Mario Cristobal assesses Miami's first half performance vs Virginia Tech

Miami got things rolling immediately against Virginia Tech to take a 17-0 lead into halftime on Saturday. Mario Cristobal sounded impressed in his halftime interview, but he knew it wasn’t a perfect half.

Virginia Tech got the ball first and looked like it was going to establish its run game early. But the Hokies turned it over — and Miami capitalized, turning it into a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

That turnover proved to be huge, and Cristobal said it came at a perfect time.

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“No. 1, we’ve done a really good job against the run after we got settled,” Cristobal told ACC Network’s Wiley Ballard at halftime. “We had to force a turnover to do that. They were marching the ball right down the field. Turnovers change the momentum, we’ve gotten pressure on the quarterback. We’re playing good defense.”

As for the Miami offense, it got rolling early behind quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who completed 17 of 27 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. But Cristobal still saw areas to clean up, notably with penalties. Miami received eight penalties for 79 yards while Virginia Tech committed just two for 21 yards in the first two quarters.

“They came out with a purpose,” Cristobal said of his offense. “They came out with intentions to come out there and play fast, play hard. … Had a lot of guys who stepped up. We’ve got to eliminate the penalties and we can do even better.”

Virginia Tech safety Nasir Peoples ejected for targeting vs Miami

Virginia Tech will be without safety Nasir Peoples for the rest of Saturday’s game against Miami. He was ejected in the second quarter for targeting.

Peoples laid a big hit on Miami tight end Will Mallory after a 20-yard reception with 14:43 left in the first half. Officials threw a flag and, after review, called Peoples for targeting and ejected him.

Virginia Tech entered Saturday’s game on a three-game losing streak, most recently losing to Pitt last week. The Hokies, under first-year head coach Brent Pry, are trying to right the ship after the slow start, but will have to do so without Peoples for the rest of the game.