BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Coastal is far from clear, but Virginia Tech took a huge Hokie step towards the inside track to the ACC's Coastal division Thursday.
Eight sacks from the defense and a pair of touchdown receptions from Salem High School product Bucky Hodges propelled Tech to a 37-16 victory vs. Miami at Lane Stadium. The win moves Tech to 3-and-1 in the division, tied with North Carolina for the top spot. However, the Hokies defeated the Tar Heels two weeks ago - so they'd own the tiebreaker.
Hodges, a 6' 7" junior wide out from Virginia Beach caught a career-high seven passes for 66 yards and a two scores - a seven yard strike in the second quarter and a 12 yard connection in the third. Hodges' 18 career touchdowns tie him for third place on Virginia Tech's all-time list.
“Miami was really focused in on Isiah [Ford] tonight," Hokies head coach Justin Fuente said. "I felt like we needed to move him around. Our general philosophy is that we should be able to take whatever the defense gives us. If that means Cam [Phillips] gets catches or Bucky or we run the ball, we should feel good about all the other guys."
In addition to the eight sacks, Tech limited Miami to just 15 first downs on the game.
The Hokies are now 22-and-9 all-time on Thursdays - day on which it will play again next week. Tech travels to Pitt next Thursday for a date with the Panthers, winners of three straight.
