Miami Gardens, FL— The Miami Hurricanes will be leaving week 3 breathing a sigh of relief after a lackluster match against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Hurricanes pulled out a 17-12 victory, however, the game seemed to be more of a retrograde than a step in the right direction.
The first half revealed two obsolete offenses and hardy defenses. Miami’s offense looked somewhat promising after they found themselves on the board seven minutes into the game. It took Deejay Dallas three attempts from within the 10-yard line to find the endzone thanks to the grit of the Central Michigan defense.
The defense for both teams was the highlight of the first half. The Hurricanes created three turnovers and consistently punished David Moore and the Chippewas. On both sides of the field the offense was struggling immensely. Central Michigan accumulated a total of 105 yards while Miami surpassed with 149. Jarren Williams looked indecisive by the Chippewa’s scheme in both end zones and eventually found himself sacked for a safety to give Central Michigan momentum to close out the half.
It wasn’t until the second half that he slowly settled into the saddle and the offense shifted gears. With the help of several penalties from Central Michigan to help move the chain up the field, Jarren Williams found K.J. Obsorn for a 6-yard touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter. Central Michigan would look to rebuttal, but Moore was lacking help on the field. On 4th down the Chippewas turned to kicker, Ryan Tice who recorded a 55 yd field goal to help close the gap, 5-14.
While Miami’s offense was gaining momentum, the defense was losing focus and found themselves helping Central Michigan by accruing multiple penalties. The Hurricanes accumulated a total of 13 penalties for a loss of 93 yards.
Coach Diaz expressed his frustration post-game.
“The most disconcerting thing, of course, was all the penalties. It wasn’t just the number of penalties, which was absurd and unacceptable, but it was the timing of the penalties. What that caused, when you talk about our offensive performance, was that our defense could not, or would not, get off the field in the first half due to penalties, both on third downs and on plays that were going to be third downs. We have snapped the ball more than any team we have played through the first three games and, to have them run 20 more snaps than we did, is going to turn into a low-scoring game. If you are an underdog on the road, that’s what you want to do. You want to come in, you want to shorten the game and we allowed them to do that by extending drives with penalties, more often than not, foolish ones. That is something that we will make sure we address into the bye week because obviously we know, going forward in ACC play, that is not winning football. That is not part of who we are and not part of our plan to win.”
Despite the avoidable errors, the Hurricanes secured their second win of the season and refused to let the mental errors trump their confidence. Senior Linebacker, Shaq Quarterman radiated confidence in his team.
“When the bye week comes, its time to heal as well as time to really get into the next opponent and the fact that the next opponent is ACC play, you got to take advantage of it. Last year I don’t think we had the same opportunity, so with the one coming up I definitely agree 100%. We have to put in that work this week and next week. That’s all we’re going to do and all we’re going to focus on.”
The Miami Hurricanes will go into week 4 with a bye and use the free week to their advantage to recover and prepare for conference play. The Canes are back in action on Saturday, October 5 at Hard Rock Stadium to face off against Virginia Tech.
Written by Merrissa Vault
