’Canes grind out win over Panthers
The No. 13 Miami Hurricanes returned home from their loss at No. 1Clemson needing a win.
As ugly as it may have been at times, Miami got exactly that against the gritty Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
Quarterback D’Eriq King threw four touchdown passes, along with two interceptions, as the Hurricanes topped Pitt 31-19 in front of an announced attendance at Hard Rock Stadium of 9,000 scattered fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
King went 16 of 31 for 222 yards and added 32 rushing yards. Two of his touchdowns went to Will Mallory, whostepped up with Miami (4-1, 3-1Atlantic Coast Conference) missing fellow junior tight end Brevin Jordan (shoulder).
Redshirt freshman Pitt quarterback Joey Yellen, starting for injured seniorKenny Pickett, was 22 of 46 for 277 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers (3-3, 2-3).
As neither team surpassed 300 yards of total offense until deep into the fourth quarter, theHurricanes held Pitt to field goals on four separate trips in the red zone, 3 of 17 on third downs and 22 rushing yards.
“It was just a grind-it-out game,” UM coach Manny Diaz said. “The highlight of the game was the way that we played great team ball.
“We were disappointed and a little bit angry coming off of last week, but you put it behind. That’s a difficult situation. You’ve got the noon kickoff, not a super juicy environment because of the restrictionswe have against a team that’s hurt and going to play with a sense of desperation, which I thought Pitt did.
For those guys to go out there and knowthat it’s just not going to be an easy game, regardless of your mindset, says a lot about the leadership on our football team.”
The Panthers narrowed a 15-point deficit to 21-16 when cornerback and Cardinal Gibbons grad Marquis Williams intercepted a King pass to the sideline and returned it 34 yards to the 1-yard line to set up a touchdown. A Yellen pass to tight end Daniel Moraga then put points on the board on the next play.
“What you get from D’Eriq is just, ‘Move on. Next play. Let’s go,’ ” Diaz said. “Ultimately, he was able to make the plays for us to win the game.”
Miami responded later in the third quarter with a King touchdownpass to a wide-openMallory from 45 yards out. Also finding junior running back Cam’Ron Harris the same way in the first quarter, it was King’s second touchdownthatcamefroma leanin to fake the quarterback run, draw defenders in and free his man. It putUMup 28-16.
“It went as perfectly as we planned it to be,” Mallory said. “It’s real easy to score on those wide-open things when the scheme’s that good.”
Defensive end Quincy Roche, who had four tackles for a loss Saturday, teamed up with Jaelan Phillips for a strip-sack and recovered the fumble to set Miami up in prime field position on the Panthers’ side of the field. TheHurricaneswere in need of the momentum swing after Pitt had made it a one-possession game.
“From that point on, we were really in control,” Diaz said. “Quincy, without watching the film, certainly to the eye test it felt like that was his best game for us since he’s been here.”
Losing time of possessionmuch of the game, UMate up 7 minutes, 11 seconds of the fourth quarter on a 14-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in a 37-yard field goal from Jose Borregales.