Written by Darrell Wilkinson
The Miami Hurricanes have suffered their second consecutive loss in a 27-14 letdown against Boston College that saw the Eagles dominate for the majority of the game. Miami Head Coach Mark Richt’s team had a hard time getting anything going on the offensive side of the ball while the defense struggled mightily in the first half that spelled disaster for the ‘Canes.
Down 20-14 in the middle of the third quarter Miami still had a chance to come back and take control of the game but then an ill-advised Malik Rosier pass into double coverage that was intercepted and set up BC on the UM 14. Eagles running back AJ Dillon would do the rest from there for the Eagles as he punched it in to make it 27-14. Miami had let up 10 points off turnovers both of them in the middle of the third quarter and that momentum cost the ‘Canes big time.
Miami’s defense for the first time all season looked helpless in the first half giving up 299 total yards and 433 for the game but just couldn’t match the physicality that BC brought. AJ Dillon in particular was a physical runner who churned first down after first down on his way gaining 149 of BC’s 223 rushing yards on 32 carries with a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball the offensive line for the ‘Canes looked overmatched. There was no real push for the ground game and time was limited for quarterback Malik Rosier who actually started out strong but became more and more inaccurate as the game went on. Rosier was 19 of 36 for 150 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions while the run game was almost nonexistent aside from scrambles from Rosier. The redshirt junior quarterback had 71 of Miami’s 155 yards on the ground and that’s simply not good enough from the ground game.
Tonight was the Red Bandana game for Boston College which pays tribute to Welles Crowther, a former student who saved people’s lives during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the bandana is a tribute to his memory. With that inspiration, crowd behind them and Addazio’s uptempo but physical style of football the Eagles were going to be hard to beat tonight and Miami just couldn’t come up with big plays when they needed it. BC moves to 6-2 on the season with the victory.
Mark Richt will surely have to think about making a change at the quarterback position as the ACC coastal division race slips further out of reach as the Hurricanes fall to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the ACC. Rosier while being the more mature guy has shown he can’t propel this offense forward and taking a shot at bringing back redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry doesn’t seem like the worst idea.
Miami heads back home as they prepare to host Duke next Saturday while Boston College sets up for a big game at Virginia Tech.
- Darrell Wilkinson TheSkyBoat.com
- Twitter: @TheSkyBoat
- @CanesFB_SkyBoat
- @DarrellW_Sports
