The controversial 38-34 loss to Miami breaks the Hokies’ hearts

Coral Gables, Florida — No matter your favorite movie, play, TV show, or novel, these glimpses into another life are written into the script at the end of the day. It’s moments like Friday night at the Hard Rock Stadium when scripts can’t be written. While it looked like David would defeat Goliath, No. 7 Miami prevailed in the end.

“We didn’t come here just to get close,” head coach Brent Pry said as he discussed his team’s risky play, which included a double-end around touchdown and a controversial fake field goal was ultimately stopped.

The Hokies were in a favorable position inside the Hurricanes’ red zone with just under six minutes left in the third quarter, leading by 10 points and looking to extend the lead to 17 when Harrison St. Germain was overwhelmed with a run , which sent the ball bobbing momentum towards Miami.

While this will ultimately be one of the talking points of the evening, it’s important to detail why the Hokies were able to extend a once-unthinkable lead in the first place.

Tech came out of the blocks firing, and after an early fumble by Cameron Ward, Kyron Drones found a wide-open Benji Gosnell strolling into the end zone with no one within a country mile of him.

Mario Cristobal’s Miami team was not discouraged and took advantage of two consecutive touchdowns that included an interception by the Drones.

When the game looked like it was getting out of hand midway through the first period, the Hokies showed some real spine. Sophomore safety Mose Phillips III swooped in just outside the Tech end zone and plucked the ball intended for Xavier Restrepo out of the air before setting the Hokies up for an eventual 55-yard touchdown run by Bhayshul Tuten.

In their next task of stopping Ward, the Maroons and Oranges remained steadfast defensively. This was followed by the double-end around play that resulted in Lane being escorted into the end zone, giving the Blacksburg team a well-deserved 21-14 lead.

A 57-yard field goal by John Love increased Tech’s lead to double digits before Miami kicker Andres Borregales cut the deficit to seven at the break.

After another love kick and an interception by Caleb Spencer that put the Hokies in prime position, Virginia Tech scored the questionable fake field goal. Many will debate whether the love should have been sent out for another possession; Pry later stated that after weeks of practicing the fake field goal, the Hurricanes gave Tech a look that the Hokie staff happily accepted.

With the score 27-17 in favor of Virginia Tech, Miami dominated the next three drives and scored three straight touchdowns that highlighted Ward’s exceptional play. Although the Drones were forced to hit Ayden Greene with a Heisman-level hit in the end zone to temporarily halt the Ducks’ momentum, Cristobal’s team eventually regained the lead with 1:57 left.

That was it – it was a matter of success or failure. Unlike the books and series we watch over and over again where you know who will come out on top, no one knew what would happen next on the bed of stars above. What was on the table was a coach, Pry, who had a real chance to cement a landmark win in Hokie football history, and it all rested on the shoulders of the Houston, Texas-based Drones.

Jaylin Lane, Stephen Gosnell, Bhayshul Tuten and Da’Quan Felton alleviated the intense pressure on the Hokie second-year quarterback with catches that moved the team to the Miami 30. However, there was always a Hail Mary to cap off a spectacular night in this rivalry, where tension reigned and the pressure steadily increased on the Hokies to break the hearts of the vaunted Hurricanes.

With three seconds left in the game, Drones used his powerful arm to throw a ball into a scrum of players on either side, each clawing for the pigskin to stake his claim and end the night’s madness. First, Miami rose from the screen with the ball in hand and walked it down the field under flickering floodlights, marking their fifth consecutive victory. Just before eyes shifted to the zebra-striped referees signaling that Hokie Da’Quan Felton had secured the game-winning catch amid the madness, it was a memorable night for Tech fans that will be remembered for years to come .

“I ran over and said, ‘How did you run it?’ He said touchdown. Stuttered a crimson pry at his post-game press conference. But then it took what felt like years of agonizing minutes for the ACC crew to hear a pin drop, just seconds before announcing that Felton hadn’t made the catch, to which the people at the Hard Rock, wearing their signature U-shaped hand gesture, called in Frenzied with happiness as the Hokies’ heads sank, having once thought they had killed the giant.