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The Miami Hurricanes battled a scrappy Virginia Cavaliers team until the final drive, but were able to pull out a 19-14 victory this weekend to move to 5-1. After a rewatch of the game, here were my takeaways and grades.
**This game was much closer than it should have been. First off, for anyone concerned about the final score, I want to say I thought Miami clearly outplayed UVA in this game on both offense and defense. Going into the last half of the 4th quarter, the Hurricanes were dominating total yardage vs. UVA by a total of 416-258, a disparity of over 150 yards. Of course, Virginia then responded with a 94-yard TD drive in just over 2 minutes to make it a one score game on Miami’s worst defensive sequence of the night, but the fact remains that the Canes should have already had the game in hand at that point. Why didn’t they?
Despite essentially controlling the game between the 20’s, that yardage gap was not reflected on the scoreboard because of Miami’s issues when they crept closer to the Cavs’ endzone in this game; they settled for 3 FG attempts on their 4 redzone trips, having one blocked, and were also pushed out of FG range following a D’Eriq King intentional grounding penalty after driving 64 yards from their own 6 yard-line to UVA’s 30 in the first quarter. Even though UM got a ton of big plays from the offense (more on that later), only one went for a TD; in a way, it was a reversal of last week’s game, where UM was far less efficient on a play-by-play basis vs. Pitt, but were able to get their big plays into the endzone to put up 31 points.
Overall, I thought Miami’s offense played much better in this game and ran much smoother, but you saw how little that matters if you aren’t able to score when it counts. Credit Virginia for making stops on defense when they needed to, but ultimately, they were lucky to be in the game at the end. Still, it’s not a great look for UM letting UVA hang around into the 4th quarter in a game Miami was controlling, but that was the first time you’ve seen that from the Canes this season. Hopefully it’s just a hiccup rather than a burgeoning trend.
**King’s deep ball finally made an appearance. Coming into the game, UVA was considered one of the worst teams in the country in terms of giving up big plays through the air, allowing 8.5 ypa to passers (64th of 77 in FBS) and had just given up 6 passes of 35+ yards to Wake Forest the week before. If there was ever going to be a week to get the struggling Miami passing game going, this had to be the week, so it was encouraging to see King step up to the plate and deliver. Rhett Lashlee set the tone and exploited that UVA weakness from the beginning, dialing up deep shots on UM’s first two plays, which King converted for 32 yards to Will Mallory and then for 43 yards to Mike Harley for a TD. All told, King completed a whopping 7 passes for 25+ yards against UVA, as the timing, touch, and connection with his receivers clicked into place for the first time really all season. He also showed great accuracy on the run multiple times, with his best throw coming in the 4th quarter on a scramble away from pressure that saw King deliver a perfectly placed ball right on the sidelines to Dee Wiggins in a small window where only his receiver could get it for a 26-yard pickup. King ultimately had a final line of 21-30 (70%) for 322 yards, 10.7 ypa, a TD, and no turnovers, while staring down a barrage from the Virginia front 7 all night. King was a better passer than he showed through the first 5 games of the season, and that shined through against UVA this weekend.
**Harley came to play. With the UM receiving corps much maligned heading into the game and the entire receiver depth chart being put in flux by the staff during the last week of practice, it was Harley who stepped up in a massive way. The senior WR was the story of the game, consistently finding openings in the UVA defense and creating separation like we haven’t seen at receiver all year up to that point. He scored on the second play of the game by toasting his man deep 1-on-1 and he didn’t look back from there, racking up career-highs in both catches (10) and yards (170). It was an incredible performance from Harley with his job on the line, showing what Miami’s passing offense is capable of when properly executed. The receiver play has really held the offense back in the first half of the season, so Harley and the rest of the WR’s need to bottle this momentum and use it as a springboard to success during the back half of the schedule against better passing defenses.
**The offensive line remains a major concern. As mentioned previously, Miami’s OL continued their recent struggles, giving up 11 TFL and 5 sacks vs. UVA, and there were multiple other close calls in those departments as well. In their past three games combined, UM has now given up 14 sacks and 37 TFL; that’s an average of 4.67 sacks and 12.3 TFL per game, which would put UM among the nation’s worst using just those three games as a sample (98th of 101 in sacks, 100 of 101 in TFL*). Yikes. After showing improvement through the first three weeks before going into their slide the previous two games ahead of UVA, the hope was that the Hurricanes’ OL just ran up against two of the best front sevens in the country with Clemson and Pitt, and that they were actually closer in competency to what we saw at the beginning of the season.
Instead, the Virginia game proved the opposite, as the Cavs’ front seven was just slightly above average coming into the game in terms of run defense and rushing the QB (both 32nd of 77 teams coming in*). It was probably fool’s gold to expect Miami’s OL to maintain such massive improvement just one year after being one of the worst offensive lines in the nation, but I think it’s fair to expect better line play than we’ve seen these past 3 weeks, otherwise it will inevitably cost UM a game against a better opponent.
**Aside from the final drive, I thought the defense played well. As mentioned, Miami’s defense had held a UVA offense that was averaging over 400 yards per game and had scored 23 points on Clemson with their backup QB to just 258 total yards and 7 points through 3 and a half quarters. No, we can’t just forget about the following 94-yard drive that included a 32-yard QB run on 4th and 1 and a busted coverage that led to an easy 35-yard TD pass, but it’s good to place those items in their proper context.
Ideally, there would have been a better gameplan and/or subsequent adjustment from Blake Baker to the QB run, which gashed Miami all game to the tune of 24 carries for 135 yards (5.6 ypc). But really, that was UVA’s only consistent offense in the game, as Virginia struggled throwing down the field and was inefficient in the passing game overall (50% completions, 5.7 ypa), and they also eschewed the traditional run game (just 10 carries for backs). While I would still like to see more big plays from the defense (only 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 turnover on the desperation last play) they again performed well in the metric that matters most by allowing only 14 points, lowering their ppg average to 22.2 (27th in the country), which includes a matchup on the road vs. the #1 team in the country.
Grades
Offense: C+
19 points scored and 444 total yards. A difficult grade in that the offense moved the ball at will most of the time and were much more efficient than in past games, but they ultimately failed to get much out of it on the scoreboard, which obviously counts the most. 7 passes of 25+ yards or more. Just 3 three and outs. A whopping 78 plays run for 5.7 ypp. Much better on third downs (8-17, 47.1%) than in recent weeks. No turnovers. Aside from the lack of scoring in the red zone (1 TD on 4 trips), the OL was another big negative, allowing a terrible 11 TFL and 5 sacks.
Defense: B
14 points and 366 yards allowed. Would have been an ‘A’ grade before UVA’s final scoring drive late in the 4th quarter. Still held an above average offense under their yearly averages in both yards and points. Lacked big plays with just 1 turnover on UVA’s desperation last play, 2 TFL, and 1 sack. Allowed 7 for 16 (43.8%) on third downs. Did more than enough to win the game when the offense was having trouble actually putting up points.
Special Teams: D
Took 3 points off the board in a close game by allowing a blocked FG; Jose Borregales hit on his other 2 FG attempts and his 1 XP attempt. Lou Hedley had his lowest output of the year (43.2 ypp on 5 punts), but that was partially a product of working with shorter fields (2 inside the 20) and he was still good overall. Got nothing special from the returners yet again, and Jaylan Knighton dropped a kickoff. The coverage units let up multiple big returns in both the punting game and kicking game for the first time all year.
Coaching: B
Limited penalties (6 for 38 yards) for the second straight week. Liked both gameplans from the coordinators, although would have liked to see a better adjustment to the QB run from Baker and better playcalling from Lashlee in the red zone. The staff had the team prepared coming in, and they made the key plays when they mattered to get the win. No noticeable time management issues.
*2 conferences (Big10, MWC) began play this weekend, which is the reason the total teams jumped from 77 to 101 after this week.
**This game was much closer than it should have been. First off, for anyone concerned about the final score, I want to say I thought Miami clearly outplayed UVA in this game on both offense and defense. Going into the last half of the 4th quarter, the Hurricanes were dominating total yardage vs. UVA by a total of 416-258, a disparity of over 150 yards. Of course, Virginia then responded with a 94-yard TD drive in just over 2 minutes to make it a one score game on Miami’s worst defensive sequence of the night, but the fact remains that the Canes should have already had the game in hand at that point. Why didn’t they?
Despite essentially controlling the game between the 20’s, that yardage gap was not reflected on the scoreboard because of Miami’s issues when they crept closer to the Cavs’ endzone in this game; they settled for 3 FG attempts on their 4 redzone trips, having one blocked, and were also pushed out of FG range following a D’Eriq King intentional grounding penalty after driving 64 yards from their own 6 yard-line to UVA’s 30 in the first quarter. Even though UM got a ton of big plays from the offense (more on that later), only one went for a TD; in a way, it was a reversal of last week’s game, where UM was far less efficient on a play-by-play basis vs. Pitt, but were able to get their big plays into the endzone to put up 31 points.
Overall, I thought Miami’s offense played much better in this game and ran much smoother, but you saw how little that matters if you aren’t able to score when it counts. Credit Virginia for making stops on defense when they needed to, but ultimately, they were lucky to be in the game at the end. Still, it’s not a great look for UM letting UVA hang around into the 4th quarter in a game Miami was controlling, but that was the first time you’ve seen that from the Canes this season. Hopefully it’s just a hiccup rather than a burgeoning trend.
**King’s deep ball finally made an appearance. Coming into the game, UVA was considered one of the worst teams in the country in terms of giving up big plays through the air, allowing 8.5 ypa to passers (64th of 77 in FBS) and had just given up 6 passes of 35+ yards to Wake Forest the week before. If there was ever going to be a week to get the struggling Miami passing game going, this had to be the week, so it was encouraging to see King step up to the plate and deliver. Rhett Lashlee set the tone and exploited that UVA weakness from the beginning, dialing up deep shots on UM’s first two plays, which King converted for 32 yards to Will Mallory and then for 43 yards to Mike Harley for a TD. All told, King completed a whopping 7 passes for 25+ yards against UVA, as the timing, touch, and connection with his receivers clicked into place for the first time really all season. He also showed great accuracy on the run multiple times, with his best throw coming in the 4th quarter on a scramble away from pressure that saw King deliver a perfectly placed ball right on the sidelines to Dee Wiggins in a small window where only his receiver could get it for a 26-yard pickup. King ultimately had a final line of 21-30 (70%) for 322 yards, 10.7 ypa, a TD, and no turnovers, while staring down a barrage from the Virginia front 7 all night. King was a better passer than he showed through the first 5 games of the season, and that shined through against UVA this weekend.
**Harley came to play. With the UM receiving corps much maligned heading into the game and the entire receiver depth chart being put in flux by the staff during the last week of practice, it was Harley who stepped up in a massive way. The senior WR was the story of the game, consistently finding openings in the UVA defense and creating separation like we haven’t seen at receiver all year up to that point. He scored on the second play of the game by toasting his man deep 1-on-1 and he didn’t look back from there, racking up career-highs in both catches (10) and yards (170). It was an incredible performance from Harley with his job on the line, showing what Miami’s passing offense is capable of when properly executed. The receiver play has really held the offense back in the first half of the season, so Harley and the rest of the WR’s need to bottle this momentum and use it as a springboard to success during the back half of the schedule against better passing defenses.
**The offensive line remains a major concern. As mentioned previously, Miami’s OL continued their recent struggles, giving up 11 TFL and 5 sacks vs. UVA, and there were multiple other close calls in those departments as well. In their past three games combined, UM has now given up 14 sacks and 37 TFL; that’s an average of 4.67 sacks and 12.3 TFL per game, which would put UM among the nation’s worst using just those three games as a sample (98th of 101 in sacks, 100 of 101 in TFL*). Yikes. After showing improvement through the first three weeks before going into their slide the previous two games ahead of UVA, the hope was that the Hurricanes’ OL just ran up against two of the best front sevens in the country with Clemson and Pitt, and that they were actually closer in competency to what we saw at the beginning of the season.
Instead, the Virginia game proved the opposite, as the Cavs’ front seven was just slightly above average coming into the game in terms of run defense and rushing the QB (both 32nd of 77 teams coming in*). It was probably fool’s gold to expect Miami’s OL to maintain such massive improvement just one year after being one of the worst offensive lines in the nation, but I think it’s fair to expect better line play than we’ve seen these past 3 weeks, otherwise it will inevitably cost UM a game against a better opponent.
**Aside from the final drive, I thought the defense played well. As mentioned, Miami’s defense had held a UVA offense that was averaging over 400 yards per game and had scored 23 points on Clemson with their backup QB to just 258 total yards and 7 points through 3 and a half quarters. No, we can’t just forget about the following 94-yard drive that included a 32-yard QB run on 4th and 1 and a busted coverage that led to an easy 35-yard TD pass, but it’s good to place those items in their proper context.
Ideally, there would have been a better gameplan and/or subsequent adjustment from Blake Baker to the QB run, which gashed Miami all game to the tune of 24 carries for 135 yards (5.6 ypc). But really, that was UVA’s only consistent offense in the game, as Virginia struggled throwing down the field and was inefficient in the passing game overall (50% completions, 5.7 ypa), and they also eschewed the traditional run game (just 10 carries for backs). While I would still like to see more big plays from the defense (only 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 turnover on the desperation last play) they again performed well in the metric that matters most by allowing only 14 points, lowering their ppg average to 22.2 (27th in the country), which includes a matchup on the road vs. the #1 team in the country.
Grades
Offense: C+
19 points scored and 444 total yards. A difficult grade in that the offense moved the ball at will most of the time and were much more efficient than in past games, but they ultimately failed to get much out of it on the scoreboard, which obviously counts the most. 7 passes of 25+ yards or more. Just 3 three and outs. A whopping 78 plays run for 5.7 ypp. Much better on third downs (8-17, 47.1%) than in recent weeks. No turnovers. Aside from the lack of scoring in the red zone (1 TD on 4 trips), the OL was another big negative, allowing a terrible 11 TFL and 5 sacks.
Defense: B
14 points and 366 yards allowed. Would have been an ‘A’ grade before UVA’s final scoring drive late in the 4th quarter. Still held an above average offense under their yearly averages in both yards and points. Lacked big plays with just 1 turnover on UVA’s desperation last play, 2 TFL, and 1 sack. Allowed 7 for 16 (43.8%) on third downs. Did more than enough to win the game when the offense was having trouble actually putting up points.
Special Teams: D
Took 3 points off the board in a close game by allowing a blocked FG; Jose Borregales hit on his other 2 FG attempts and his 1 XP attempt. Lou Hedley had his lowest output of the year (43.2 ypp on 5 punts), but that was partially a product of working with shorter fields (2 inside the 20) and he was still good overall. Got nothing special from the returners yet again, and Jaylan Knighton dropped a kickoff. The coverage units let up multiple big returns in both the punting game and kicking game for the first time all year.
Coaching: B
Limited penalties (6 for 38 yards) for the second straight week. Liked both gameplans from the coordinators, although would have liked to see a better adjustment to the QB run from Baker and better playcalling from Lashlee in the red zone. The staff had the team prepared coming in, and they made the key plays when they mattered to get the win. No noticeable time management issues.
*2 conferences (Big10, MWC) began play this weekend, which is the reason the total teams jumped from 77 to 101 after this week.
