Miami wins 5th in row

Hurricanes keep pressure on UNC in ACC Coastal race

MIAMI -- Javarris James ran for a touchdown, Matt Bosher kicked three field goals, and Miami got a huge defensive stand in the final minutes to beat Virginia Tech 16-14 on Thursday night and move into first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division.

Marcus Robinson had three sacks and a big third-down tackle for a loss with 2:27 left to help the Hurricanes win their fifth straight.

Robinson's stop on Dustin Pickle forced the Hokies, who were out of timeouts, into a fourth-and-3 -- and Allen Bailey sacked Tyrod Taylor to seal the win for the Hurricanes, who knelt three times to run out the clock.

Taylor ran for two touchdowns, including a 6-yarder with 3:28 remaining for the Hokies (6-4, 3-3), who had won four of the previous five meetings against the Hurricanes.

Miami (7-3, 4-2) holds the outright lead in the ACC Coastal, a half-game ahead of North Carolina, which will need to win Saturday at Maryland to keep pace in the race for a trip to the league championship game in Tampa, Fla.

Robert Marve threw for 121 yards and rushed for 44 more for the Hurricanes, who won just five games total last season and started 0-2 in the ACC this season -- yet have been the league's hottest team since.

And it was the defense that carried the Hurricanes again.

Miami ran 20 plays from scrimmage in the third quarter, compared with six by Virginia Tech -- which never advanced the ball farther than its own 18 in that period, adding to the Hurricanes' run of defensive dominance coming out of halftime.

Over the past five games, the Hurricanes' defense has been on the field for 76 plays in third quarters and given up 139 yards, a paltry 1.8 yard-per-play average.

Bosher connected from 21 and 31 yards in the third quarter, then added a 23-yarder early in the fourth for a 16-7 Miami lead.

Not only was it senior night for 23 Hurricanes, but Miami added five players -- Jim Kelly, Cortez Kennedy, Jim Otto, Gino Torretta and Edgerrin James -- to its ring of honor in a halftime ceremony. Four of those five were present for the party.