Wrecking Georgia Tech turned out to be a lot easier than usual for Miami on Saturday. There was only one half of total chaos in this one, and not the customary 60-minute freakout.
Down 17-7 early, the Hurricanes found their footing and eventually found their happy place, too, coasting to a 45-30 victory that opens the ACC portion of their schedule with a rush.
Yes, this is serious progress for the Hurricanes, and even more so because the Yellow Jackets have always represented a gulf between Miami and that elusive ACC Coastal title. Tech’s triple-option run attack is the Rubik’s Cube on the schedule. Once you’ve solved that, everything else is just football.
“I’m very happy to be done with Georgia Tech,” said safety Rayshawn Jenkins, whose fourth-down interception with 5:15 to play snuffed the last, best chance the Yellow Jackets had of scoring an upset. “That’s one team you have to prepare for differently than anybody else. It just takes discipline and it takes doing your job.”
Because the 5-0 Hurricanes did, they proved that No. 14 isn’t too high a number to hang next to them in the AP poll. Rolling up 551 yards in total offense showed plenty of Miami muscle. Beating Tech by 15 points in spite of four turnovers, however, that’s just plain silly.
“They played with poise and precision,” said Miami coach Al Golden, who gets it about half right there.
Speaking of precision in this game is pouring it on a little thick. After all, Miami got three touchdown passes from Stephen Morris and 184 rushing yards from Duke Johnson but still wasn’t safe until the Hurricanes’ defense woke up in the second half and started eliminating Tech’s outlandish options.
So here’s the real score. Because of this win over a tough Coastal Division rival, Miami has bought itself an important cushion. As long as they get to the Nov. 9 game against Virginia Tech with no more than one conference loss, the Hurricanes should have their fate in their own hands in the division and a rowdy home crowd to help them handle the Hokies.
Nobody else in the Coastal is as troublesome as Virginia Tech. Nobody else in the ACC, and that includes Florida State, has the power to push Miami out of its first ACC championship game appearance as long as the Hurricanes take care of business in their half of the league.
Wait a minute, can’t forget the NCAA. That’s still an opponent worth fearing, and a prediction more mysterious than all the rest.
If you really want to praise Golden’s gang for demonstrating discipline, praise them for pretending that none of that drawn-out malarkey exists.
Georgia Tech, all but cooked in the division after losses to both Virginia Tech and Miami, is surely impressed.
“It’s real hard to swallow this loss,” said Georgia Tech quarterback Vad Lee, “because they are a strong, fast team and they played four quarters. We’ve just got to find a way to play all four quarters, the way they are capable of doing.”
Four quarters of fight in the seven games that remain and Miami may find itself in the BCS conversation for the first time in forever. Let’s no go there just yet, however. It leads to statements like this one from Phillip Dorsett, whose 40-yard touchdown catch from Morris got the Hurricanes’ scoring started Saturday.
“We have a lot of confidence,” Dorsett said afterward, “and we feel like there is not much teams can really do to stop us.”
Spoiler alert. There are better defensive units out there than Georgia Tech’s, which granted Miami one long touchdown drive in two plays and another in five.
That’s what Golden will be grinding into his team in the bye week to come, once the relief of dodging Tech’s curveball offense has passed.
“There’s no qualitative analysis here,” Golden said. “It’s just straight win or lose, and it was a good win for our guys.”
As good as any Miami has scored since last November’s 30-12 thumping of Virginia Tech, a victory that would have been enough to seal a clean ACC title shot if not for the dirty consequences of the program’s self-imposed postseason ban.
