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It wasn’t a blowout like Miami Hurricanes fans were probably expecting, but the No. 15 University of Miami still delivered a win Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
Despite a rocky first half for reigning ACC Rookie of the Year quarterback Tyler Van
After a sluggish first half, 15th-ranked Miami beat Southern Miss on Saturday to set up a showdown with Texas A&M next week.
Dyke, the Canes defeated Southern Miss 30-7 in front of an announced paid crowd of 46,421.
“Sluggish first half,” UM coach Mario Cristobal said. “We certainly hurt ourselves. Give credit to them: Southern Miss certainly did some things, especially on defense, that caused us a couple issues in protection. Some pretty good halftime adjustments, particularly by the defense to go out and have the type of second half they did — shut down the run, shut down the pass and create great field position opportunities for us.
“We’re 1-0 for the week, that’s your goal. But certainly we want to play more polished, more precise football . ... We gotta go get better.”
Now it should get even harder for the Canes, as UM (2-0) travels to College Station next Saturday to meet No. 6 Texas A&M. The Aggies, who were upset 17-14 on Saturday by Appalachian State, will no doubt play with extra fervor in front of a wild home crowd.
Van Dyke completed 21 of 30 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown, with an interception. At halftime, Van Dyke had
Tyler Van Dyke vows to be better after subpar game,
Miami native Frank Gore Jr. shrugs off tough day vs. UM,
AA
completed 12 of 19 for 141 yards and no touchdowns, with the pick — and had been sacked three times.
“I just missed throws that I never usually miss,” said Van Dyke, who also was sacked on his final play. “I just gotta hit ‘em. The offense, we started slow. We can’t do that. We gotta start fast and stay at that level the entire game until the last play.”
The Canes defense held Southern Miss (0-2) to 33 yards rushing (240 total) and had three takeaways: an interception by Tyrique Stephenson, forced fumble by Antonio Moultrie (recovered by Chantz Williams), and fumble recovery by Kamren Kinchens.
“I mean, really, I felt like I didn’t do too much in the first half,” said UM sophomore defensive tackle Leonard Taylor, who had a sack and two tackles for loss. “So I was talking to myself in the locker room, like, ‘I gotta get right,’ telling my teammates I gotta make some plays. And [I] went out there, and I made it happen.”
Miami held star running back Frank Gore Jr. to 10 yards rushing and 13 yards