Stephen Morris' two touchdown strikes, to Allen Hurns and Mike James, have the Miami Hurricanes leading the Virginia Tech Hokies, 14-3, through the first quarter of the teams' key ACC Thursday night showdown.
The Hurricanes' offense capitalized on a special teams play — a blocked punt — to score the game's first points. Virginia Tech's punt after stalling offensively was blocked by Miami's Gabriel Terry, and the block was downed at the Virginia Tech 16.
Two plays later, Morris connected with Hurns for the Hurricanes' touchdown.
The Hokies scored near the end of the first quarter on a Cody Journell 22-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 44-yard drive that covered more than six minutes.
Morris struck again for a second 16-yard touchdown pass, this time to James with the first quarter winding down, to extend the Hurricanes' lead to 14-3. The Hurricanes were again the beneficiaries of strong field position, taking only two plays to score after Duke Johnson returned a Virginia Tech punt 81 yards to set Miami up nicely.
Beyond the two touchdowns, the Hurricanes have been unable to muster any other offense, combining for just four yards aside from the two touchdown passes.