Way-Too-Early Virginia Tech Football Preview and Prediction: Week 13, vs. Miami

In the 10th and penultimate edition of our Way-Too-Early series on Virginia Tech footballs hypothetical 2025 campaign, the Hokies (7-3 Way-Too-Early) venture back north to Blacksburg for a rematch with the Miami Hurricanes.

Last years matchup, which was in the Sunshine State, produced a plethora of controversy.

A first half that produced three lead changes fueled an intense final 30 minutes of game action.

Tech held its halftime lead until a one-yard game-winning touchdown pass that finished off the scoring in Coral Gables.

The final two minutes produced the controversy: Hokies signal-caller Kyron Drones attempted to lead a two-minute drill touchdown-producing drive, marching Tech 45 yards down the field to Miamis 30-yard line with three seconds to spare.

The subsequent heave to the endzone was initially ruled a touchdown on the field, with officials believing that wide receiver DaQuan Felton had successfully hauled in the game-winning catch.

As is standard procedure, every scoring play undergoes an automatic review, so the replay officials immediately started to examine the play.

However, this particular review took over six minutes due to the officials meticulously scrutinizing every angle of the contested catch.

The call was ultimately overturned, ruling that the pass to Felton was an incompletion.

The reversal sealed a thrilling conclusion, sending the Hurricane fans home happy and the Hokie fans home heartbroken.

After losing to Georgia Tech and suffering a late-season setback to Syracuse, Miami fell just short of the ACC Championship, setting up a tango between the SMU Mustangs and the Clemson Tigers in Charlotte for conference glory and an automatic berth to the College Football Playoff (CFP).

The failed pursuit of the championship game was not due to a lack of offensive output.

Ward, a Heisman finalist who was selected first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, steered the Hurricanes to an impressive offensive campaign.

Miami averaged 43.9 points per game under Ward, who netted 4,313 passing yards with one of the nations best touchdown-to-interception ratios (39:7).

In his stead comes Georgia transfer Carson Beck.

Beck, who was projected to be a late-round NFL selection, elected to stay in college and transferred from the Bulldogs to Coral Gables.

With just one year of eligibility remaining as a sixth-year redshirt senior, Beck veers away from the SEC for the first time.

Beck has qualified for a pair of SEC championship games and posted a 1-1 record; bringing this experience to the Hurricanes roster once again places them in the conversation for their first-ever ACC title.

ESPN Senior College Football Insider Heather Dinich ranked Miami eighth in her article about the 32 teams that could make the CFP.

Her'es a short excerpt from her highlight of the Hurricanes' 2025 outlook: Miami has more to prove before it is taken seriously as a playoff contender like winning the ACC.

ESPN's FPI gives the Canes more than a 50% chance to win each game, but the season opener at home against Notre Dame will be the first indicator of Miami's playoff potential.

Miami has continued to find ways to flop in games it should win -- and that was with Cam Ward, the eventual first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

If the Canes are going to win a title of any kind this fall, the defense will have to do its part and help an offense now led by former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck .

Miami is now without eight of their prominent starters from 2024, and two wideout transfers give Beck a new receiving corps in the orange and green.

CJ Daniels (Liberty/LSU) and the dangerous return specialist Keelan Marion (BYU) should suit up and give Beck solid targets to hit if he has time in the pocket.

Daniels brought in 1,067 yards in his final season while breaking the double-digit barrier in receiving touchdowns (10) before transferring to LSU.

Not quite catching the same stride with the Tigers, Daniels looks at the ACC and Beck to return himself to his stellar form.

Speed, speed and more speed is what Tech will have to worry about with Marion.

Not only a wideout threat, Marion was an electric kick returner at BYU, notching two kick return touchdowns in 2024.

Marion also tallied a quintet of rushing touchdowns for the Cougars, so the Hokies will have to keep a stern watch wherever Marion lines up for the Hurricanes.

Tech will have a similar problem entering this matchup; former Hokies running back Bhayshul Tuten racked up 141 yards and a touchdown in last seasons loss.

He is now off to the NFL after being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

While Tech will have 12 weeks to tinker with backfield rotations and offensive wrinkles before this pivotal matchup, much of the spotlight will inevitably fall on Drones and, perhaps even more critically, his supporting cast at receiver.

With Tuten now having departed, the Hokies loses not only its most dynamic ball carriers but also a reliable check-down option in the passing game.

Junior Ayden Greene, who struggled for consistent snaps in 2024 amid a crowded depth chart, snagged a touchdown and 33 yards against Miami as a sophomore, and could now be the crutch of the offensive attack in this conference battle in Lane Stadium.

Last season, Tuten was the key to opening up an efficient passing scheme; however, now, Greene will need to be a pivotal factor in allowing offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery to expand and open up his scheme centered around rushing the ball.

It will be a challenge for Beck and Drones to replicate the over 900 yards of offensive output from the 2024 showdown, just as this contest puts the spotlight on the defenses to keep each explosive unit at bay.

Both teams enter the 2025 campaign with retooled rosters, yet the core identity of the Virginia Tech-Miami matchup remains the same: explosive offenses against opportunistic defenses.

Against a revamped Hurricanes secondary, the Hokies playmakers will need to replicate last years fireworks and are aided by the benefit of surprise.

Miami doesnt have much tape on Ayden Greene and on the other front, Tech knows little about the effectiveness of the Hurricanes' new-look secondary.

Miamis ground game, spearheaded by veteran tailback Mark Fletcher Jr., remains punishing between the tackles.

The combination could stress the Hokies linebackers and safeties badly, especially if the Hurricanes offensive line holds up well in pass protection.

Special teams and turnovers could once again prove decisive in this matchup.

Virginia Tech kicker John Love enters his redshirt junior season following a breakout 2024 campaign in which he earned AllACC honorable mention honors for the second straight year.

Love provided several clutch moments last fall, most notably drilling a careerlong 60yard field goal in the Dukes Mayo Bowl against Minnesota, a kick that not only set a personal best but also was the second-longest in program history, behind only Wayne Lattimer in 1975.

His accuracy from distance gives the Hokies a valuable weapon in close contests.

The defensive line of Tech, with heavy pressure, was a main reason for keeping the 2024 contest as close as it was, even with Ward and his offense racking up over 500 yards.

If the new defensive line can reproduce this same pressure, Beck will have a hard time finding an offensive groove in Blacksburg.

Replicating that success, however, wont come easy.

The Hokies lost both Aeneas Peebles and Antwaun Powell-Ryland to the NFL, meaning that less-tested options will be tasked with chasing down Beck.

Tech has enough playmakers to keep the scoreline close, from Drones dynamic rushing ability to Terion Stewart in the backfield.

If Love remains automatic from 40-plus, the Hokies, at minimum, have the chance to steal points on stalled drives.

But unless Techs defense can consistently corral Beck and force turnovers, its an uphill battle against a team in the ACCs upper echelon.

We predict that the Hokies enter this contest with a 7-3 record on the outskirts of the top-25.

If Tech could pick up the win and derail Miamis chances for an ACC Championship appearance, the Hokies being in the top-25 for the first time since 2021 Week 3 (No.

15) is a realistic proposition.

But whats our predicted result? A competitive, hard-fought contest that eventually tilts the Hurricanes way, sending Tech into rivalry week against Virginia looking to regroup and set its feet for an impending bowl game.

Score Predictions for Virginia Tech vs.

Miami: Thomas Prediction: Miami 30, Virginia Tech 20 Kadens Prediction: Miami 28, Virginia Tech 24 More Virginia Tech Football News:.

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