Hurricanes aren’t at a loss after ugly defeat
Players say lesson was learned and Duke won’t be overlooked
CORAL GABLES — What are the Miami Hurricanes to do after they suffered what is arguably the worst loss in program history against FIU?
The only thing they can do after Saturday’s 30-24 upset: Take the lessons learned from playing down to what should’ve been an inferior opponent. The Panthers were coming off a 37-7 defeat against FAU and facing a Hurricanes team that had won three in a row and appeared to be rolling.
“Main thing everyone can learn: Don’t take any team for granted,” UM junior safety Amari Carter said. “I can’t really say it was a question of if we prepared as if they were lesser than us, but just don’t take any team for granted.
“When you step on the field, you got to play the same way [for FIU] that you do for everyone, whether it’s the best team that we’re playing that season or the so-called lesser team that we’re playing that season.”
And that’s what the Hurricanes will take with them from a loss coach Manny Diaz said was “especially embarrassing” into a regular-season finale on Saturday at Duke.
“We came in here and we sat in meetings and we discussed some things and we took our lesson down,” said senior defensive tackle Pat Bethel. “We had to make sure,
first of all, we came out and played our football — no matter who it was — [and] kept our standard no matter what.
“We got to make sure we played our ball. We don’t take [anyone] lightly anymore and we’re not supposed to, for lack of a better term, mess around.”
Frustration, sophomore tight end Will Mallory noted, resides around Miami’s athletic facilities this week, but the Hurricanes (6-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) aim to move forward.
“We can’t dwell on it too much, though, because we’ve got a big game coming up this week,” Mallory said. “That’s a really, really tough one, but you got to move on. You’ve got to take it week by week. You can’t think about the past.
“Right now we’re just focused on Duke and going out there to get a big win.”
A prideful UM defense that gave up 30 points to FIU without a takeaway or a sack lacked the energy and intensity, as defensive coordinator Blake Baker noted Monday, needed to go up against a team that was eager to prove itself against the crosstown favorite.
“I think it just all goes back to that thought in our head that we’re supposed to beat this team,” Carter said. “You learn from it. What we learned, we’ll take it to the next game.
“I guarantee you we won’t be down in the next game. We’re going to come out there ready to play.”
Upperclassmen are working to make sure that example is set.
“We got to make sure we keep everybody on track, especially seniors,” Bethel said. “We got to make sure we’re keeping the young guys’ minds straight and everybody around us — other old guys too.
“We got to make sure everybody’s mind is on the task at hand.”
One defensive player who couldn’t be accused of lacking energy Saturday — although as a freshman defensive tackle who is redshirting he didn’t see the field — was Jalar Holley.
His sideline dances and antics were highlights during Miami’s three-game winning streak. But many fans didn’t find his thirdquarter dance while UM was trailing FIU 13-0 nearly as amusing.
Bethel, a senior, backed up Holley on Tuesday.
“He was trying to get energy going on the sideline,” Bethel said. “You got a sixsecond clip online and people are judging a lot of things off that.
“Jalar’s one of the guys that understood that he may not play a lot, but [he] is very good at keeping energy flowing on the sideline. We look over to get a call and see the whole bench up, dancing and giving us energy — man, that’s what makes it great. That’s when you see us playing with energy out there.
“All he was trying to do is create a spark, man. You can’t blame him for that. Is there better ways to go about it? Sure, we can analyze and think about better ways to do it at the time, but at the same time you can’t get mad at him for doing what he did. He was just trying.”
The Hurricanes are immediately hit with another game against an underdog opponent. Duke enters Saturday’s game with a 4-7 record and is ineligible for a postseason bowl.