’Canes work to solve penalty woes

CORAL GABLES — Through six games, the Hurricanes remain the second-most penalized team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

It’s been an area Miami has tried to improve on for weeks, but players and coaches haven’t seen the kind of progress they want on that front. And with No. 6 Clemson next on the schedule, the Hurricanes know they can’t continue to give up yards — or worse, have big plays and touchdowns negated by undisciplined play.

So this week, after Miami was penalized nine times for 81 yards against Virginia Tech, offending players are being held accountable a little differently. Anyone whistled during a game has to do 250 up-downs, an exercise in which a player drops to the ground face down and uses his arms and legs to pick himself back up, sort of a whole-body pushup. Players committing penalties in practice have to do 50 of the same exercise.

In addition, Miami had three referees at Wednesday’s practice to help players work through issues and provide “immediate feedback,” Hurricanes coach Al Golden said.

“Having the referees out here was a good thing to see. They see everything as far as penalties, so we had to be on our thing today,” said offensive lineman Joe Brown, who conceded he was one of the players doing up-downs after Wednesday’s practice. “Everything bad has to go through progressions. It can’t just go away like that. … But I think we’re going to be more dialed in on Saturday.”

Next game: Miami vs. No. 6 Clemson, noon Saturday, ABC

Christy Cabrera Chirinos