Step forward for Canes, back for Vols
Aweek after getting a harsh dose of reality against elite competition, No. 13 Miami and No. 18 Tennessee had a chance to brush themselves off and get back on track to hopeful seasons.
The Hurricanes took a step forward, taking care of business against Pittsburgh at home.
The Volunteers took a step back, getting drubbed at home by a Kentucky team that had not won at Neyland Stadium since 1984.
Nobody is handing out trophies for beating Pitt or Kentucky — does Miami’s turnover chain count? — but for two programs with championship pedigree and mostly mediocre results for about two decades this is how progress should be measured.
It was no surprise Miami couldn’t keep up at Clemson last week.
The Hurricanes are less than a year removed from being shut out by Louisiana Tech in a bowl game. Manny Diaz’s first season as head coach was a dud, but credit for making some quick changes.
The Hurricanes have looked like a different team offensively with quarterback D’Eriq King running Rhett Lashlee’s spread offense.
But before Miami can challenge Clemson it needs to finally separate from the ACC’s second tier. The likes of Pitt, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Duke have too often taken down the ‘Canes and their blue-chip recruits.
Against a Pitt team playing without its starting quarterback, the Hurricanes struggled to sustain offense against a tough defensive front but busted enough big plays to win without sweating it at the end.
There is a path to a strong season for Miami that would include getting to the regular-season finale against No. 5 North Carolina with a chance to earn an ACC title game rematch against Clemson.
Miami has made one ACC championship since joining in 2004. Simply making it two would be a huge boost for Diaz, who has the No. 12 recruiting class in the country lined up for 2021.
“We put Clemson behind us and tried to put a W anyway we could. We knew we had a tough challenge in back-to-back weeks,” King said.
Tennessee has been stuck in a similar rut as Miami. Probably worse. Playing in the SEC gives the Volunteers a rougher road back to contending for division titles with Georgia and Florida. And an annual rivalry game against Alabama is not something a rebuilding program needs.
The Volunteers rode an eightgame winning streak under coach Jeremy Pruitt into last week’s game at Georgia. They hung around for a half and then got buried. Kentucky picked up where the Bulldogs left off.
This isn’t your grandfather’s Kentucky football. Coach Mark Stoops has built a winner, strong along both lines. But while Kentucky aspires to break long streaks of futility — the Wildcats won in Knoxville for the first time since 1984 — Tennessee wants to win SEC titles.
AROUND THE COUNTRY
No rivalry in the last few years has produced wilder games than UCF-Memphis. The Tigers finally came out on top, snapping a 13-game losing streak to the Knights that dates back to the Conference USA days. The last four meetings have been crazy. Including two American Athletic Conference championship games, Memphis and UCF have combined for an average score for 50-44. On Saturday, UCF’s Dillon Gabriel became the first FBS quarterback to pass for more than 600 yards and five touchdowns and lose since Pat Mahomes did it for Texas Tech against Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma in 2016 ... No offseason hire drew more skepticism than Arkansas making veteran offensive line coach Sam Pittman a first-time head coach. The Razorbacks appeared to be in need of a long rebuild just to get back to respectable, but they are 2-2 under Pittman after beating Ole Miss and could have another victory against Auburn if not for a missed call last week . ... Auburn was not so fortunate this week, losing to South Carolina. Tigers quarterback Bo Nix does not look like a former fivestar recruit on the path to become a star. He looks like a sophomore who hasn’t improved much after being an inconsistent freshman.