Next big test: ACC
Hurricanes look for solutions following a tough loss to Gators
ORLANDO — As painful as Saturday night’s loss was for the Miami Hurricanes to rival and eighth-ranked Florida, UM can find solace in two areas: The Gators are, in all likelihood the strongest team Miami will face during the regular season, andthe Hurricanes still have all their ACC aspirations ahead of them after the nonconference defeat in the season opener.
A microcosm of hope Miami can take fromthe deflating 24-20 loss can be found in howthe team responded during the game, refusing to surrender through five lead changes and every big play Florida delivered.
“A couple times where it’s like, ‘Well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s not your night,’ ” Miami coach Manny Diaz said, “And you can kind of let go of the rope, and I thought our guys looked those situations in the eye, fought throughthemandultimately gave ourselves a chance to win the game.
“That’s what a big-time program should do. You don’t pat yourself on the back for not quitting, but it is something. And that was a big point of our offseason.”
Now, going into an idle week while the rest of college football plays its season openers, theHurricanes (0-1) will start to regroup with a road trip to Chapel Hill to open ACC play against North Carolina on the other side of the bye.
“Every daywe step on the field, every day we step on Greentree [Practice Fields], it’s win or go home,” running back DeeJayDallas said. “And[Saturday night], we didn’t do that. So [Sunday] we’re going to come back, learn from this film and be better.”
At the forefront of UM’s issues, the team will have to determine what can be done to fix its woes on the offensive line. Redshirt freshman John Campbell won a preseason competition to start at right tackle over redshirt sophomore Kai-Leon Herbert, but should the team consider giving Herbert a shot after Campbell struggled? Or will it just be chalked up as, “Itwas the Florida pass rush,” and Campbell gets his chance at redemption.
Diaz viewed the 10 sacks as a problem for the entire offense, and not just the line.
“I think it’salways unfair tosay, ‘Well, it’s just on this position or that position,’ ” Diaz said. “Protecting the quarterback is an 11-man job on offense. … And part of it’s just getting the ball out, too.”
For his part, quarterback Jarren Williams accepted some of that blame.
“I felt like a couple times I got pressured and I became a runner instead of remaining a passer, keeping my eyes down the field, so that’s definitely something that I’m going to learn from,” Williams said. “When the rush is coming at you and you’re live, it’s a little different, but it’s a great learning experience and I feel like we’re only going to get better.”
Senior middle linebacker Shaq Quarterman wants the team to commit fewer penalties than the 14 for 125 yards on Saturday, but also to tackle better after theHurricanes missed several, especially early, when Kadarius Toney scored UF’s first-quarter touchdown.
“First game of the season. It’s the first time you get to tackle somebody else. It’s all about who makes the least amount of mistakes, and that includes tackling too,” Quarterman said. “I think we swarmed prettywell.”
Diaz wants the Hurricanes to approach the bye and the rest of the season with the same eagerness they brought into Orlando to face the Gators.
“The key is we just can’t stop,” Diaz said. “If anything, nowwe’ve got to keep going and be more motivated to improve becausewe could say, ‘Well, we played pretty good,’ and then all of a sudden we’ll relax andwe’ll end up in this exact same position in twoweeks’ time.
“I thinkwe knowthat our guys found out that we can play. We can go toe to toe with a top-10 opponent, but now that should kind of hurt us a little bit to really get in there and study the game and find away to get better.”