Canes crush Duke in finale
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
The Miami Hurricanes had plenty to be thankful for Saturday after a regular season that ended at Duke with their fifth victory in the past six games and a yet-to-be-determined bowl game on the horizon.
But whether the Hurricanes will be thankful after the University of Miami coaching situation is resolved remains to be seen.
The Hurricanes beat Duke for their fifth victory in their past six games, and the wait is on to see what the future holds for coach Manny Diaz, who has been on the hot seat for weeks.
“All I’ve been told is, ‘Hey, let’s go win a football game,’ said coach Manny Diaz, when asked if he has definitively been told he’ll be back next season. “That’s it. That’s all I’ve been focusing on. That‘s the thing that matters right now. Everything else has been out of my control so it wasn’t really worth worrying about.”
Miami defeated the hapless Duke Blue Devils 47-10 at Wallace
Wade Stadium, finishing 7-5 and 5-3 in the Atlantic
Coast Conference as they head into the bowl after starting the first half of the season 2-4.
Duke finished the season 3-9, losing to all eight Atlantic
Coast Conference opponents.
Now, the Hurricanes will wait to see what the future holds for Diaz, whose job is in jeopardy after UM fired athletic director Blake James on Nov. 15. As of game time Saturday, a new athletic director, who will make the decision to either retain Diaz or go in another direction, had not been announced.
It has already been widely reported that UM offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee will soon be named the head coach of SMU. It was not yet known if the Duke game would be his last with Miami, but quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said after the game that he talked with Lashlee about it. Either way, Van
Dyke, who had another amazing performance (34 of 49 for 381 yards and three touchdowns), said he’d be back next year.
IMPASSIONED DIAZ
An impassioned Diaz, his voice hoarse after celebrating with his players in the locker room, said the reason the Hurricanes have been able to finish so well is that they’ve identified “every week what is in front of us right now,” and have been present in the moment.
“That’s why they’ve shown the resiliency and mental toughness to be able to win five out of six and turn 2-4 into 7-5,” Diaz said. “We’re not happy with 7-5, but from where we were and where we’re going, I think everybody understands the way we finish is beyond putting a number up for this year. We’re not done. We have a bowl game we’ve got to go win. But this is for the future, and if you can’t see what the future looks like out on that field today, I mean it’s screaming at you.”
Diaz said it was clear that “the young guys out on that field making plays today...know this is not