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Ore scores two touchdowns as Virginia Tech tops Miami

Nov 5, 2006 - 4:34 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Brandon Ore reached another milestone but had to work harder than usual to get the ultimate job done.

Ore scored two touchdowns and cornerback Brandon Flowers intercepted two passes as No. 23 Virginia Tech remained alive for a possible spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game with a 17-10 victory over Miami.

The Hokies (7-2, 4-2 ACC Coastal) won their third straight contest and remained one game behind Georgia Tech in the division race. Virginia Tech meets Kent State in a non-conference encounter next week while the Yellow Jackets - who beat the Hokies earlier this season - face North Carolina.

"To come down here and win this game is real special," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "Our football team found a way to do it. We blocked a field goal. We got an interception when we needed to. ... They played hard and we're just excited to come out of here with a win."

Miami (5-4, 2-3 Coastal), meanwhile, has suffered four losses in a season for the first time since 1999. The Hurricanes received just 84 passing yards from Kyle Wright, who was intercepted twice.

"The passing game was not there for us today," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "The terminology is different from last year's offense and struggling to protect the quarterback hurt us."

Five plays after Miami cornerback Glenn Sharpe intercepted Virginia Tech's Sean Glennon with 5:32 remaining, linebacker Xavier Adibi picked off his third pass of the campaign with 3:06 to play, giving the Hokies a chance to snap a 10-10 tie.

"I was just coming on the blitz," Adibi said. "I saw one of the defensive linemen put up his hands up and make a good play on the ball. It was tipped and I saw the ball in the air and made a play on it."

"We went through a touch patch, but our defense helped out," said Glennon, who completed just 5-of-19 passes for 86 yards and was sacked five times. "The one good thing I can say about the offense is every time we had good field position, we capitalized on it."

Coming off consecutive 200-yard rushing efforts against Southern Mississippi and Clemson, Ore gained just 79 yards on 29 carries against Miami but topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Ore had four carries on the Hokies' final scoring drive, including a 17-yard run on 3rd-and-11 from the Miami 27. Two plays later, following a Hurricanes timeout, the sophomore tailback scored his 14th touchdown of the season from eight yards out with 1:21 to play.

Trailing 10-0, Miami recorded its first points with 4:07 left in the third quarter when Jon Peattie, the Hurricanes' No. 2 career scorer (321 points), booted a career-best 55-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 43-yard drive.

Senior running back Tyrone Moss tied the score for the Hurricanes with his longest run of the season, a 50-yard burst with 10:56 remaining. On 3rd-and-2 from midfield, he was bottled up in the middle of the line before spinning to his left, finding a gap and scoring his third TD of the campaign.

Moss finished with 103 yards on 13 carries and had two receptions for 13.

"Tyrone played well," Coker said. "He really gave us a chance to win the game. He ran well and had that nice run to break a few tackles for the long touchdown."

"We had him and they were just about to blow the whistle," Beamer said. "Then all of a sudden, he gets out."

Neither team could generate much offense in first half. The Hokies managed just 120 yards while the Hurricanes mustered only 99.

Moments after Brandon Pace booted a 32-yard field goal to open the scoring for Virginia Tech, Flowers intercepted Wright and returned it to the Miami 37. Two plays later, Ore reached the end zone from two yards out for a 10-0 lead with 3:17 left before halftime.

Virginia Tech defeated Miami for just the eighth time in 24 encounters despite gaining only 139 yards for the entire contest.

"It's a travesty to lose the football game giving up a total of 139 yards," Coker said. "Our defense played a great football game. We did not contribute much to this game, especially in the second half, offensively."

"We just have to stick together and stick behind one another," Moss said. "We can't let this get us down. We have each other's backs."