It is no secret that the Miami Hurricanes are some of the biggest bullies in the country. But, even the biggest bullies can learn to fight better.
Earlier this season, I wrote that Miami needed to find the missing explosive plays to help the offense. They did, and found lots of them, en route to a win on the road at Florida State. Adam Lichtenstein from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote about one of Miami’s major issues this season: penalties. Hopefully Miami will be able to address this issue the next time they hit the field.
Penalties are way high up on my list of issues that needs to be fixed, but there’s another issue for Miami to address moving forward as well: the inability to put teams away and win games comfortably.
In 4 of Miami’s 5 games so far this season, the Canes have had the ability to make a close, competitive game into a decisive Miami lead that could or should lead to a blowout victory. However, despite earning their way into these advantageous situations, the Hurricanes have not been able to land the knockout punch that was there to be landed.
I know you’re initial reaction to this is that I’m being reactionary after the Florida State game, but I promise this isn’t that. Let’s look at the list of games and knockout chances and then you can decide if I’m being reactionary. Fair? Cool.
In the opener against Notre Dame, Miami went up 21-7 after a Marty Brown touchdown run. With Hard Rock Stadium jumping, Notre Dame was unable to do anything on the ensuing drive, going 3 and out and punting the ball right back to Miami. This is where Miami could have landed the knockout punch.
Instead of putting the game away with a methodical scoring drive — something Miami had done in each of the previous two drives on either side of halftime — Miami went 3 and out and punted the ball right back to Notre Dame. Then, Miami allowed Notre Dame to go on their longest drive of the game: 11 plays, 64 yards. That drive ended with a touchdown and made the score 21-14, and the game was tight again.
Later in the game, after Notre Dame hit a field goal to make the score 24-17, when a score of any kind would have made the margin a 2-score game, Miami went 3 and out AGAIN. Then, Mo Toure had a huge coverage bust, leaving ND’s tight end all alone for a 65 yard gain, and the Fighting Irish would score 2 plays later to tie the game at 24.
Another opportunity for a knockout punch, actually another 2 chances, went wayward in the week 3 game against USF. Up 28-6 late in the first half, Carson Beck threw an interception (nice play by the defender, but still) to keep the score relatively close. Miami took a conservative approach heading into the half after a USF punt (and Miami penalty) had the Canes start their drive on the 8 yard line.
Beck would throw another interception on the first drive of the second half, so that wasn’t great. Then, after getting the ball back on a USF fumble, Miami would go 3 and out and punt the ball back to the Bulls. Those 4 drives were the only thing that kept USF in the game for as long as they were. Luckily, Miami got things going again and ended up with a 49-12 win, but I can’t help but wonder how many points the Canes could have scored without that 4-possession lull.
Let’s look at the next game against Florida, shall we? After going up 10-0 by scoring on the first two possessions of the game, Miami stalled out and punted twice in a row, including a 3-and-out. The Canes would get a nice drive going the next time they had the ball, but had to settle for a field goal to make the score 13-0 heading into the half.
Opening the 2nd half, Miami had an 11 play, 42 yard drive stall out and end with a punt. That’s multiple chances to extend the score against an opponent who was doing less than nothing offensively. Florida took the ball and had their sole productive drive of the game: an 11 play, 80 yard touchdown drive to make the score 13-7.
Miami QB Carson Beck threw an interception on the first play of the ensuing drive, and Florida had the ball with a chance to take the lead. Luckily for Miami, Florida’s offense could do nothing with the ball, and the Canes eventually figured things out and pushed the lead out to the 26-7 final score. But, there were many chances to put the game away that went by the wayside before Miami finally knocked Florida out.
Lastly, let’s look at the Florida State game. This was another game that had plenty of chances to turn a close contest into a blowout but Miami was unable to convert.
Up 14-3 in the 2nd quarter, Miami had a false start turned 3rd and 2 into 3rd and 7, and Miami was unable to convert and punted the ball away. Florida State promptly fumbled the ball back to Miami on the first play of their drive, and Miami had another chance to extend the score. 2 plays later, an INCREDIBLE Malachi Toney touchdown was negated by penalty, and Miami’s drive ended up stalling again.
Worst of all in this game, Miami had their worst quarter of the season after going up 28-3 against FSU. They were outgained 188 to 17 in the 4th, and outscored 19-0, and a blowout win turned into a 28-22 score which was in no way indicative of beatdown Miami laid on FSU in this game.
Also, there was an egregious holding penalty on Rueben Bain in the endzone for a safety that wasn’t called that allowed FSU to hang around further.
For those counting at home, that’s 10 knockout opportunities over 4 games that Miami has failed to connect on. If Miami hits on even half of those chances, the scores of these games start to more accurately mirror the dominance Miami showed against their opponents.
Many of the best teams in recent history have been able to take teams out of games early and coast to lopsided victories. Nick Saban’s Alabama. Kirby Smart’s Georgia. Dabo Swinney’s Clemson (not this year lol). And the list goes on and on. For those teams, more often than not, when they got opposing teams down, they stepped on their faces and buried them.
I mean, just think back to the 2017 ACC Championship game against Clemson. Miami was down 21-0 at the half, and 38-0 after 3 quarters. Blowout city. And don’t even get me started on the 58-0 debacle that ended up being Al Golden’s final game. Clemson let no chance to bury Miami (and their coach) go unrealized.
Those examples, while uncomfortable because Miami was on the business end of the blowout, show what I’m talking about: the ability to knock a team out. That killer instinct and performance is one of the last things missing from this year’s Canes team, and I hope they find it sooner than later.
If you’re looking for a curative suggestion to fix this issue, there isn’t a panacea. There have been multiple issues that have plagued Miami in these moments, from penalties to turnovers to general poor performance. So, really, the only thing I can offer is something that will come off as trite, but it’s the truth: play better.
Miami has built a great roster, and are the kind of bullies that Mario Cristobal has previously built (at Oregon) and long envisioned at his Alma Mater. But, to take the next step and be the biggest bullies in the CFB world, they’ll need to learn how to land a knockout punch when the opportunity presents itself.