Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Offense looks to rebound after ‘embarrassing’ effort
CORAL GABLES — Not long after the Hurricanes walked off the field Saturday at North Carolina after their worst offensive showing of the year, receiver Braxton Berrios — a Raleigh native that had provided one of the afternoon’s highlights for Miami — couldn’t help but shake his head.
Like his coaches and teammates, he was relieved the Hurricanes had managed a 24-19 win over the struggling Tar Heels and were still unbeaten. But as one of the veteran leaders on Miami’s offense, he knew the game the Hurricanes had played was far from their best.
Against North Carolina, Miami managed just 59 rushing yards, a season low. The Hurricanes hadn’t been able to capitalize and score after any of the four turnovers their defense had forced. Even after a blocked punt set the Hurri- canes up inside North Carolina’s 15-yard line, Miami had to settle for
a field goal, not the touchdown that would have given it breathing room. And the Hurricanes turned it over twice themselves, while converting on just 4-of-17 third-down opportunities.
“It’s unacceptable, honestly,” Berrios said of the Hurricanes’ offensive showing against the Tar Heels. “We’ve got to start firing on all cylinders or it’s really going to catch up to us. Luckily, the defense played their tails off again. They kept us in the game. … Everything fires in practice, and we see it in practice. Whatever it is, I don’t know. If we knew exactly what it was, we would have fixed it by now. It may just be going out and playing, stop worrying and stop thinking too much. Little things like that it could be. Whatever it is, we have to diagnose it and we have to find a way to fix it.”
Like Berrios, Miami offensive coordinator Thomas Brown didn’t mince words when describing the performance, calling it “embarrassing” and “maybe the worst performance we’ve had since we’ve been at Miami.”
“It was a lack of focus, lack of execution and we got flat-out outplayed, to be honest with you,” Brown said. “It was embarrassing to see, embarrassing to be a part of, coaching-wise and we’ll definitely address it.”
For Miami, the challenge of trying to address some of its offensive issues comes this week against one of the premier defenses in the nation.
Through eight games, Virginia Tech (7-1, 3-1) has held five of its opponents to 10 points or less. The Hokies rank ninth in the nation, giving up just 285 yards per game. They’re 11th in the country, allowing an average of just 4.4 yards per play and they lead the ACC in rushing defense, with opponents managing just 111 rushing yards per game.
Against all of that effectiveness, Miami (7-0, 5-0) will try to jump-start its of- fense, which has played in stops and starts in recent weeks. And the 10th-ranked Hurricanes know what’s at stake against No. 13 Virginia Tech.
A win over the Hokies, combined with a Georgia Tech victory over Virginia, would give Miami its first Coastal Division title and put the Hurricanes in next month’s ACC Championship Game. Even if the Yellow Jackets can’t get past the Cavaliers, a win means the Hurricanes would control their own destiny. They’d also add to a nationleading 12-game win streak.
One thing working in Miami’s favor as it prepares for the Hokies is the Hurricanes’ ability to turn big plays. Against North Carolina, the Hurricanes scored on touchdown plays of 51 and 78 yards. This season, Miami has 46 offensive plays that have gone for at least 20 yards. The Hurricanes have also shown their ability to put points on the board quickly with 32 scoring drives that have taken less than three minutes.
But as they prepare to face Virginia Tech, questions remain. Hurricanes quarterback Malik Rosier, who injured his shoulder and briefly left the game against North Carolina, is looking to improve on his performance of a week ago, where he threw for a career-high 356 yards, but had an interception and bobbled several exchanges with his center. Running back Travis Homer will look to improve on his 40-yard performance, and Miami’s offensive line will look to put together a better effort as it protects Rosier and opens holes for Homer.
“We’re going to find ways to improve as much as possible,” Brown said. “If there are highlight points, we’ll highlight those. For me it’s not about coming in and cussing everybody out, making everybody feel like they can’t play, because we still have full confidence in our players. We just have to do a better job of doing our jobs.”