Hurricanes Need to Stop With the Gimmicks, Start With the Winning
The Miami Hurricanes suffered a demoralizing defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech Saturday 42-35 in front of a stunned crowd at Hard Rock Stadium.
A furious comeback including 21 points in the final quarter was not enough.
Miami fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in ACC play and will face an even tougher challenge when Virginia comes calling next weekend.
Jarren Williams came back to earth with a resounding thud against an opportunistic Bud Foster led defense. The long-time defensive coordinator is retiring after 33 seasons on the sidelines, but had one last knife twist for an old foe.
Williams went full Malik Rosier, hitting the bench after throwing three interceptions in the first half. Good news for Williams is that none of his seven pass attempts hit the ground, the other four were completed to the good guys.
For a grand total of 47 yards.
Miami fell down 28-0 early in the first half before N' Kosi Perry did his best to salvage the game after replacing Williams but it was too little, too late.
Perry finished with a career high 422 yards, completing 28 of 47 attempts with four TD and one pick.
Despite this effort Manny Diaz hinted that Williams would return to the starting role next week in his post game press conference.
Once again the Hurricanes running game was underutilized against a vulnerable Virginia Tech run defense.
DeeJay Dallas finished with just 66 yards on six carries, including a 62 yard run to put Miami in a position to take a late lead and steal the victory.
Yet Dan Enos refused to call his number early when Williams was throwing the ball to the wrong team.
Put Away the Props
Manny Diaz brought the Turnover Chain to the program in 2017 and for a time the prop seemed to propel the defense. The Hurricanes added "Touchdown Rings" to the mix this year to balance things out.
Problem is, celebrating a score with prop jewelry when you are getting waxed rings hollow.
The great Miami teams didn't need gimmicks, they knew they were better and just proved it week after week.
Miami lost the turnover battle 5-0 against Virginia Tech, if they would have snatched a couple chains early perhaps the momentum would swing back to the team in orange.
Virginia Tech has a beat up lunch box on the sidelines with a simple moniker: WIN.
They packed a lunch today, and stole our lunch money in the process.
Until this Hurricanes team learns the basics of winning football and stops making constant mental mistakes, the ice needs to be put on ice.
Bubba Baxa failed to make an extra point which would have put Miami up 36-35, another glaring miscue in a close game.
Get that man a platinum pinky ring next time he makes a clutch kick under 30 yards..
The offensive line is an abomination, giving up another seven sacks and allowing some crushing shots to Perry.
Maybe they should get an iced out watch so they know the snap count.
