Hurricanes
He’s now thrown four touchdowns and seven interceptions in his past four games dating back to last season.
“Malik had some bright moments,” coach Mark Richt said, dispelling the notion that Rosier was the problem against LSU. “You know, he certainly made a few great throws. And we made some great plays. We just dug the hole so deep, it was very difficult to dig out.”
The Hurricanes’ new-look offensive line was shaky in its debut, allowing four sacks. Miami also finished with 83 rushing yards.
“So we went against premier athletes, and there’s a lot of times we protected extremely well and gave the quarterback time,” Richt said as he defended his offensive line’s play. “And we got people open and threw and caught it and then those few times we didn’t.
“But, really, we ran the ball well. You know, maybe we should have kept banging away and running the ball a little bit more early on. But, just from my vantage point from the sideline, I didn’t feel like the offensive line was the reason why we were struggling.”
Feagles shanked a few punts Sunday and finished with an average of 36.4 yards per attempt against LSU, not far off from the 38.6 yards he averaged as a freshman last season. However, his first three attempts went for an average of 25.3 yards.
“He’s been punting it just extremely well all camp,” Richt said. “Just super, super consistent. And then the very first shot out of the cannon, he got shook just a little bit. I don’t know if he would admit to that, but I think he did.”
Then, there are the penalties and injury concerns.
The Hurricanes were penalized 11 times for 85 yards. Making matters worse for Miami, Richards and defensive end Demetrius Jackson suffered knee injuries. Richt seemed hopeful after the game that both setbacks are minor, but both players also have missed extended time with knee injuries in the past.
“We’re not getting doomsday from the doctors,” Richt said. “Sometimes the doctor starts wiggling around and they’re like ‘uh-oh.’ We didn’t get that feel.”
And the Hurricanes insist it’s not doomsday for them yet, either. Win the rest of the games on the schedule and Miami will find itself in the ACC Championship Game for the second consecutive season.
That was the mantra following Sunday’s loss, even as unrealistic as it seems right now.
“I think all of our hopes and dreams are still alive,” Richt said. “I think a lot of people would try to bury us at this point but the reality is there’s a lot of games to be played and just about anybody who’s won a championship has lost at least one game somewhere along the way. And you know, if we looked like a team that’s really getting stronger as the season goes on, we’ve got all of our goals ahead of us.”