South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Hurricanes vow to keep fighting in wake of second consecutive loss.
UM will try to shake off disappointment of 2nd straight loss
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — On another ugly night, after another disappointing performance and with the Hurricanes on the cusp of their second loss in as many games, television cameras zoomed in on the Miami sideline and caught a poignant scene.
As a visibly upset Mark Richt took in the scene in front of him, Hurricanes cornerback Trajan Bandy put his arm on his coach’s shoulder, the two exchanged words of encouragement and soon enough, both made their way to the Miami locker room as a frenzied Boston College crowd rushed the Alumni Stadium field in celebration of the Eagles’ 27-14 win over the Hurricanes.
It marked the second time in as many games the Hurricanes have watched an opposing fan base celebrate at their expense and the second time in as many games that Miami’s players and coaches have been forced to look inward to try and figure out how one of the most highly anticipated Hurricanes seasons in recent memory has gone wrong.
After winning its first Coastal Division crown and making its first appearance in the ACC Championship in 2017, the Hurricanes entered the 2018 season ranked No. 8 in the nation, notching their highest preseason ranking since 2004. They were the preseason pick to win the Coastal Division and make a return trip to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game. And players at several key positions were in the running for some of the biggest individual awards in college football.
But those August expectations seem like a lifetime ago, the Hurricanes reeling after back-to-back losses to Virginia and Boston College. After stumbling Friday night in Chestnut Hill, Miami has lost six of its last eight against Power 5 opponents, its offense can’t find any solutions the problems that have plagued it all season and outside the Hurricanes’ locker room, angry fans are clamoring for changes — on everything from playcalling to on-field personnel and even coaching.
It’s not pretty, but the Hurricanes say at this point, they’re going to continue moving forward, working toward the solutions they think will help, especially since they still haven’t been eliminated from contention in the unsettled, uncertain Coastal Division.
“Go back to work. What else can you do? Get back to work. This Coastal Division is a little bit wild in that I don’t know if there’s any one team that you can say is the most dominant team in the Coastal and we’re still battling for that championship,” a soft-spoken
Richt said after Friday’s loss. “But the first thing we’ve got to do is get a victory in the next ball game and we’ll see what happens. Two weeks from now you never know what can happen. You’ve got to keep your hopes up in that regard because we still are looking to battle for that Coastal Division.”
Added running back DeeJay Dallas, “Like I said, we’ve just got to keep chipping. I tell everybody, just keep chipping and we’ll be fine. We’ll come through this. This is temporary. This is temporary.”
If the Hurricanes (5-3, 2-2) are to make sure their problems remain temporary, as Dallas said, they’ll have to continue trying to resolve multiple issues, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
For the fourth time in eight games, the Hurricanes used a different starting combination on the offensive line and by game’s end, freshman DJ Scaife — who was making his second straight start at right tackle — saw his playing time limited after he struggled.
Hurricanes quarterback Malik Rosier was sacked three times, one time losing the ball as he was hit, and he, too, struggled Friday.
After starting 8-of-9 against Boston College, Rosier — who returned to the starting job after redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry started Miami’s games against North Carolina, Florida State and Virginia — finished 19-of-36 for 150 yards with two interceptions.
That’s not going to be good enough moving forward, not with road games against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech looming in back-to-back weeks, along with games against Duke and Pittsburgh.
And the redshirt senior said he understands he and the rest of Miami’s veterans have to hold each other accountable, as well as play better.
“We have to be a player-led team, because coaches are going to yell. It means more when a player gets on to you and a player says, ‘Hey, I need you to step up,’ ” Rosier said. “The second thing is, we just have to lock in. There are literally small mistakes that we’re making that we don’t make in practice that for some reason during game day we get tired, we stop focusing and it causes catastrophes to happen.”