Hurricanes now turn their attention to Pitt Hurricanes find late rushing success
Early on, it had all the makings of a nightmare for the MiamiHurricanes.
They couldn’t get their run game going. A veteran quarterback was dissecting their secondary with precision. The big mistakes outnumbered the big plays and for a good chunk of Saturday afternoon, Miami looked listless against a Virginia team that came into the game having lost three of its past four.
Ultimately the third-ranked Hurricanes fell behind by two touchdowns twice before the tide started to turn and UM scored 30 unansweredpoints to rally for a 44-28 win over the Cavaliers. But the entire afternoon served as a reminder that no matter what Miami has done this season, no matter how high it has climbed in the College Football Playoff rankings, the opponents on their schedule aren’t about to make things easy for them.
TheHurricanes (10-0, 7-0 ACC) can expect that to continue Fridaywhenthey head to Pittsburgh for their regularfinale. The Panthers (4-7, 2-5) will look to spoil Miami’s improbable run, snap the Hurricanes’ 15-game win streak and finish their own season on a high note.
And unlike Saturday against Virginia, the Hurricaneswon’tbeable to relyon the comforts of home to help. There likely won’t be a huge crowd at Heinz Field cheering them on and they won’t have South Florida’s heat and humidity to help themweardowntheir opponent. They alsowon’t get the spark that comes from playing a major rival in a prime-time game and will instead, have to overcome the drudgery that can sometimes come with a noon kickoff. The Hurricanes have struggled early in both their previous games that have started at that time.
It has all the makings of yet another letdown game, but Miami’s players say they learned from their experience against theCavalierson Saturday.
“It was difficult,” Hurricanes linebacker Shaquille Quarterman said after the Hurricanes struggled with Virginia.“We had to adapt to a different schedule with two 8 p.m. games in primetime. With it being a noon game, you still have to be able to execute like you would if itwas a prime-time game, so it took us a little while. It actually took us too long, actually. But once we got it going, we got it going.
“A lesson was definitely learned. Not that we were, but we can’t become complacent at all in any matter. Going into this short week, we’re just planning to prepare better and better each week.”
That short week is one of the challenges facing the Hurricanes, who will be playing in their 10th game in a row without an off week since Sept. 23. UM’s schedule, impacted by Hurricane Irma, forced the team to make adjustments and that once-vacant Oct. 7 date was filled by a make-up ACC game against rival Florida State that was pushed back because of the storm.
It’s been nothing but a sprint since, with Miami’s coachesadjusting theirpractice schedule in recent weeks to try and make sure players are rested. Wednesday, for example, Hurricanes coach Mark Richt took advantage of some rainy weather to give histeampart of themorning off. And with classes not in session this week at Miami because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there should be more time for rest and preparation.
That’s the hope, anyway. Because Miami knows that even after Pittsburgh, another significant game looms against Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game.
“Noon start on Friday. We don’t have a lot of time. Pitt doesn’t either. These guys know. They know they have to get their rest, take care of their bodies,” Richt said. “This will be, I believe, the 10th game in a rowand there will be an 11th in a row and that’s a lot of weeks to go because of the hurricane. We, as coaches, have to be wise and not do things to wear them out but still do enough to be prepared. ...”
CORAL GABLES — After being able to run the ball successfully in their wins over Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, the Miami Hurricanes struggled with the rushing attack Saturday against Virginia. The Cavaliers, who entered thegameallowing opponents anaverage of4.5 yards per carry, heldMiami and running backTravisHomerin check for the better part of three quarters before UM started finding some success on the ground.
One reason Miami — which finished with 148 rushing yards — was finally able to break through? Hurricanes coachMark Richt said Miami shifted its focus, trying to get yards outside on some of its stretch plays. The other big reason the running game finally got going? Homer’s determination.
The sophomore had just five yards at the half but finished with 96 yards, including a late19-yardtouchdown run. But it was Homer’s 6-yard carry before Michael Badgley’s go-ahead field goal in the third quarter that most impressed his coach.
“Sometimes you just have to get those tough yards, that tough 1-yard run, 2-yard run, 3-yard run and then you know, normally, throughout the course of a game, a crease will hit and then you get a little momentum and you can break a tackle and make a big play,” Richt said. “I thought his best run of the gamewas the run prior to the field goal. We were in long field-goal range and we ran the ball on third down and long and didn’t really have much running room, but he broke some tackles and that determination, one of those determined runs. He was able to get us in better field goal range andwewere able to take the lead.”
Next game: No. 3 Miami at Pittsburgh, Friday, ABC, noon
Christy Cabrera Chirinos