Live updates: Virginia Tech Hokies 24, No. 7 Miami Hurricanes 17, halftime

The Miami Hurricanes swept through their nonconference schedule with relative ease.

Now, the No. 7 Hurricanes (4-0) look to keep that momentum going as Atlantic Coast Conference play begins Friday against the Virginia Tech Hokies (2-2).

Kickoff from Hard Rock Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game is televised on ESPN.

Follow along throughout the game for score updates, thoughts, commentary and analysis.

Hurricanes get within a score before halftime

A big kickoff return from Chris Johnson and a defensive pass interference set the Hurricanes up for Andres Borregales to hit a career-long 56-yard field goal before halftime.

Miami goes to the locker room down 24-17.

The Hokies get the ball to start the second half.

Hokies add on before halftime

Virginia Tech tacks on three more points before the half on a John Love 57-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the first half. CJ Clark had a big third-down sack one play earlier to force Virginia Tech to settle for the field goal.

Missed tackles costing Hurricanes

Well now.

Virginia Tech retakes the lead on a Jaylin Lane 20-yard TD run on a reverse. Elijah Alston whiffed on the tackle in the backfield — his second miss of the game. A lot of missed tackles by UM so far tonight.

Virginia Tech up 21-14 on Miami, 5:25 left in the second quarter

And this game is tied

Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten ripped off a 55 yard touchdown run three plays after the Ward interception. He broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and was off to the races.

It’s 14-14 with 11:59 left in the second quarter.

Big Miami drive for naught

The Hurricanes marched all the way to the Virginia Tech 3 yard line and Cam Ward appeared to have his third touchdown pass of the game.

Except Markel Bell was called for a hold on third and goal. One play later, Virginia Tech’s Mose Phillips III intercepted a Ward pass intended for Xavier Restrepo.

Play action. Ward to Arroyo. Touchdown.

With Miami facing third and 1, Ward went under center, faked the handoff and hit a wide-open Elijah Arroyo for a 43-yard touchdown.

The Hurricanes are up 14-7 on the Hokies with 8:19 left in the first quarter.

Arroyo has two catches for 88 yards — one yard shy of his single-game career-high of 89 set on Aug. 31 in the season opener against Florida.

And a big turnover by the Hurricanes defense

Safety Mishael Powell recorded his third interception of the season and second in as many games on Virginia Tech’s second play of its second drive, giving the Hurricanes the ball near midfield.

Hurricanes quickly respond

Miami quickly responded to Virginia Tech’s touchdown with a touchdown of its own, marching 73 yards on five plays capped by a Cam Ward 18-yard touchdown pass to Jacolby George.

One play earlier, Ward found tight end Elijah Arroyo for a 45-yard pass down the right sideline. It’s the longest reception of Arroyo’s career.

George was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the touchdown, though — something Mario Cristobal was not happy with.

It’s 7-7 with 10:05 left in the first quarter.

Virginia Tech leads early

Virginia Tech took advantage of the short field, with Kyron Drones firing a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Benji Gosnell on third down after evading a pass rush from Elijah Alston to give the Hokies an early 7-0 lead.

There’s 12:47 left in the first quarter.

Canes with an early turnover

The Virginia Tech pass rush got to Cam Ward on Miami’s third play from scrimmage, with Cole Nelson forcing a fumble and Sam Brumfield recovering.

The Hokies get a short field.

Latest on Jalen Rivers, Rueben Bain Jr.

Neither defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. nor left tackle Jalen Rivers were dressed during pregame warmups.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal on Monday had said there was a “great chance” both players could return after missing the past three games.

Read the full story here.

Season recap

▪ Miami 41, Florida 17: Cam Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns, Mark Fletcher added two scores on the ground, the defense held its own despite one of its top players exiting the game early with injury, and the No. 19 Hurricanes made quick work of the Florida Gators with a season-opening win at Gainesville’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to kick off a critical Year 3 under Mario Cristobal.

▪ Miami 56, Florida A&M 9: That one went as expected. Cam Ward threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth before turning the game over to the second-string offense midway through the third quarter. The defense held the Rattlers to just three field goals.

▪ Miami 62, Ball State 0: The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes had to wait through nearly two-and-a-half hours of lightning delays before kicking off their home game against Ball State on Saturday.

Once the game finally began, they wasted little time asserting their dominance, as was expected in this non-conference matchup.

The final score from a soggy Hard Rock Stadium: Hurricanes 62, Ball State 0.

It’s the most points Miami has scored in a shutout of a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in program history.

▪ Miami 50, USF Bulls 15: The Miami Hurricanes and USF Bulls played a hectic, lengthy, back-and-forth first half on Saturday.

But once the teams returned from their locker rooms, the Hurricanes took over and played like the team that has dominated through the first three weeks of the season.

Fueled by three total rushing touchdowns by Damien Martinez, including two in the second half, and another stellar performance from quarterback Cam Ward, No. 8 Miami pulled away from USF and left Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium with a 50-15 road win.

▪ Miami vs. Virginia Tech (tonight)

▪ Miami at California (Oct. 5, time 10:30 p.m.)

▪ Miami at Louisville (Oct. 19, time TBD)

▪ Miami vs. Florida State (Oct. 26, time TBD)

▪ Miami vs. Duke (Nov. 2, time TBD)

▪ Miami at Georgia Tech (Nov. 9, time TBD)

▪ Miami vs. Wake Forest (Nov. 23, time TBD)

▪ Miami at Syracuse (Nov. 30, time TBD)

Pregame Hurricanes reading

Need to catch up before kickoff? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.

▪ No. 7 Hurricanes fueled by ‘positive anger.’ That will continue as ACC play begins

▪ As he nears a return, how Rueben Bain Jr. has worked to help the Miami Hurricanes amid injury

▪ Three key matchups to watch in the Miami Hurricanes’ ACC opener against Virginia Tech

▪ From columnist Greg Cote: Are No. 7 Miami Hurricanes really as good as they’ve looked? The proving starts now

▪ Cam Ward’s ACC introduction includes a personal matchup when Miami hosts Virginia Tech

▪ Hurricanes’ Isaiah Horton has made ‘big strides.’ He knows there’s more to come this season

▪ The Hurricanes dominated their non-conference schedule. Can they do the same in ACC play?