Hurricanes Begin Preparing For Sack-Happy Virginia Tech
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CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) – It was back to the drawing board for the University of Miami on Tuesday at the team's training facility in Coral Gables.
After Saturday night's loss to Florida State the Canes have set their sights set on this weekend's opponent, Virginia Tech.
The immediate issues for Miami were moving past FSU, adjusting a banged up offensive line and getting prepared for a desperate Hokie team.
"We've moved on and it showed in practice. I liked the energy and fight. The team knows we have a great challenge this weekend," said head coach Al Golden. "It's been all forward thinking. We came in and evaluated ourselves and we have moved on."
Virginia Tech is 3-3 on the season and 1-1 inside the ACC. The Hokies traditionally have a great running game, aggressive special teams and a hard hitting defense.
It's called 'Beamer Ball', named after head coach Frank Beamer.
Unlike past seasons, Beamer Ball has been inconsistent this year.
Virginia Tech has losses to Ohio State, East Carolina and Pittsburgh. The loss to the Panthers was painful as the Hokies allowed seven sacks and ran for just nine yards.
Virginia Tech is only rushing for 172 yards per game and has had trouble finding a feature running back.
Emerging is red shirt freshman Travon McMillian who has gained 319 yards this year. He picked up 96 yards on 11 carries last week against North Carolina State.
The Hokies defense is giving up over three touchdowns and 341 yards per game.
Their usually reliable run defense has not been as stubborn, allowing 190 yards a game on the ground, but they can rush the passer and come in with 14 quarterback sacks.
Hurricanes center Nick Linder suffered a strained neck in the FSU game and did not practice on Tuesday.
While coach Golden seemed confident he would have Linder in the lineup, if he can't go on Saturday that would require Miami to shuffle the offensive line assignments.
The Canes will spend a good portion of the week on doing a better job of protecting quarterback Brad Kaaya.
The Hokies have several outstanding edge pass rushers that will have the attention of the Hurricanes offense.
"Watching Virginia Tech you can see they're settling in and playing with more confidence. They have a great tradition of rushing the passer and we have to make sure we do a great job of protecting Brad," said Golden.
Virginia Tech is known for their lunch pail attitude. To win, Miami can't afford another FSU hangover and it would be wise to bring their own lunch pail.
Listen to the Miami Hurricanes take on the Virginia Tech Hokies this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on Sports Radio 560 WQAM, your official radio home for the Canes!
Follow Joe Zagacki on Twitter (@canesvoice)
