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Saturday, November 4th, 2006, 8:00 pm

TV: ABC (click here for coverage map)

Forecast (from WeatherUnderground.com):
Click the "Miami Weather" link to the right.
Game time forecast, as of 2:30 pm Wednesday: Partly cloudy with a 10 percent chance of rain. Temperature 75.

Click here for TechSideline.com's VT/Miami roster card

Game Preview: #23 VT (6-2, 3-2 ACC) vs. Miami (5-3, 2-2)
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

The Miami game is big every year. When the upcoming football schedule is announced each winter, one of the first things that many of us do is look for the Miami game and circle it. Who do the Hokies play before Miami? Who do they play after? Does either team have a bye week before the game? Does that give either team an advantage? Well, the time has finally come. There aren't National Championship implications like last season, but there's a lot of pride on the line in this one.

Well, I think there's a lot of pride. But is there? Miami is 5-3 and 2-2 in the ACC. They are currently below Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and UVA in the Coastal Division. For Miami, that's nothing to be proud of. In fact, that's something that makes you bury your head in the sand.

Miami started off the season dropping a hard hitting game to Florida State 13-10. Two weeks later they lost to Louisville 31-7 after stomping on the Cardinals' midfield logo before the game. And last weekend, with first place in the Coastal Division on the line, the ‘Canes lost to Georgia Tech 30-23 in a game that wasn't quite as close as the final score indicated. Miami scored the first and last touchdowns and got dominated in between.

Breaking with our traditional type of recap, let's first take a look at the entire Miami season to date.

Four of Miami's five wins have come against teams that do not have a victory over a 1-A football team this year. Florida A&M is a 1-AA team, Florida International and Duke are winless on the year, and UNC's only victory came in a nailbiter over 1-AA Furman. Don Strock's Florida International team has been close to winning many times, but haven't been able to get over the hump.

Miami's best win came against 6-3 Houston. The ‘Canes slipped by the Cougars by the skin of their teeth, 14-13 at home. However, even that victory has a black mark. Houston went on to lose to Louisiana-Lafayette of the Sunbelt Conference, a conference devoid of talent that probably doesn't even deserve an automatic bowl bid to its champion. Several years ago North Texas represented the Sunbelt in the New Orleans bowl despite finishing with a 5-6 record!

Even in Miami's victories over their weakest opponents, they have not been that impressive. They only put up 324 yards against North Carolina and led just 17-7 at one point in the fourth quarter before pulling away. 1-AA Furman shredded the UNC defense for 521 yards and 42 points.

Everyone remembers the Miami-Florida International game for the famous brawl. What most people don't realize is that the score was just 14-0 Miami when the brawl broke out late in the third quarter.

And finally, against the Duke Blue Devils, the poster boy school for football futility for the last decade (Editor's Note: cough – Temple! – cough), the Hurricanes could only manage to win 20-15. And that's after Duke quarterback Thad Lewis threw four interceptions. Lewis was picked off in the end zone as the Blue Devils were throwing for the game winning touchdown. The Hurricanes ran for just 30 yards on Duke and averaged 1.2 yards per carry.

You know it's a down year for the ‘Canes when they are barely beating Duke. Now let's take a look at what Miami looks like on both sides of the ball.

Miami's offense has some big play ability, but overall they haven't been especially good because of subpar play of the offensive line. In eight games this year, Miami has allowed their opponents to make 55 tackles for loss, 18 of which were sacks. By comparison, Virginia Tech has allowed 40 tackles for loss and 16 sacks, and the Hokies' offensive line hasn't exactly been the strongest in the world, though it has been coming on lately.

Like Virginia Tech, Miami began the season with question marks up front because they were replacing four starters from last year's line. Unlike Virginia Tech, the Hurricane offensive line hasn't improved very much throughout the year.

The only returning starter up front is senior center Anthony Wollschlager. He is very experienced, but he is the only player up front for Miami with such experience. Starting right tackle Jason Fox is only a true freshman. That should give you some idea of the problems with depth and experience that Miami is having on the offensive line.

Thanks in part to the play of the offensive line, Miami is ranked just 80th nationally in rushing offense. The Hurricanes are averaging 121.3 yards per game on the ground. If not for the emergence of true freshman running back Javarris James, they would be even worse.

James (6-0, 202) is the cousin of former Miami standout tailback Edgerrin James. At this point it looks like he will be the next great Hurricane running back. He leads Miami in carries (91), yards (529) and yards per carry (5.8). He has three 100 yard rushing games on the season, with 148 against Houston, 115 against UNC and 116 against Georgia Tech (49 of which came on one run).

But James has had other games where he has struggled, including performances against Florida International (11 carries for 36 yards) and Duke (9 carries for 19 yards). How well Miami's offensive line can block Virginia Tech's front seven will decide how well the Hurricanes can run the ball. It won't matter who is playing tailback. Miami will also use Charlie Jones, who rushed for over 100 yards against Tech last season, and Tyrone Moss. But James is likely to be the workhorse.

Miami has three main threats in the passing game. Lance Leggett (6-4, 188) is the team's leading receiver with 32 catches for 467 yards and two touchdowns on the year. Leggett has height and speed and could potentially give Virginia Tech trouble, though he only has two catches for 20 yards in his career against the Hokies. Leggett has an injured knee, but he is expected to play on Saturday.

True freshman Sam Shields (6-0, 177) has developed into a very dependable receiver. He has 26 receptions for 364 yards and three touchdowns this season. Shields has speed to burn and is very dangerous after the catch. Both of Miami's standout true freshmen, Shields and James, are arguably their most consistent offensive players.

Tight end Greg Olsen is one of the nation's best tight ends, although the inconsistency of Miami's offense as a whole limits his numbers. He has 23 catches for 276 yards and one touchdown on the season.

Junior Kyle Wright is the starting quarterback for the Hurricanes, and only Larry Coker draws more criticism from the Hurricane faithful. Just looking at his stats, Wright is a solid quarterback. He has completed 62.4% of his passes this season for 1,571 yards, with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.

But Wright just hasn't proven to be a clutch quarterback in his 1.5+ years as Miami's starting quarterback, and he still has a ways to go to get his consistency to a good level. Until he does that, he won't be a popular guy in Coral Gables.

Miami's offense can make big plays, but they have trouble putting drives together. Because of sub par offensive line play, the Hurricanes often find themselves in third and long situations. As a result, they rank just 10th in the ACC in third down conversions at 33.7%. That's a great matchup for the Hokies, whose defense is second in the ACC in opponents' third down conversion. Tech allows opposing teams to convert just 29.7% of third downs.

The one thing that keeps Miami in games, and allowed them to win squeakers over Houston and Duke, is their defense. Miami's defense is perhaps the fastest in college football. They are tough up front and have a lot of playmakers in the secondary. They will present a huge challenge for the Virginia Tech offense on Saturday night.

The Miami defensive line is experienced and athletic, and they will be a big matchup problem for Tech's offensive line. Hokie fans already know the names Baraka Atkins and Bryan Pata. Virginia Tech offensive lines have had many battles with those two players. Atkins has six tackles for loss and three sacks from his defensive end position.

Pata is a 6-4, 280 defensive tackle whose counterpart on the Tech defensive line would be Barry Booker. Pata can run from sideline to sideline and make plays. He has 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks on the season.

Two other defensive tackles who can make an impact on the game are Kareem Brown (6-4, 315) and Teraz McCray (6-1, 300). Both players have three tackles for loss on the season.

Miami's defensive lineman with the best statistics is someone you may not have heard of before. Sophomore defensive end Calais Campbell is a physical specimen at 6-8, 265. He is third on the team in tackles with 29. He leads the team in tackles for loss (10) and sacks (4). He plays right defensive end for Miami, so Brandon Frye will have his hands full on Saturday night.

Miami doesn't quite have the playmakers at linebacker that they have possessed in the past. Weakside linebacker Jon Beason is the best player in the group. He has 32 tackles on the year, which ranks second on the team. He also has four tackles for loss. He did not play very much against Georgia Tech because of a sprained knee. He is expected to start against the Hokies, but it is unknown exactly how healthy he is. Beason has been practicing with a brace on his knee.

Beason's backup at weakside linebacker is Spencer Adkins, who is also banged up. He has an injured leg and did not practice on Tuesday. His status for Saturday's game is doubtful.

Undersized Glenn Cook (6-0, 215) starts at middle linebacker for Miami. Cook returned a fumble for a touchdown on the opening play from scrimmage against Georgia Tech last week. He has 27 tackles on the season, including 1.5 for loss. The other middle linebacker, Romeo Davis, is out for the season, so Cook will have to play the rest of the season on his own.

The strongside linebacker is Tavares Gooden, who has 22 tackles on the season.

Miami's linebackers are good, and they can get from sideline to sideline, but as a group they don't make a lot of tackles. Relatively speaking, they are the weakest link of the Miami defense.

The Hurricanes are loaded with talent and depth at the safety position. The biggest name is free safety Brandon Meriweather. He can make plays all over the field. Meriweather has 29 tackles, two for loss, a sack, an interception and six passes broken up on the season. This week Meriweather is listed as a starting cornerback in place of Randy Philips.

It's unclear how much Meriweather will play at each position, but don't expect a dropoff at free safety when sophomore Lavon Ponder is in the game. Ponder tied for the team lead with three interceptions last season. This year Ponder has 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception.

Kenny Philips starts at strong safety for Miami. He leads the team in tackles with 46, including 4.5 for loss. He also leads the team with four interceptions. Generally it isn't good when a strong safety leads the team in tackles, but that's not the case with Miami. They play the strong safety near the line of scrimmage and he makes a lot of plays.

Miami's starting cornerbacks are Glenn Sharpe and Randy Philips, though it appears that Meriweather will replace Philips in the starting lineup for this game. Sharpe has broken up eight passes this season, which ranks fifth in the ACC. (Virginia Tech's Brandon Flowers is first in the conference with 10 passes defended.)

Despite their flash and star power in the secondary, the Hurricanes are just 53rd nationally against the pass, allowing 194.9 yards per game through the air.

The Miami defense is going to be a tough nut for the Hokies to crack. The key is staying patient and taking what you can get. The offensive line didn't play as poorly against Miami last year as some would like to think. Marcus Vick had a very tough time making adjustments and setting protections at the line of scrimmage.

After watching that game film, the Tech coaches should be able to prepare Sean Glennon for what he is going to see on Saturday night. He is a quick learner, and he'll likely do a better job managing the offense against Miami than Marcus Vick did last season. But will he be able to protect the football and make enough plays to win the game?

Remember when Miami always seemed to have a guy who was capable of going the distance on kick returns and punt returns? Devin Hester is doing just that for the Chicago Bears now, but Miami has no one that has shown the ability to match his production on special teams.

The Hurricanes rank 11th in punt returns in the ACC and 10th in kickoff returns. The special teams not providing good field position is another reason why the Miami offense has struggled this year.

Brian Monroe is one of the ACC's top punters. He is averaging 42.8 yards per punt this year, and the Hurricanes are third in the ACC in net punting. He hasn't had a punt blocked this season. Meanwhile, the Hokies must watch out for Miami's punt blocking unit. The Hurricanes are one of the best kick blocking teams in the nation, and they blocked a punt against VT in the Orange Bowl in 2004 which led to their only touchdown of the game.

Jon Peattie is Miami's kicker. He is 8-of-12 on the season. He is very good from close range, but he has struggled from beyond 40 yards this season, going just 2-of-5.

I think one of the biggest keys in this game that not many people are talking about is how Virginia Tech acts on the field on Saturday night. If they get caught up in a trash talking battle with the Hurricanes, then that will show that the Hokies aren't 100% focused, and it could be a long night. If you don't see a lot of yapping from Tech, then that's a very good sign.

Don't expect a lot of points in this game from either team. Even if there are turnovers in the red zone, that doesn't necessarily mean there will be a lot of points put up. Miami's red zone offense ranks just ninth in the ACC, while Tech's is seventh. This will be a game dominated by the defenses.

We all know Miami is a talented football team, especially on defense. What I'm here to tell you is that they aren't a good football team. I'm not going to call them a bad team, but I can't call them anything above average.

Their talent has gotten them wins over four very bad football teams, and one of those wins came by just five points. Their talent got them a home win over a solid Conference USA school. But their team has gotten beat by just about anyone with a pulse, including a home loss to the worse Florida State team I've ever seen.

I'm not sure how confident Miami is. How confident would you be after a five point win at Duke, when your offense can't move the ball very well, and everyone has been calling for your head coach to be fired since last season? They may talk some smack, talking about their swagger and about “The U”, but inside, their confidence has to be hurting.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech's confidence is at a high-water mark after blowout wins over Southern Miss and #10 Clemson. The Hokies physically dominated the Tigers on both sides of the ball, and have a couple of extra days to rest up and prepare for the ‘Canes since they played on Thursday.

I'll take momentum, confidence and team play any day of the week.

Will Stewart's Take: We like to call this the "predictions" section of the preview, but I'll be up front with you: for me, this is more of a guess. Both of these teams are unpredictable, making it difficult to, um, predict a score.

Miami has enough talent that they can get it together and lay a whipping on almost anybody when properly motivated and focused. The Hurricanes have put up some serious stinkers in the last couple of years, including a 40-3 whipping at the hands of LSU in last year's Peach Bowl, but every Hokie fan remembers the gem they played in Lane Stadium last season. So you can't count them out. I counted them out in last year's game, and I counted FSU out in the championship game prediction, and look what it got me.

Virginia Tech has also been all over the map. VT's last two games have been very encouraging, as the Hokies have put together two dialed-in efforts that have seen the attitude and mistakes mostly disappear, while the offensive line seems to have finally started to gel.

But … the last two games have been at home, in Lane Stadium, and the schedule-makers did VT a favor when they ordered Clemson to come to Blacksburg five days after a critical night game against GT. Everything the Hokies seem to have accomplished in the last couple of games will be put to a severe test in the Orange Bowl. I can see Tech passing with flying colors, but I can see them coming apart at the seams, as well. We won't know until about 11:00 Saturday night.

The other thing that gives me pause is that the Hokies have won at Miami three times since 1996, and every time, Tech has done it with a senior QB, a luxury they don't have this season. (Insert gratuitous Marcus Vick cheap shot here.) The counter-point to that fear is that the two losses (2000 and 2002) in the last ten years were products of bad defense, not necessarily non-senior QB play.

Round and round we go. Despite all the uncertainty, I don't think the Hokies will get waxed in Miami. I think VT's defense will rise to the test, keeping the Canes scoring total low. I think the Tech offense will go conservative; based on their two other road games this year (UNC and BC), you have to assume that, until the Hokies show otherwise.

Chris just about stole my score prediction, but only just about. Three Brandon Pace field goals will make the difference.

Hokie fans: Join us at Champs Sportsbar in Blacksburg for our Miami game-watching party! Beginning at 6:00 p.m., the first 50 people to arrive will receive a free TechSideline.com T-shirt. See you there!