MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. Seahawks #15 Jersey . -- A big punt return for Miami turned into points for Virginia Tech. A big kickoff return for Miami, more points for Virginia Tech. In the span of a week, the Hurricanes have gone from unbeaten to reeling. And if this is going to be the year where Miami finally plays for an Atlantic Coast Conference title, itll probably need some help down the stretch. Three special-teams blunders led to touchdowns, two huge mistakes on third-and-long did the same, and all that simply doomed the Hurricanes on Saturday night. Trey Edmunds rushed for four touchdowns, and Virginia Tech knocked off No. 14 Miami 42-24 to turn the ACC Coastal Division race into a logjam. "Whatever I say is an excuse," Miami coach Al Golden said. "At the end of the day, we have to fix it. We have to go back to work and fix it." Edmunds first three scores were direct results of the special-teams mistakes. Virginia Tech also not only converted on third-and-17 and third-and-12 later in the game -- but it got touchdowns on both of those plays. The Hokies outgained the Hurricaanes 549-352 and piled up 26 first downs to Miamis 12. "We had a lot of unforced errors. ... Thats pretty much it," Miami defensive captain Shayon Green said. Edmunds had scoring runs of 10, 2, 4 and 1 yards for the Hokies (7-3, 4-2 ACC). Logan Thomas completed 25 of 31 passes for 366 yards, giving him consecutive games of 300 yards or more for the first time in his Virginia Tech career, and the Hokies held the ball for nearly a 2-to-1 margin -- an all-too-familiar trend for Miami this season. "We ran the ball really hard, had some holes to run in ... one of our better offensive performances in a while," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "On defence, we played well, had a couple long plays. This was a great win for us." Miami wore new jerseys with the phrase "Deserve Victory" -- a favourite of Goldens -- stitched along the collar. Only Virginia Tech got the message. Stephen Morris completed 16 of 29 passes for 324 yards for Miami (7-2, 3-2), which hasnt beaten Virginia Tech consecutive times since 2001 and 2002. Morris had an 81-yard touchdown pass to Stacy Coley and an 84-yarder to Allen Hurns, but it wasnt nearly enough. "Like I was telling the team in the locker room, its not over for us," Morris said. "Weve got a lot to still work for." Virginia Tech held Miami to 28 rushing yards. The win turns the ACCs Coastal Division into a muddled mess, with Georgia Tech at 5-2 in conference play, Virginia Tech a half-game back (but owning the tiebreaker over the Yellow Jackets), Miami and Duke at 3-2, North Carolina at 3-3 and Pittsburgh at 2-3. Florida State has already clinched the Atlantic Division title and spot in the ACC title game on Dec. 7. "Were back in there," Beamer said. "Weve got a shot." Joshua Stanford (107) and Willie Byrn (105) both had 100-yard receiving nights for Virginia Tech, helping carve a Miami defence that has allowed 1,066 yards in its last two games -- both blowout losses. Winning games with help of strong special teams play is nothing new for the Hokies. After all, its not called "Beamer Ball" for nothing. But the Hurricanes were making it too easy for Virginia Tech. After the Hurricanes took a 7-0 lead on the Morris-to-Coley completion, Miami was primed to get the ball back in Virginia Tech territory following a punt. But Coley fumbled it away at the Hokies 45 -- after getting hit by punter A.J. Hughes, no less. And five plays later, Edmunds scored his first of the night to tie the game. Rain was falling steadily. The mistakes, from the Miami side, started coming at deluge rates. The ensuing kickoff was eerily similar to the punt return, with things going from great to dreadful for Miami in the blink of an eye. Artie Burns fumbled the kickoff return near midfield, Edmunds scored five plays later once again, and the Hokies had the lead. It became 21-7 not long after the third Miami blunder, this one coming when punter Pat ODonnells knee was on the ground as he fielded a low snap at the Miami 17. "Cant let them get 21 points like that," Golden said. "Inexcusable." Virginia Tech converted on a third-and-17 late in the half, when Stanford made three Hurricanes miss -- two had a chance at him well short of a first down -- on the way to a 32-yard scoring grab that made it 28-14. A third-and-12 play at midfield in the third quarter summed up the night. Virginia Tech took a time-out to keep Thomas, whose helmet was knocked off on the previous play, on the field. He found a wide-open Willie Byrn for a first down -- and when Miamis Ladarius Gunter punched the ball away around the 5, it bounded into the end zone, only to be recovered by Demitri Knowles for a 35-17 lead. Beating Miami, Thomas said, is huge. "Those colours," Thomas said, "bring out the best in a player." Derrick Coleman Seahawks Jersey . Earnshaw went on Twitter to break the news to Tornto FC followers on Friday. Richard Sherman Seahawks Jersey . Varlamov stopped 40 shots in his first game after playing for Russia in the Sochi Olympics, including 18 in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 on Friday night.PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins never stopped believing they could beat the Philadelphia Flyers. Not when the Flyers won the first three games of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series. Not when the Flyers raced to a quick lead in Game 4. Not even in the waning moments of Game 6, when an unlikely comeback died in a surprisingly one-sided 5-1 loss. The Penguins began the playoffs eyeing a second Stanley Cup title in four years. The journey ended before it barely began. Again. A year ago, the Penguins had excuses when they fell to Tampa Bay in seven games in the opening round. Stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were out. Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson played the series of his life. Pittsburgh was worn down after grinding for months without their two superstars in the lineup. Not this time. Pittsburgh started the playoffs at full strength only to get outplayed and -- even worse -- outclassed by the Flyers. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was erratic, the special teams were abysmal and the resolve Pittsburgh showed while winning 51 games during the season missing for long stretches. "We put ourselves in a pretty big hole," Crosby said. "We pretty much had to play perfect hockey to get back in the series and did a pretty good job until today .... Just, when you put yourself three-zero, its pretty tough to get back in." Pittsburgh never could. Theres a reason only three teams in post-season history have climbed out of 3-0 deficits to win a series. Its tough to win four straight games during the regular season, much less against your arch rival in the playoffs. As the Flyers celebrated on Sunday afternoon, the Penguins filed slowly to the dressing room to ponder another spring that ended far too early. The NHLs highest scoring team pumped in plenty of goals against Philadelphia. Pittsburgh found the back of the net 26 times in six games. In most series, thats plenty. Not this one, where traditional playoff hockey sometimes took a backseat to the kind of offensive explosion normally reserved for the All-Star game. Philadelphia scored 12 power-play goals in the series, a franchise playoff record. No matter how many defencemen the Penguins dressed or hhow many adjustments coach Dan Bylsma made, the Flyers had an answer. Tony McDaniel Seahawks Jersey. "Its not a good feeling and the guys are definitely going to remember this feeling," Pittsburgh centre Jordan Staal said. "Hopefully we can take something positive out of it and really do what we can next year." Staals sentiments were a familiar refrain throughout the dressing room of a franchise that looked like a burgeoning dynasty not so long ago. Pittsburgh made consecutive Cup finals in 2008 and 2009, winning it all three years ago behind the spectacular play of Malkin and Fleury. Three straight springs have produced dismal results. Two years ago, the Penguins fell to unheralded Montreal in the conference semifinals. Last year, the Lightning stormed back from 3-1 down. This time the Penguins ever had the advantage after squandering an early three-goal lead in Game 1. Now the question becomes how much longer the core will remain intact. Crosby and Staal can become free agents after next season. Though its a near certainty the Penguins will do what they can to keep Crosby, they may not be able to afford Staal, who had six goals and three assists against the Flyers and was easily Pittsburghs best player in the series. Staal is hardly ready to look too far down the road. "I love the guys in this room and I believe in every one of the guys in the room," he said. "I think we have the character in this room to not give up. We didnt give up in the series and it was too bad we still came up short." Something that wasnt supposed to happen for one of the NHLs marquee franchises. Any major off-season moves will likely focus on shoring up a defence that floundered late in the year and was totally exposed by the Flyers. Either way, the Penguins will have to wait 12 long months to get another shot and spend the next six weeks watching the chase to this years Cup carry on without them. "Thats hockey sometimes," Crosby said. "You dont always get to achieve the stuff you want to and theres a lot of other teams that want the same thing. Its not a good feeling, but that being said, weve got to find some way to learn from this and be better for it." ' ' '
