Seniors step up for UM defense
The Miami Hurricanes didn’t need to wait long for one of their four senior starters on defense to make one of those plays Hard Rock Stadium has become familiar with. With Miami up by three early and the Pititsburgh Panthers driving across midfield, Jaquan Johnson hunted for a turnover.
Darrin Hall tried to stretch out the Hurricanes defense, and Zach McCloud held up the running back. As Hall started to fall to the ground, Johnson started ripping and came up with one final takeaway in Miami Gardens. The ball popped loose and Trajan Bandy hopped on the fumble for the first of about half a dozen huge plays made by the Hurricanes’ seniors in a 24-3 win on senior day.
Before the game, Miami honored its 26 seniors, including defensive starters Johnson, Sheldrick Redwine, Michael Jackson and Gerald Willis. Those four anchored arguably the Hurricanes’ best defensive performance of the season. Jackson, a starting cornerback, recorded two sacks after entering the day with only one half a sack. Willis, a starting defensive tackle, chipped in another sack to add to his ACC lead in tackles for a loss.
Pittsburgh, which ran for 492 yards in a blowout win against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Nov. 10, finished with only 200 total yards and rushed for only 69 on 1.8 yards per carry. The Panthers managed only a single field goal on a drive which started at their own 41-yard line and was aided by a 15-yard penalty against linebacker Shaquille Quarterman.
Johnson finished with a team-high 10 tackles to go along with his forced fumble. Jackson logged four tackles, Willis added four more. Redwine finished with five.
BOWL SCENARIOS
Miami already sewed up bowl eligibility last Saturday with its win against the Virginia Tech Hokies. On Saturday, the Hurricanes improved their stock even more.
With its seventh win, Miami joined a morass of ACC teams with seven victories, including the Virginia Cavaliers, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Duke Blue Devils, the Boston College Eagles and Pitt. At .500 in the league, Miami is in the same company as Boston College, Virginia and Virginia Tech in a three-way tie for sixth in the overall conference standings.
The Hurricanes have thrown themselves into the mix for a spot in a Tier 1 bowl game, a slate of games which includes the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, the Music City Bowl in Nashville, the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Pinstripe Bowl in New York and the Sun Bowl in El
Paso.
Tier 1 bowls are landing spots for the conference’s top six teams, which aren’t picked for the College Football Playoff, a College Football Playoff New
Year’s Six bowl or the Camping World Bowl.
Landing in one of these bowls would be an ideal outcome for Miami, which previously seemed slated for a lower-level postseason game. Just take a look at some of the notable projections entering the final weekend of the regular season:
The Quick Lane Bowl
A in Detroit is a popular option. ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura projected the Hurricanes to face the Northern Illinois Huskies here, while CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm has Miami squaring off in a confusing matchup against the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks.
The Independence
A
Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, is another popular pick. ESPN’s Mitch Sherman projected the Hurricanes to face off against the Houston Cougars here, and Sports Illustrated’s Eric Single has Miami meeting the UAB Blazers.
The Gasparilla Bowl in A
Tampa is in play. NBC Sports’ Bryan Fischer predicts for the Hurricanes to match up against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The Military Bowl in
A
Annapolis, Maryland, could be an option. Miami could also meet Cincinnati here, as SB Nation’s Jason Kirk predicted.