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Virginia Tech-Miami matchup a surprising ACC sideshow

Oct 31, 2006 - 9:04 PM No. 23 Virginia Tech (6-2) at Miami Fl (5-3), 8:00 pm EST

MIAMI (Ticker) - Wake Forest-Boston College is the marquee game on the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule Saturday. There likely is nobody more surprised or upset by that than Virginia Tech and Miami.

What once looked like a battle for conference supremacy, the matchup between the 23rd-ranked Hokies and the Hurricanes now is a game between a pair of programs in down years.

Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-2 ACC Coastal) was in a free fall after losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College but has managed to get back on track with wins over Southern Mississippi and Clemson.

The Hokies are coming off a 24-7 victory over the Tigers in which Branden Ore rushed for 203 yards and became the first player in school history to rush for more than 200 in back-to-back games.

Miami (5-3, 2-2 Coastal) had a four-game winning streak snapped with a 30-23 loss to Georgia Tech last week and is in danger of having a four-loss season for the first time since 1999.

The Hurricanes are having most of their problems on offense this season, as they rank 62nd in scoring (23.38 points per game) and 63rd in total offense (338.5 yards). The Miami defense is fourth in the country against the run, eighth overall and 14th in scoring defense.

Miami leads the series, 16-7, including a 27-7 victory last season that ended Virginia Tech's eight-game unbeaten run to start the season.