WOODY COLUMN: Rainstorm and Hokies poured it on

BLACKSBURG The only thing that went wrong for Virginia Tech yesterday occurred at halftime.

The Marching Virginians, 330 strong, weren't allowed to march and play their music on the Lane Stadium field. Instead, they performed from their end zone seats out of deference to a field that was all but underwater.

And speaking of submerged, how about those Miami Hurricanes?

They came here as a team on the prowl. Young. Quick. Fast. Potent. Hungry. They came here 2-0 and as a prime topic in the national sports conversation.

Were the Hurricanes back to their glory days? Were they ready to contend for a national championship?

Yesterday, courtesy of the entire Hokies team, the Hurricanes went "splat." They had a belly flop of a day.

From the Hokies' perspective, it was a beautiful day in their neighborhood. The Marching Virginians didn't get to strut their stuff, but the Hokies' football team certainly did.

The constant downpour that left puddles on the field by the end of the game? For the Hokies, it was a, "Without rain, there'd be no rainbow" kind of day.

The Hokies came about as close to a playing a complete game as they have in years. Defense set the tone. Offense finished drives. Special teams gave everyone a boost.

Now, the Hokies can re-enter the national conversation. And if they take care of business in the coming weeks, they will be in that conversation along with Florida, Texas and the other national-title contenders.

After several weeks of so-so football -- dominating Marshall doesn't count -- the Hokies faced an early-season "not in my backyard" moment.

Miami had beaten Florida State and Georgia Tech and was supposed to come here and play so well the Hokies' heads would be in continuous spin mode.

Instead, there were times when Virginia Tech so smothered the Hurricanes it looked as if a high school team had somehow wandered into a game against a college team.

In the Hurricanes' two games this season, Miami quarterback Jacory Harris hadn't been sacked, hadn't even been touched.

On the Hurricanes' fifth offensive play yesterday, Virginia Tech rover Dorian Porch blitzed. He sacked Harris, stripped the ball from the quarterback's hand, recovered the fumble and returned it 4 yards to the Miami 11.

That set up Virginia Tech's first touchdown.

"Sometimes, you've got to make plays like that," Porch said. "I think it was huge for our defense. It was a great play in the game for us."

The play set the tone for the day. Raindrops kept falling, but the Hokies kept rolling. Running back Ryan Williams gained 152 yards on 34 carries.

Jacob Sykes, who had been on the field for only two plays this season, blocked a punt that special teams colleague Matt Reidy turned into a 1-yard return for a touchdown.

The Tech players were not without motivation, especially the defensive unit. Their 2-1 record and their last-second victory over Nebraska eight days ago had not left defensive coordinator Bud Foster feeling sanguine.

One day last week, he left a note in his players' lockers. It was not a "keep your chins up fellows" missive.

"We've been consistently pretty good on defense here, and we were something like the 107th rushing defense, which is totally unaccustomed to what we are," Foster said.

"So I put on there what those stats were, and I put on there, 'It's your responsibility to uphold the tradition we've set for you.' They're the ones playing, not me. They responded very, very well."

That can be said of the entire Hokies team.

And they did their jobs in a downpour, a storm that got stronger as the day went on.

In that regard, the weather and the Hokies had much in common.

The challenge now for the Hokies is to play as well and relentlessly in the weeks to come. Anyone who doubts they can need only check with the Hurricanes.

Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444