No member of the Hurricanes’ defense could ignore the storm.
Their play had been a major factor in three straight losses, all but knocking UM out of the ACC Coastal Division race. It led to angry radio calls, harsh tweets and comments from classmates.
“Of course we hear a lot of it. It’s everywhere,” sophomore cornerback Tracy Howard said. “You can’t run from it. Especially with a town like Miami, if you do bad, people are going to criticize you.”
As soon as the Hurricanes stepped onto the field Saturday against Virginia, they answered the critics. Six seconds into the game, Howard jumped in front of a David Watford pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown. That was one of three takeaways that led directly to touchdowns and boosted Miami to a messy 45-26 win over Virginia.
“I knew it was coming, to be honest,” Howard said. “We were in the right call for it. I just decided to take a chance.”
UM (8-3, 4-3 in the ACC) still has a chance – slight as it may be – to win the Coastal and face Florida State in the ACC Championship game Dec. 7 in Charlotte. It needs to beat Pittsburgh on Friday (3:30 p.m., ABC), see North Carolina beat Duke and watch the down-and-out Cavaliers (2-9, 0-7) pull a shocking upset of Virginia Tech (7-4, 4-3). Both of those games are on Saturday.
The Hurricanes reached eight wins for the first time since 2009 and stopped a three-game skid that dropped them from No. 7 spot in the rankings.
“It’s refreshing, just for the win alone,” said freshman receiver Stacy Coley, who had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown and added 50 yards in kick returns. “We’ve been struggling for three weeks now. Just getting the win, it’s a blessing.”
On a day where UM celebrated the final home game of its 27 seniors, receiver Allen Hurns continued one of the finest seasons by a UM receiver in some time. He caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Stephen Morris and finished with six catches for 126 yards, his fifth 100-yard-plus game of the year. He needs 35 yards to achieve the fourth 1,000-yard receiving season in UM history.
He was a bright spot for an offense that largely struggled. In a hard rain that chased many patrons into drier parts of Sun Life Stadium – UM announced a paid attendance of 44,732, but no more than 20,000 were sitting in seats – Morris went 13-of-26 for 214 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Miami gained just 112 yards of offense in the first half and 304 in total.
“I’m thinking it’s going to be a great game,” said Morris, when asked what he thought after Howard’s opening interception. “And then … the … rain … came. That made it hard for us. Overall, we played OK.”
He set up Coley for a 62-yard catch-and-run, which was helped by a strong downfield block from Crawford, that made it 14-3 in the first quarter. A 24-yard rushing score by Kevin Parks and the first of two first-half field goals by Alec Vozenilek pulled Virginia within a point at 8:46 of the second.
Miami outscored Virginia 31-13 the rest of the way, including two touchdown runs by Dallas Crawford (11 carries, 55 yards) that offset a touchdown catch and a rushing score by Cavaliers freshman Taquan Mizzell. Sophomore Matt Goudis’ 33-yard field goal and a fumble recovery returned 72 yards for a touchdown by senior David Gilbert turned it into a rout.
Few things this season have been easy for Miami coach Al Golden this season, with the tail-end of a 28-month NCAA investigation clouding half the season and three losses in a row sullying a spotless start. After Saturday, he’s focused on finishing with two wins, including the program’s first bowl victory since 2006.
“I’m exhausted right now,” he said. “Now I want to make sure we stay focused and get ready for Pitt, and see if we can’t do something that we haven’t done in a while.”
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