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		Miami's Darrnell Jenkins and Greg Olsen (82) had an uplifting experience in Blacksburg, Va., Saturday night.
		By Don Petersen, AP

This was a chance for Miami to be Miami again. For Larry Coker to relive his heady first seasons as coach, when he started 24-0 and the football landscape shook wherever the Hurricanes went.

Miami — weary of all the talk about about poor old No. 3 Virginia Tech being left out of the BCS with a perfect record — came to the mountains Saturday night to make a statement.

Final score: 27-7. Loud enough?

"I think we did have a little edge," Coker said. "We took it a little personal. I don't think people gave us much of a chance to win."

That's usually dangerous. Coker is now 5-0 as an underdog.

"I wanted to embarrass them," Miami tackle Eric Winston said.

And at the point of the Hurricanes' sword … defense.

Defense that turned Marcus Vick — whose numbers had been reminding the locals of brother Michael — into a not-ready-for-prime-time performer. A budding star of a quarterback who with the heat on produced six turnovers, before his only touchdown.

Defense that drained the noise from the night, and withstood a long Miami casualty list on offense.

Quarterback Kyle Wright and his woozy head … tailback Tyrone Moss and his sprained knee … incendiary kick returner Devin Hester and his injured hamstring … all went down in the first half, with only Wright to return.

And none of it changed the result, or its many national ramifications.

"We just got beat by a team that played great tonight," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer.

No. 5 Miami (7-1) is on track for the first ACC championship game, against old chum Florida State.

Meanwhile, another unbeaten bites the dust. The eyes of Texas were upon this game, too, and had to love what they saw. The Longhorns no longer will have Virginia Tech (8-1) in their BCS rearview mirror. With UCLA's collapse at Arizona, only USC, Texas and Alabama remain perfect.

"They're not quite to the mountain top yet," Winston said of Virginia Tech.

And the Hurricanes will be waiting at No. 4, should some virus strike the unbeatens. Miami is clearly top-rung timber, if Saturday means anything.

"This puts us right we're where we want to be," Coker said. "Down the stretch, a lot of crazy things can happen."

It was shocking in its completeness, especially in the way the Hurricanes controlled both lines of scrimmage.

The offensive line cleared room for backup tailback Charlie Jones — with only 132 rushing yards to his name this season before Saturday — to go for 97, filling in for Moss.

There was room for Jones to lead a 17-play, 82-yard touchdown march in the second period that ate up 8:18, even as Wright left the game after a taking a hit near the helmet from Darryl Tapp. And Moss was gone, too.

But the backups plowed on, including a Jones 1-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1 that helped set the tone for the evening as much as any play, "What I saw from Charlie," Coker said, "is the same thing I see every day in practice."

There was time for Wright to pass for 146 yards, despite spending most of the second quarter on the bench trying to remember what planet he was on. He returned in the second half to throw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Jenkins.

The special teams allowed Virginia Tech's vaunted special units no room, no daylight, no chance to do anything that could turn around the game.

But most of all, Miami had its defense.

Vick was under a ferocious and relentless rush. He fumbled four times. The first set up an early field goal. The third was created and recovered for a touchdown by tackle Kareem Brown.

He finished 8 for 22 in passing for 90 yards and was sacked four times.

"He's such a competitor. He wants everything to go just right," Beamer said. "I think we need to find the reasons things didn't go right."

But Miami's defense had noticed how Vick carries the ball loosely when he runs. They intended to make him pay.

"He's a great playmaker," said Miami defensive end Thomas Carroll, who caused the first fumble. "But that's going to get him in trouble."

Virginia Tech did not break 100 yards in total offense until the last play of the third period. By then, it was 27-0.

Virginia Tech had every reason to expect something better before the loud and adoring masses. The Hokies had been waiting for this game all season.

But the Hurricanes have ruined more than one opponent's January plans. It does not always have to be Florida State.