Miami vs. Virginia Tech: Brent Pry addresses controversial ending, failed Hail Mary
For a few minutes Friday night, it looked like Virginia Tech pulled off a miracle as Kyron Drones threw up a Hail Mary pass. However, the officials overturned the call and deemed it incomplete, and Brent Pry addressed the controversial ending in his postgame press conference.
Drones’ pass went into a group of Hokies and Hurricanes players, and the officials ruled Da’Quon Felton came down with it. They then went to the replay center for a lengthy review before overturning the call. That meant it was an incomplete pass, giving Miami its fifth straight win to start the season.
Pry told reporters he didn’t get an explanation from the officials about the call. He also pointed out the tough nature of the ending, and he expressed his hope the referees made the right decision.
“The way the game ended, I hope they got that call right,” Pry said in his opening statement. “To take that – to overturn it and take it from our kids, our coaches, our fans, I hope they got that right.”
ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin said he didn’t know if there was enough to overturn the call, and Andre Ware – who called the game with Anish Shroff – agreed. He thought it should’ve stood as called, no matter what the officials initially decided.
“A lot of conversations about that because I just don’t know where you see it on the replay to reverse the call on the field,” Ware said. “And had it been called incomplete, see it that way. I just thought the ruling – whatever was called on the field should stand. That’s tough.”
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Friday night’s matchup saw plenty of big-time momentum swings as Virginia Tech aimed to pull off the Top-10 upset against Miami. The biggest, though, came on a key decision from Pry that helped shift the momentum back in the Hurricanes’ favor.
In the third quarter, the Hokies faked a field goal and were stopped short – giving the Hurricanes the ball back with 5:50 left in the period. They turned it into a touchdown drive and got that much closer to taking control right back.
Virginia Tech scored another touchdown to make it a 34-24 game, but Miami didn’t back down. The Hurricanes put together back-to-back touchdown drives to take a 38-34 advantage as Virginia Tech got the ball back with 1:57 to play. Drones led the Hokies down the field and threw up the Hail Mary with three seconds to go.
However, Miami did just enough to help it fall incomplete. That meant the Hurricanes avoided the upset and improved to 5-0 on the season – with a bit of suspense as officials looked over the replay.