By Jimmy Robertson
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Social media certainly allows for more connectivity than ever before, and for sure, that can be a good thing.
Yet today's hashtag society also brings forth expectations – and when you fail to live up to yours, you run the risk of being immediately and harshly called on it.
After spending much of the past eight days fielding derision for not living up to its "Hard, Smart, Tough" slogan during a 45-10 loss to Duke two Fridays ago, Virginia Tech's football team owned all of that hashtag and then some on a humid Saturday evening in Miami. The Hokies built a 28-point lead, saw Miami gamely rally to tie the score late, somehow mustered enough grit to punch in the winning touchdown with 63 seconds left, and stubbornly held on in the final seconds to walk out of Hard Rock Stadium with a hard-earned 42-35 victory over the mistake-prone 'Canes.
In a game that was a near "must" for the Hokies – an 0-3 start to conference play pretty much dooms any hope of a division championship – Tech went with a first-time starter at quarterback and then relied on its most dependable players to give itself at least a chance in the ACC race. The performance, reminiscent of last year's win at Florida State, also quieted the discussion, for the time being, of that poor performance against the Blue Devils.
"We weren't happy with what we put on film," tight end Dalton Keene said of the Duke game. "What we put on film was a soft football team, and we just wanted to turn that around because that's not who we are. There's nothing worse than being called a soft football team."
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Brutally honest, Keene also stands one of the Hokies' most dependable players and certainly someone not accustomed to being associated with the word "soft." Neither is fellow tight end James Mitchell, a rapidly emerging versatile weapon who is also quite reliable. Thus, it certainly came as no surprise that offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen leaned heavily on both on an evening when he and head coach Justin Fuente elected to go with Hendon Hooker as the starting quarterback.
Hooker's first career start went better than anyone could have imagined considering the redshirt sophomore came into the game with only two pass attempts for his career. He threw for 184 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran for 76 yards and a score, leading an offense that scored 21 points off five Miami turnovers.
Eight of Hooker's 10 completions went to Keene and Mitchell. Some of that came about because standout receiver Tré Turner watched from Blacksburg while nursing an injury, but the strategy made sense, as Cornelsen, for the most part, put Hooker in situations to make mostly easy reads and throws to Keene and Mitchell. Keene set career highs in receptions (five), yardage (73) and touchdowns (three). Mitchell caught three passes for 75 yards, including a career-long 67-yarder, and he also rushed for a touchdown for the second time this season.
"I feel like we always have things to set the tight ends up to get us the ball," Mitchell said. "Today just happened to be a better day for us. We found ourselves open a lot more than we usually do, but there are always plays for us in the game plan. It's just a matter of going out there and executing."
Both tight ends came up extra large in the fourth quarter. Mitchell's 67-yard reception gave Tech a first-and-goal at the Miami 5 and led to a 5-yard touchdown pass from Hooker to Keene that gave the Hokies a 35-14 lead.
Miami rallied to tie the game at 35 thanks to a 21-point burst in a four-minute span. But Tech, especially Hooker, didn't panic. A dumb unsportsmanlike penalty on Miami gave the Hokies great field position with a little more than 3 minutes to go, and Hooker went to work.
He completed a 29-yard pass to Damon Hazelton – a beautifully thrown ball – to put the Hokies at the Miami 34. Then on third-and-5, he made a nice fake and found Keene for a 26-yard gain to the 3. Deshawn McClease scored what ultimately would be the game-winning touchdown on a 3-yard run.
Cornelsen, who certainly received his fair share of criticism over the past week, did a masterful job Saturday evening. He used Hooker in the running game to set up some nice misdirection in the passing game – and Hooker splendidly executed it.
"I think he was the same way the whole time," Keene said when asked of Hooker's demeanor on the final drive. "He was confident and composed. When you've got a new quarterback in there, everyone else has to elevate their game, too, and try to cover for him, but we didn't have to do that. He played great. Everyone elevated their game, but he just did a really good job of stepping in there. He was composed the entire game, which was awesome to see."
It was awesome to see both Keene and Mitchell featured so extensively in the Hokies' attack, especially Keene, who entered the game with just six receptions in four games – a pittance for a guy with 30 career starts and 31 career games. Usually, when he and Mitchell find the ball coming their way, they do good things, and the Hokies play better as a result.
Fittingly, Keene and Mitchell entered the postgame news conference at the same time and sat side by side. All smiles after the game, they joked about calling themselves "#T-Unit" for "Tight End Unit." They also said that Virginia Tech was becoming "Tight End University."
"It's about time we found the tight ends a couple of times," Keene smiled.
Hokie Nation probably echoes that same sentiment, as Keene and Mitchell played major roles in alleviating fans' social media angst.
On a sultry South Florida Saturday night, Tech fans watched the tight ends become heavily involved in the offense. Even better, because of that, they saw the Hokies win.