Michigan caps turnaround by beating Hokies

NEW ORLEANS -- Here's another tradition that Brady Hoke has restored at Michigan: Winning.

The coach who grew up in Ohio but revered the Wolverines since childhood ended his first season in charge holding up the silver Sugar Bowl trophy amid fluttering maize and blue confetti.

Brendan Gibbons drilled a 37-yard field goal in overtime, lifting No. 13 Michigan to a 23-20 victory over 17th-ranked Virginia Tech at the Superdome on Tuesday.

The victory capped an impressive debut season for Hoke, who has led the Wolverines (11-2) back to prominence with a BCS bowl victory. In his usual style, he also deflected the credit from himself onto the senior leaders of "Team 132," as he calls the squad, with a nod to the number of teams the historic football program has fielded.

"I'm just real proud, real proud of our seniors. Real proud of how they took this football team last January and molded it and did a tremendous job," Hoke said, noting that only five Michigan teams have won 11 games in a season. "We always have a tremendous legacy of Team 132 that a lot of teams are going to have to try and match up to."

Denard Robinson highlighted an otherwise unspectacular night with touchdown passes of 45 and 18 yards to game Most Valuable Player Junior Hemingway.

"It shows our hard work," Hemingway said, his voice cracking with emotion. "It shows everything we put in from Day One, all the long days, long nights. Man, I'm telling you, it feels too good, man. Too good."

It is fair to say that an unusual rough patch that saw Michigan endure two losing seasons in the previous three is history, but Michigan still has more work to do to become a national title contender. Virginia Tech gave the Wolverines all they could handle and might have won if not for some key miscues.

"I'm about half-sick right now," Virginia Tech coach frank Beamer said. "Too many mistakes. ... They weren't stopping us; we were stopping ourselves."

Virginia Tech (11-3) had more than double Michigan's total yards, 377-184, and had 22 first downs to Michigan's 12, but settled for four field goals in regulation by third-string kicker Justin Myer, to go with just one TD.

However, Myer was unable to connect on his fifth try from 37 yards away in the opening possession of overtime.

Robinson finished 9 of 21 for 117 yards passing and threw an interception. He rushed 13 times for a season-low 13 yards.

Virginia Tech first-year starter Logan Thomas was 19 of 28 for 214 yards, with one interception.

Thomas scored Tech's only touchdown on a 1-yard keeper that tied the game at 17 -- after a 2-point conversion -- early in the fourth quarter.

Virginia Tech senior receiver Danny Coale, who had eight catches for 117 yards, nearly made a spectacular diving catch for a touchdown in overtime. The play was overturned on video review, which showed the receiver narrowly landed on the sideline.

"Danny's play is so close, and it seemed like there was just quite a few of those there tonight," Beamer said. "So close, but just didn't quite have it go our way."

The result of that third-down play forced Tech to try for Myer's failed field goal.

Michigan then used three conservative runs to set up Gibbons in the middle of the field.

"Every time we were like struggling in kicking, coach tells me to think about girls on a beach or brunette girls," Gibbons said. "So that's what we did. Made the kick."

Virginia Tech fell behind late in regulation after gambling on a fake punt. Michigan's Jake Ryan stopped it at the Tech 45, leading to a short drive that set up Gibbons' go-ahead 39-yard field goal with four minutes left.

That was just enough time for the Hokies to tie it once more, even though they had to start at their own 9 after a holding penalty on the kickoff.

Thomas marched the Hokies 83 yards in 3:58, setting up Myer's game-tying 25-yarder.

It was the fourth field goal of the game for Myer, who until a couple weeks ago was the third-string place kicker.