University of Miami Hurricanes – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by RyanTaylor
The Miami Hurricanes’ locker room was filled with all the typical emotions on Saturday.
Disappointment. Pain. Hurt.
It’s all justified by how the game played out on the pitch.
In Saturday’s 42-38 loss to the Syracuse Orange in the JMA Wireless Dome, the sixth-ranked Hurricanes wasted a three-touchdown lead and probably blew their chances of qualifying for the College Football Playoffs.
The Hurricanes will not be able to participate in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte next weekend as a result of the loss, which puts Miami at 10-2 on the season (6-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference). The No. 9 SMU Mustangs and No. 12 Clemson Tigers will instead face off in the conference title game, with the victor moving on to the 12-team College Football Playoff field.
If Miami wants to sneak into the field with an at-large slot, it will have to wait and see how the results unfold next week.
Francisco Mauigoa, a senior linebacker, described the loss as “tough.” “I never wanted to go in that direction.”
Particularly with everything on the line. Miami was aware that a victory on Saturday would guarantee a spot in the conference championship game. After playing free football for an hour, they were off to Charlotte.
Mark Fletcher Jr.’s 2-yard touchdown run and Cam Ward’s passing scores to Xavier Restrepo (16 yards) and Elijah Arroyo (3 yards) gave the Hurricanes their largest first-half lead in conference play, putting them ahead 21-0 at 2:03 of the second quarter.
Then, under the leadership of senior quarterback Kyle McCord, Syracuse’s offense exploded and destroyed a Miami defense that had been vulnerable to huge plays all season.
Five of Syracuse’s subsequent seven possessions resulted in a score (9-3, 5-3 ACC). The two it failed to score on were a late-quarter punt that put Miami ahead 21-14 at the half and a turnover in the red zone in the third quarter that was compensated for by the Orange defense, which recorded a fumble of its own and returned it for a touchdown.
The Orange’s offense totaled 479 yards, and McCord led the comeback by completing 26 of 36 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns. In the second quarter and after, McCord completed eight passes for a minimum of 21 yards.
Mario Cristobal, the coach of the Hurricanes, stated, “We thought we lined up well.” About 80 to 90 percent of the time, they made the contested catch. It was hard for us to cover them. The ball was out in a flash. We had an early impact on the quarterback. As it progressed, they were less affected by the fact that we were ahead by a significant amount. Their execution was somewhat superior to ours. We played some zone while attempting to play some man. We did our best to spice it up. I’m not sure. We were not very successful. Back there, we also blew a handful of jobs.
Miami had a late chance to tie the game even at that point. With 9:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Orange led 42-35, but the Hurricanes swept down the field and reached the Syracuse 8-yard line. Miami was sent back to the 23-yard line, though, by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on second and goal. In order to set up fourth-and-goal from the tenth, Ward, who finished the game with 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards, threw an 8-yard pass to Cam McCormick and then ran for 5 yards. With 3:42 remaining, Cristobal chose to make a 27-yard field goal from Andres Borregales to reduce the margin to 42-38 rather than attempt to tie the match.
“It was get the points and get a stop if it was outside the 10-yard line with four minutes remaining,” Cristobal stated. “In any case, you must stop within four minutes.”
The stop was not made by the defense. Syracuse’s supporters rushed the field in excitement after the team secured three first downs on the last possession and ended the game with a kneel down.
Mauigoa remarked, “That last drive, we staked everything on the line.” “Those guys simply targeted us at weak points on the coverages and showed us a lot of shifts and other things to divert our attention.”
Miami now awaits the outcome of the remainder of its season. Depending on the outcome of the conference championship games next weekend, Miami still has a remote possibility of making the 12-team playoff field. What will Cristobal expect the team to do next week?
“You bring reality back into focus,” Cristobal remarked.
“This team defeated several very strong opponents in ten football games, and the final game was a close contest. Both of our losses are less than a touchdown, or one possession. We are among the top teams in the nation as a result. We must wait and watch since we can only control what we can control. However, this team has undoubtedly put forth a lot of effort and sacrificed a lot to present its finest image.
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Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
