring back, Miami will be focused and play sharper this time around. Miami 38 Virginia Tech 24.

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Clemson vs. University of Miami Football image taken by TigerNet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.