Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘A lot of hurt’ after loss
Hurricanes stunned in final seconds by missed field goal attempt
MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Hurricanes stayed in the game long enough to keep Virginia on its toes on Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium. Unfortunately for UM, it couldn’t punch home the final blow to the Cavaliers to take home the victory.
After marching down the field 77 yards in 12 plays while trailing Virginia 30-28 to get to the Cavaliers’ 14, the Hurricanes gained 0 yards on two rushes and had Tyler Van Dyke take a quarterback keeper to Virginia’s 16 to set up freshman kicker Andy Borregales with another opportunity to win them a game like he did against Appalachian State three weeks ago.
This time, Borregales didn’t make the potential game-winning kick; his 33-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in the game bounced off the upright to secure the Cavaliers’ two-point win and drop Miami to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.
“A lot of hurt in that locker room right now,” coach Manny Diaz said. “That was on the verge of being something remarkable. Ultimately, we came up one play short.”
The loss marked the second time in Diaz’s three years as coach that the Hurricanes have dropped their conference opener. Diaz said UM was going for the touchdown at first, but settled for the field goal after not gaining yards on its two runs before third down.
“We got to put him in better situations,” said running back Cam’Ron Harris, who finished with 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts. “The offense just got to score, so we shouldn’t put him in that situation.”
Borregales was 6 of 8 on field goal attempts entering Saturday, including a 43-yard game winner against the Mountaineers.
“The team rallied around him,” Diaz said. “They have a great confidence in him. He’s built to bounce back from this. He’s a mentally tough young man.”
Van Dyke, who for the second consecutive game started in place for the usual starter D’Eriq King, who remains sidelined with a shoulder injury, went 15 of 29 for 203 passing yards and two touchdowns (one passing touchdown and one rushing).
He started the game slowly, going 4 of 11 for 63 passing yards in the first half before finishing strong with 11-of-18 passing for 140 yards and both his scores in the second half.
“I started out slow and it was really fast out there,” Van Dyke said. “I came back in the second half a lot more confident and saw things better.”
Virginia finished with 449 total yards behind quarterback Brennan Armstrong (25 of 44 for 268 yards and one touchdown) and efficient running from Wayne Taulapapa (63 yards on 11 carries) and Keytaon Thompson (52 yards on three carries).
The Hurricanes finished with the game with 372 yards, but it took Miami’s offense nearly the entire first half to get going (10 total yards in the first quarter and 94 yards at halftime) against a Virginia (3-2, 1-2 ACC) team that allowed 1,172 yards in its previous two games.
While the Hurricanes went three-andout on their first two drives, Virginia put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive on its second possession that ended with a Taulapapa 1-yard touchdown run to give the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
On the Hurricanes’ third drive starting from their 1, Cam’Ron Harris was tackled in Miami’s end zone for a safety to give the Cavaliers a 9-0 lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter.
UM’s defense did its job, holding the Cavaliers to 62 total yards on Virginia’s 20 plays across four drives after the safety, but the Hurricanes struggled to find any offensive rhythm.
UM will get 16 days off before its next game, getting a bye week next weekend before matching up with North Carolina (2-2, 1-2 ACC) on Oct. 16 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“The five games have been disappointing,” Diaz said. “There’s no excuse you can make. It’s not what this team is. There’s more in us. I think that’s what was on display there late. We got to build off that.”