Back in the day, the nation paid attention when Miami played Virginia Tech.
Take, for instance, the 2000 season, when the teams both came into the Orange Bowl with dreams of a glorious season. The Hokies were 8-0 and ranked second in the nation. The Hurricanes were 6-1 and ranked third.
Then the anthem played … and it was over. Tech quarterback Michael Vick was ineffective with an injured ankle, and the Hurricanes scored the first 28 points of the game. Quarterback Ken Dorsey completed less than half of his passes, but still had a rating of 194.2. He threw for three touchdowns and 283 yards on only 11 completions. James Jackson ran for 145 yards. Santana Moss caught four passes for 154 yards and averaged 38.5 yards per catch.
“I thought that the first half was as close to as well as we can possibly play in all three phases,” said Miami coach Butch Davis, whose team’s victory followed its win here over then-No. 1 Florida State. “In the second half, we didn’t play as cleanly and sharp as I’d like us to, but we were able to respond when we had to.”
Miami used the win to propel them to the No. 2 rating in the country that year. They were No. 1 the next two seasons.
This year, both Miami and Tech started well. Two weeks ago, Miami was ranked 10th and Virginia Tech was ranked 25th. Both have fallen from the polls.
Tonight, both try to start to climb back.
