Virginia Tech doesnt have long to lick its wounds after a surprising loss at Syracuse, but the Hokies could hardly ask for a better motivator to get back to work. They face longtime rival Miami on Thursday night.The former Big East rivals have played 33 times, with Miami winning 20, including three of the last four. The Hokies (4-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) were 21-9 in Thursday night games under former coach Frank Beamer but were 0-3 against the Hurricanes (4-2, 1-2). Miami has lost two straight, to Florida State and North Carolina.In the now wide open Coastal Division race, the game likely qualifies as a must-win.Its very critical, Hokies defensive end Ken Ekanem said. Any ACC opponent is like a championship game, so I think we cant just hype up in our minds. We have to just take it one game at a time, like I said before. Weve just got to focus on going 1-0. Any ACC opponent, especially Miami -- a big rival of ours -- is a big game.Virginia Tech is a half-game behind North Carolina in the Coastal standings but holds the head-to-head advantage against the Tar Heels after a 34-3 victory two weeks ago in Chapel Hill. Pittsburgh also is 2-1 in the division and will host the Hokies next Thursday night.The Hurricanes spent much of the early part of the season in the Top 25 before their recent slide, and with every team in the division having at least one loss, they are far from eliminated in the division championship race.Weve got to just recuperate and just focus in and hone in on the game plan, quarterback Brad Kayaa, who is in his third season as the Hurricanes starter, said this week. It is a short week, so its time to get going.Cant dwell on the last two losses. Just got to get going and get this thing on the road.Running back Mark Walton was not as diplomatic.Right now, its all or nothing, he said. Weve got to try to win out and get our groove back, man.Miami won its last visit to Lane Stadium, on a Thursday night two years ago, 30-6.Both programs are in their first seasons under new coaches, with Mark Richt calling the shots in Miami and Justin Fuente in Blacksburg. Fuente is eager to experience the atmosphere of a Thursday night home game.Im looking forward to taking part in it. Im confident our kids will be ready to go, but weve got a long way to go and a short time to get there and a lot of work to get done this week, Fuente said Monday.Ekanem, meanwhile, wants his teammates to remember the Hurricanes last visit.You cant make it bigger than it actually is. Youve got to keep everybodys head really level, so I think we definitely owe them and weve got to be able to bring it on Thursday, he said.Getting everyone on the same motivational page will be critical, quarterback Jerod Evans said.We have to bring our own energy, our own emotion, and this is a very team-oriented sport, he said. We have most guys bringing it and some guys not, and that can lead to certain things. As far as bringing our own stuff, we as a unit didnt bring it all the way. That was kind of the case for Syracuse.---AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.---Online:The APs college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjrAir Vapormax 97 Sale . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Nike Vapormax 95 Sale . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. http://www.airvapormaxwholesale.com/vapormax-2019.html . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Off White Vapormax Wholesale . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Off White Vapormax Cheap . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead.TORONTO -- To help Auston Matthews through the first slump of his rookie season, Toronto coach Mike Babcock has turned to Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg.Matthews piled up six goals and 10 points in his first six games, including a historic four-goal outing in his NHL debut. The 19-year-old Matthews was still tied for second Tuesday among all rookies in scoring (12 points), four points behind Patrik Laine.But Matthews has no goals and two assists in the past nine games, and Babcock is using video of Crosby and Zetterberg to do some tweaking with his young star.In one-on-one sessions, Babcock showed Matthews how Zetterberg, the longtime Red Wings star, gets the puck back just by standing in the right places defensively. He showed Matthews Crosbys strategy of luring the defenses out of position and not hesitating to make plays.Babcock has seen subtle adjustments from Matthews over the past couple weeks, particularly in the faceoff circle. The Arizona native won 43 percent of the draws in the opening five games, 53 percent in the ffollowing five and 61 percent in the past five.ddddddddddddhat hes telling you already is he likes having the puck, Babcock said. Hes sick and tired of chasing it already. So then the next thing hes going to figure out if he stops in the right places on defense and puts his stick in the right place, the offensive players are going to keep giving it back to him and then his skillset is going to come out.But the hardest part for a kid when you come in the National Hockey League is you never get the puck.Matthews said he believes hes grown stronger defensively in recent weeks. He also leads Toronto with 58 shots, though he last scored Oct. 25 against Tampa Bay, nine games ago.In our situation we need him to be a dominant, dominant center for us, Babcock said. We think hes going to be by Christmas time. We think hes a very good player already. But we think he can be lights-out both with and without the puck. ' ' '