South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Getting a look at real ’Canes
Hokies expose weaknesses in Miami even impressive comeback can’t hide
On a better Saturday, that remarkable 62-yard touchdown run by DeeJay Dallas would be the story.
He hit the line, bounced off Virginia Tech defenders and, suddenly, was in the open field bringing Miami all the way back from a 28-0 deficit.
But no one will talk about that play. Nor should they after what Miami did across so much of Saturday.
“That’s what breaks your heart as a coach,’’ Miami’s Manny Diaz said after a 42-35 loss to Virginia Tech. “[Dallas] made the kind of play you want people to talk about forever.
“And we didn’t finish. That’s our issue right now. This is a young team trying to get over the edge.”
Oh, for those halcyon days of when everyone hoped on The New Miami, right?
Saturday again showed The Real Miami, a young, flawed, mistake-filled and not especially talented team that plays hard. Real hard. Give them that. But that’s different than playing real well, as Saturday often showed.
It’s not Diaz’s fault in his first year. It’s his responsibility, though. But when you don’t inherit a star quarterback, are so roster-depleted that two freshmen start on the offensive line and subtracted as much talent through the ballyhooed transfer portal as you got back, it tells of bigger problems.
It was fun to think Diaz could wave a magic wand and roster problems would vanish. Saturday showed reality. All this season has, really. But it hit home with a thud at Saturday’s start.
How bad was it? Miami’s first four drives went interception, interception, interception and, after a quarterback change from Jarren Williams to N’Kosi Perry, fumble. That shouldn’t happen.
Virginia Tech, a minus-8 on turnover margin this year, was
plus-5 in Saturday’s first half.
“I never remember Miami being this anemic or this incompetent on offense,” said the lovable homer play-by-play voice, Joe Zagacki.
If it says something that Miami rallied back from 28-0, what’s it say that it was down by that much? This wasn’t Virginia Tech from its heavyweight era either. It suffered its worst home loss in nearly 50 yards last week against Duke, 45-10.
It started a quarterback Saturday who had thrown two career passes. Yet look who was the star after Miami tied it on Dallas’ touchdown.
Hendon Hook, in his first start, threw three touchdowns, ran for 76 yards and dropped this lollipop of a pass for 29 yards to receiver Damon Hazelton with just over a minute left. That put Virginia Tech in play for the winning score.
That’s a bigger question for Miami: What happened to its defense? The turnover chain didn’t come out once Saturday. Nor did the defense that ranked among the nation’s best in recent years hold up its end.
Sure, Virginia Tech only needed touchdown drives of 48, 23 and 20 after Jarren Williams’ interceptions early on. But not once did Miami’s defense step up. And, when Miami got the lead, the defense couldn’t stop Virginia Tech from marching right back down the field.
“No one wanted the start of the season to go off like it is,’’ Diaz said. “But I think the guys respect the work they put in together.”
Diaz said he understands why people aren’t happy at 2-3. You also should understand why, as a coach, he saw a team that didn’t give up when it could have.
“I’m not trying to paint some rosy picture,’’ he said. “But there’s something worth fighting for right now.”
We’ll see quickly enough. Miami plays host to a good (not great) Virginia on Friday night.
“We don’t have a lot of time to lick our wounds,’’ Diaz said.
They’re 2-3 now. They’re 0-2 in the ACC. Their two wins are against Bethune-Cookman and Central Michigan.
We can talk about The New Miami. We can talk about the problems Diaz inherited. We can talk about the remarkable 62-yard run by Dallas, the one that should have won Saturday’s game, if you want.
But this is The Real Miami and it’s losing games it shouldn’t. That’s the story to Saturday. The conclusion is if that doesn’t change, and quickly, this season will turn ugly very soon.