Johnson’s interception his latest big play

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami’s secondary didn’t quite have its best performance Saturday, with Virginia quarterback Kurt Benkert putting together a near-perfect first half and managing a 75-yard touchdown pass early.

But as he has so many times this season, Hurricanes safety Jaquan Johnson found a way to make a play when his team needed it the most.

Down a touchdown in the third quarter, Johnson saw the Virginia play developing, snagged Benkert’s pass and sprinted 30 yards toward the end zone. His touchdown tied the game at 28 and came midway through a stretch of 30 unanswered points for the Hurricanes.

Later in the quarter, Michael Badgley hit on a 44-yard field goal to give the third-ranked Hurricanes their first lead, and Miami never looked back in what was eventually a 44-28 win over the upset-minded Cavaliers.

Johnson’s interception was pretty much Benkert’s only mistake, the senior completing 28-of-37 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns, but it gave the Hurricanes the spark they so desperately needed and for that, Johnson — and Hurricanes coach Mark Richt — was grateful.

“We were talking about it on the sideline, that we needed a turnover, we needed a stop, we needed to get some momentum going,” Johnson said. “I was the one to end up with the turnover and that was big for our team.”

Said Richt of Johnson’s pick-six, “That sparks everybody. I love those. As soon as he caught it, the only guy who could have tackled him stumbled and you knew it was gonna be a house call. It was beautiful. Anytime you get an interception for a touchdown or a turnover, that ignites everybody.”

Entering the season, the Hurricanes (10-0, 7-0) faced questions about their secondary, a group in transition after the departures of Rayshawn Jenkins, Jamal Carter, Adrian Colbert and Corn Elder. Johnson, a softspoken junior, has emerged as one of the dominant forces in the group.

He has a team-high 75 tackles and team-high four interceptions. He’s recovered a fumble, forced another and has gotten a sack, earning both conference and national recognition in the process.

Now, like the rest of the Hurricanes, he’s hoping to continue building on his success as Miami works through the end of the regular season and turns its focus to the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game.

“The guys believing in me, me believing in myself, the coaching staff believing in me and me just being able to answer the phone when my number is called,” he said of his knack for making big plays. “That’s really it. Everybody works hard in practice. We’ve been working since the spring, so nothing’s changed in that aspect except games are on Saturdays, so everybody can see it.” strain that sidelined him early in the year — but against the Cavaliers (6-5, 3-4), the former Freshman All-American had a teamhigh four catches for 51 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

“It felt good getting back in the groove of everything,” Richards said. “Throwing me more passes, one-onone coverages, stuff like that. Overall, it felt good to play and play a full game, I’d say.” “Shane [McDermott] flew down for this. My brother Tyler flew in from Minnesota. It was a very special day, especially for them to watch this. The way this team has reacted all year is a great thing.”