"I'm awfully pleased with the way we played," Miami coach Randy Walker said. "We played with great poise."
The upset also made Walker the MU's career victories leader. Walker has 45 wins in his eighth season, surpassing Frank Wilton's 44 wins (1932-41).
"That was a classic example of what happens when guys spend the week talking about too many other teams and forget the game at hand," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "And when you have two punts blocked and fumble away the ball on two drives, you can expect to get upset."
Once they fell behind, the Hokies (4-1) began to fall apart while Miami (4-1) remained poised behind their fifth-year senior quarterback, Ricketts, and a defense that shut down a high-powered offense for the second week in a row.
Virginia Tech went ahead 7-0 on its first possession, a methodical, 14-play drive that ended with Ken Oxendine's 1-yard leap.
The Hokies then recovered a fumble, kicked a field goal and appeared to be on the way to another easy victory and an extension of their school-record string of 23 games with 20 or more points.
The Hokies, who received bowl alliance bids the past two seasons, expected to be off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 1967 and were talking up an undefeated season.
But in the second quarter, MU blocked a punt, scored and used a trick play to go ahead 14-10.
After Ricketts ran 46 yards on an option to the Virginia Tech 31, the drive stalled and Miami lined up for a field goal. The holder, reserve quarterback Mike Bath, went behind the center, quickly took the snap and appeared to spin around to begin an option play and was tackled behind the line.
He had actually handed the ball to tailback Travis Prentice, who pretended to be a blocker for a few seconds and then ran 32 yards, untouched, for a touchdown.
Virginia Tech went back ahead 17-14 when Clark threw a 53-yard pass to Shawn Scales and Oxendine ran it in from three yards.
After another drive was stalled by a personal foul and the Hokies had another punt blocked, they started to get rattled.
They Hokies came in ranked fourth nationally in turnover margin and hadn't lost a fumble.
But MU forced Oxendine to fumble and then drove 28 yards for a touchdown to go ahead 21-17 with 4:11 left in the third quarter. The next time Virginia Tech got the ball, Oxendine fumbled again - this time on the Miami 9.
Miami then drove 82 yards to set up John Scott's 36-yard field goal with 11:54 to play.
After Virginia Tech's Shayne Graham missed a 40-yard field goal attempt, usually well within his range, MU shut down the Hokies' offense, which had been averaging 41 points and 410 yards a game.
The win was Miami's 25th so-called "tomahawk victory." The Tomahawk tradition, which commemorates Miami victories on the road against larger programs, began in 1947. Although Walker had mention of Tomahawk victories stricken from the school's media guide since 1995 - he didn't want bigger schools to have added incentive - red replica tomahawks, noting the score, are displayed in the Yager Stadium locker room.
MU held Army to 261 yards rushing in a 38-14 victory last week. Army went into the game averaging 431.3 rushing yards, tops in the nation.
Miami 0 14 7 3 - 24
Virginia Tech 10 7 0 0 - 17
First Quarter
VaT-Oxendine 1 run (Graham kick), 8:13
VaT-FG Graham 44, 5:45
Second Quarter
M-Cohen 3 blocked punt return (Scott kick), 14:07
M-Prentice 32 run (Scott kick), 9:49
VaT-Oxendine 3 run (Graham kick), 7:16
Third Quarter
M-Prentice 8 run (Scott kick), 4:22
Fourth Quarter
-FG Scott 36, 11:54
A-42,878.
RUSHING-Miami, Prentice 21-82, Ricketts 9-32, Monk 6-15, Adkins 2-12. VaTech, Oxendine 23-105, Clark 20-21, Parker 5-19, Pegues 3-12.
PASSING-Miami, Ricketts 13-24-0-190. VaTech, Clark 14-24-0-172.
RECEIVING-Miami, Hall 5-66, Johnson 2-59, Vaughn 2-28, Monk 1-19, Buxton 1-13, Gaylor 1-5, Prentice 1-0. VaTech, Harrison 4-40, Scales 3-81, Gildersleeve 2-28, Oxendine 2-(minus 4), Parker 1-18, Handy 1-5, Stuewe 1-4.
Previous game reports
MIAMI 38, ARMY 14 September 28, 1997
MIAMI 49, AKRON 20 September 14, 1997
BOWLING GREEN 28, MIAMI 21 September 7, 1997
MIAMI 27, BALL STATE 10 August 31, 1997
