Hurricanes’ hopes for bowl win fall on offense
ORLANDO — When the Hurricanes review their 2016 season, they’ll think about the start of the Mark Richt era. The return of the buzz to the program. Freshmen playing like veterans. They’ll have some fond memories.
And of course, some bad ones — like the four-game losing streak in October, which dropped them from No. 10 in the polls to the ranks of the also-rans.
“We’ve got to get better,” junior wide receiver Braxton Berrios said. “We’ve got to really win something. Hopefully, we can go out there and win this bowl game, and end this losing streak. We’ve got to start putting our name where it should be — in the top 10, top 15, in the ACC championship game.”
A major reason for the midseason funk — aside from a well-documented rash of injuries — were offensive s t r u g g l e s . Mi a mi s c o re d fewer than 20 points in losses to Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. Junior left tackle Kc McDermott said those games turned on “tiny inches that were taken away from us, either by ourselves, or by the refs or by the other team that played a little bit better than we did.”
It ended the ye ar on a four-game winning streak in which it scored points — an average of 38 per game — and showed excellent balance en route to a berth in the Russell Athletic Bowl against West Virginia.
Miami, as the Mountaineers have noticed by watching film, can beat teams with its run game, its receivers and its tight ends. Quarterback Brad Kaaya, junior linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton said, “can make any throw on the field” if given time to set his feet.
“The biggest thing with those guys is a little pressure,” Benton said. “You want to force him into situations that aren’t ideal for him and force him to make mistakes.”
The Hurricanes see mostly 4-3 or 3-4 schemes in the ACC, so West Virginia’s 3-3-5 defense should present a different challenge.
“I don’t think we’ve faced a true 3-3 front before,” said McDermott, a former Palm Beach Cent ral st andout . “They like to send those exotic blitzes, pretty much on any down. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. ‘We feel like blitzing, we’re going to blitz.’ They bring what they want. ... It’s different than what we’ve seen before.”
WV U r a n k e d t h i r d i n the Big 12 in rushing yards allowed (175.5 per game), and 66th nationally. Hurricanes running back Mark Walton, who finished fourth in the ACC in rushing yards (1,065) and fifth in touchdowns (14), said he expects to be patient against WVU’s odd front.
WVU senior linebacker Justin Arndt said the goal was to disrupt UM’s “really talented backs,” “talented tight end and quarterback. ... They are going to be well-balanced and try to establish the run early. Just trying to stop the run and make them air it out.”
That may not be a winning proposition, since the Mountaineers were 101st against the pass (255.7 yards per game). That ranked sixth of 10 teams in their league. The Hurricanes can go fastpaced and stretch the field, but they’ve also shown the ability to eat clock and pound the ball.
“I think we’re versatile enough to do that, kind of choose what we want to do,” Richt said. “I hope we will be when we play. It’ll be important to be able to run the ball well. Sometimes it’s important to go with pace and sometimes it’s important to slow it down. What we have been able to do in a lot of games is, at the end of the game, slow it down, run the ball, and most of the times, get some more points on the board. Not only eating up clock, but a lot of times we’ve gotten a touchdown run out of it.”
Most of the players and coaches went to Epcot on Christmas. The weather was beautiful. They anticipated a great time.
But as Berrios said: “It’s not truly a vacation for anybody. We all know why we’re here. I’d say everyone’s a little more focused than in my previous years.”