10 things we learned from win over Georgia Tech
MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Hurricanes made their lives a lot more difficult than it had to be against Georgia Tech on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
At first, it looked like Miami was going to roll to a convincing win over the Yellow Jackets after scoring on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Then the missteps started: two fumbles on back-to-back drives in the first quarter and three in the first half; several dropped passes; two defensive scores by Georgia Tech; two turnovers on downs in the second half due to being stopped at the line of scrimmage on runs plays.
In the end, Miami (5-4, 3-2 ACC) walked away with a 33-30 victory over the Yellow Jackets after holding Georgia Tech (3-6, 2-5 ACC) scoreless on its final five drives, including a turnover on downs in the final seconds of the game that allowed the Hurricanes to secure their third consecutive win.
“When you look at the things that occurred — to allow Georgia Tech to stay close, turnovers of course and scoring nine points on defensive scores — it was everything where we could say ‘it’s not our day’,” coach Manny Diaz said. “I’m just as proud of this team as anything else because we didn’t give in to that. The guys found a way to win.”
Here are 10 things we learned from UM’s Saturday win:
1. Rambo in the record book
Wide receiver Charleston Rambo continues to climb Miami’s records books in his first season with the program.
Rambo, a transfer out of Oklahoma, finished Saturday’s win with 210 receiving yards and one touchdown on seven catches, becoming the fourth UM player to have at least 200 receiving yards in a game.
Eddie Brown — who had 220 receiving yards against Boston College on Nov. 23, 1984 — is the only player in Miami history to have more receiving yards than Rambo in a game.
Rambo might’ve broken Brown’s record if not for having a team-high three drops against the Yellow Jackets.
He already tied the record for most catches (12) by a Miami player in a single game earlier this season in the loss to Michigan State and continues to prove he’s the kind of big-play receiver the Hurricanes were in need of, with six of his seven catches on Saturday amassing at least 15 yards.
With 58 catches through nine games and at least three regular-season games remaining, Rambo has a good shot at breaking
Leonard Hankerson’s 2010 record of most receptions (72) in a single season.
Rambo’s 859 receiving yards are the ninth-most in program history for a single season. The player above him? Hurricanes legend Michael Irvin (868 in 1986).
2. Fumble fest
The Hurricanes’ doubled their fumbles lost output for the season — from three to six — with their three giveaways to Georgia Tech.
Rambo, tight end Elijah Arroyo and running back Jaylan Knighton each had fumbles in the first half, directly leading to the Yellow Jackets 14 points. Georgia Tech put together a touchdown drive after Arroyo’s fumble on the Yellow Jacket’s 14-yard line, while Knighton’s fumble was returned 40 yards for a touchdown.
Saturday marked the first time a non-quarterback had a fumble, with former starting quarterback D’Eriq King losing three fumbles earlier in the season, including being stripped-sacked twice.
3. Van Dyke continues to roll
Starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke continued his strong run of play in recent weeks, completing 22-of-34 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns.
Seven of his 12 incompletions were counted as drops.
The second-year freshman has gone 79 of 109 (72 percent completion percentage) for 1,140 yards, 10
touchdowns and one interception during Miami’s winning streak.
His 9.6 yards per pass attempt leads the ACC and his 165.7 passer rating is third in the conference behind Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett and Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman.
Despite only starting six of nine games, Van Dyke is sixth in the ACC in passing touchdowns (15) and ninth in yards (1,877).
4. Third-down defense
Outside of Miami’s aforementioned missteps, one reason the Yellow Jackets were able to stay in the game — and at some points have leads — was because the Hurricanes struggled with getting Georgia Tech off the field.
The Yellow Jackets converted on 7-of-15 third-down attempts by the end of the third quarter when it had a 28-24 lead before the Hurricanes buckled down to hold Georgia Tech to 8 of 20 on third downs for the game.
UM’s third-down defense has been a problem all season, with the Hurricanes ranking 91st (.413) in third-down conversion percentage defense.
5. Avantae Williams’ first interception
Second-year safety Avantae Williams made his first takeaway one to remember, leaping over Georgia Tech’s Kyric McGowan for the interception before returning the takeaway 32 yards and rocking the Turnover Chain on UM’s sideline for the first time.
Williams, who made his college debut two weeks ago after missing all of 2020 for medical reasons and being suspended for the first six games of this season due to three domestic aggravated battery charges from over the summer that were dropped, played a seasonhigh 32 defensive snaps against the Yellow Jackets, mainly because James Williams momentarily left the game. Gurvan Hall Jr. didn’t play Saturday for an unspecified reason.
6. Pass protection stepping up
Miami’s offensive line has improved its performances as it has gained continuity, and Saturday was just the latest example.
Van Dyke was only sacked once by the Yellow Jackets and consistently had enough time to go through his progressions.
Improvements with the unit’s run blocking can still be made, but the starting offensive line of Zion Nelson, Navaughn Donaldson, Jakai Clark, DJ Scaife Jr. and Jarrid Williams has provided stability in front of Van Dyke.
7. Containing Simms
Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Simms’ dual-threat ability was well-known entering Saturday, but the Hurricanes made sure Simms didn’t create plays with his legs.
Simms only gained positive yards on four of his eight designed rush attempts and was sacked three times, finishing with minus-8 rushing yards on 11 attempts when counting the yards lost to sacks.
Miami has struggled with quarterbacks who can make plays outside the pocket, so it was encouraging to see the Hurricanes limit Simms’ effectiveness as a runner.
8. Knighton’s workload
Knighton had a career-high 32 carries against the Yellow Jackets for 162 yards and one touchdown.
The high usage as a runner came after he had 22-plus touches (carries and receptions) in UM’s previous two games against Pittsburgh and N.C. State.
Knighton wore a red, non-contact jersey during last week’s practice and Diaz has told reporters he’ll likely continue to do so throughout November to keep him fresh with Cam Harris and Don Chaney Jr. out for the season with injuries.
True freshmen running backs Cody Brown and Thaddius Franklin Jr. played a combined eight snaps against Georgia Tech, recording a combined four carries.
9. Florida State next
It didn’t take the Hurricanes long to turn their attention to their in-state rival, Florida State, who they’ll match up with at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday (ESPN) in Tallahassee.
Most of Miami’s players weren’t with the program the last time it lost to the Seminoles in 2016, with sixth-year defensive end Zach McCloud the only player from that team still on the roster.
UM has won the past four matchups, including a 52-10 win at Hard Rock Stadium last year.
10. Coastal race
Miami’s victory kept the Hurricanes in the mix for the Coastal Division title.
If UM runs the table in its final three games (at Florida State, vs. Virginia Tech, at Duke), it would need both Pittsburgh (7-2, 4-1 ACC) and Virginia (6-3, 4-2 ACC) to lose at least one more conference game to represent the division in the ACC Championship game on Dec. 4 in Charlotte.
The Panthers and Cavaliers play each other on Nov. 20 in Pittsburgh. Pitt plays a home game against North Carolina (Thursday) and an away game against Syracuse (Nov. 27) in its final three games, while Virginia has a non-conference home game against Notre Dame on Saturday and home game against Virginia Tech on Nov. 27.
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) likes Miami’s chances of running the table in its final three games (at Florida State, vs. Virginia Tech, at Duke), giving UM at least a 61% win probability in all three matchups, including 76% against the Hokies and 88% against the Blue Devils.