UM clinches first ACC Coastal Division title

CORAL GABLES — As the Miami Hurricanes have risen through the rankings, as they’ve moved through their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, there has been one constant goal, one focus for every coach and every player.

And Saturday evening, before even taking the field for their showdown with No. 3 Notre Dame, the seventh-ranked Hurricanes accomplished that goal: they clinched the first Coastal Division title in program history and secured their berth in next month’s ACC Championship Game.

The Hurricanes, who are unbeaten in conference play, secured that Coastal Division championship with help from Louisville, which beat Virginia, 38-21, and eliminated the Cavaliers from Coastal contention.

UM (8-0, 6-0) is set to host Virginia next week and will close out the regular season with a Nov. 24 game at Pittsburgh.

On Dec. 2 in Charlotte, the Hurricanes will face Clemson. The defending national champion Tigers clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 31-14 win over Florida State.

It will be the first time Miami and Clemson (9-1, 7-1) will meet since their fateful matchup on Oct. 24, 2015. Clemson beat Miami, 58-0, handing the Hurricanes their worst loss in program history.

That loss cost former Miami coach Al Golden his job the next day.

The Hurricanes hired current coach Mark Richt six weeks later.

The Hurricanes, who joined the ACC in 2004 and have never played for a conference title, have made it clear from the start of the season that winning the Coastal Division and getting to Charlotte was one of their primary goals.

“For us to be thinking about winning the Coastal, in some ways, I guess some people might think it’s a dream because it’s never happened in 10 years. But we don’t think it’s a dream,” Richt said this past summer. “We think it’s a very real possibility and we control that.”

That control has come with Miami’s run through the ACC.

The Hurricanes opened conference play with a thrilling 24-20 win over Florida State that snapped a seven-game losing streak to the rival Seminoles. Then came a 25-24 win over Georgia Tech, a 27-19 win over Syracuse, a 24-19 win over North Carolina and last week, a 28-10 win over defending Coastal champion Virginia Tech. 7-yard pass from quarterback Malik Rosier early in the first quarter, ran off the field moments after that score with his hands behind his back, as if he’d been handcuffed.