Recap: Comeback Falls Short

MIAMI (AP)–Kansas State stopped Miami quarterback Jacory Harris’ fourth-down run at the goal line with 49 seconds left, capping a brilliant late stand that sealed the Wildcats’ 28-24 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday.

John Hubert ran for 166 yards and the go-ahead touchdown for the Wildcats (3-0). Collin Klein passed for two scores and ran for another for Kansas State, which blew an 11-point halftime lead before rallying.

Harris threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns for Miami (1-2), which got 106 yards and a touchdown from Lamar Miller. Miami had first-and-goal at the Kansas State 2 with 1:52 left, but a first-down pass fell incomplete, two Mike James runs were stopped and then Harris’ knee was deemed down by replay officials after the on-field call was that he scored.

“We have no one to blame but ourselves,” Miami coach Al Golden said.

It was the 145th time in the last 150 games where Kansas State won when leading at halftime, and the Wildcats earned this one.

Miller’s 59-yard touchdown run with 2:52 left in the third quarter got Miami within 21-17, and Harris found Travis Benjamin with a 34-yard scoring pass 43 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Miami a three-point lead.

A short-lived lead, at that.

Bolstered by a 47-yard run by Hubert on third-and-1–Miami was in something akin to goal-line defense, with just about everyone on the line of scrimmage 70 yards from its own end zone–Kansas State went 80 yards on eight plays. Hubert’s burst from 2 yards out capped the drive, putting Miami in need of late heroics.

Harris almost delivered.

Buoyed along by 33-yard pass to Chase Ford, and a pass interference call against Kansas State’s Nigel Malone in the end zone, the Hurricanes were 2 yards away from the win with four plays to get there. They wound up a few inches short.

“We have to execute,” Golden said. “That’s on us. We didn’t get it done.”

Klein finished with 93 yards rushing for Kansas State, which won despite being outgained 411-398. His arms bloodied from a few scrapes with the Florida Marlins’ infield dirt, Klein completed 12 of 18 passes for 133 yards.

Harris completed 21 of 31 passes, and Benjamin caught six balls for 91 yards to lead Miami.

Klein set the tone on the first possession, leading K-State 63 yards on 11 plays and going in from 2 yards out to give the Wildcats a 7-3 lead with 5:57 left in the first quarter. He was a perfect 6-for-6 passing for 80 yards in the first quarter–against a Miami defense that in four quarters against Ohio State last week allowed four completed passes for 35 yards.

Klein connected with Tyler Lockett from 20 yards out with 13:28 left in the half, and the Wildcats were up 14-3.

Here’s how good Klein was: When Kansas State seemed on the brink of trouble, his feet were more than enough to keep the Wildcats afloat.

“Their quarterback played exceptional,” Golden said. “Got to give Kansas State credit.”

The Wildcats committed penalties on four consecutive plays midway through the second quarter–holding on a completed pass, then two false starts sandwiched around a delay of game while Miami linebacker Sean Spence waved his arms to incite more noise from the decidedly less-than-full stadium. After John Hubert was stuffed on an option pitch, Kansas State faced 2nd-and-29 from its own 3.

Just when it seemed like Miami was ready to grab some momentum, Klein took over.

A 26-yard scamper while taking off from his own end zone on second down, followed by a 13-yard run on the next play, got Kansas State near midfield and averted disaster. Miami eventually forced a punt, but did nothing with the ensuing possession and went into the locker room down by 11 points.

Stats | Photos |Notes

A pair of false starts doomed Miami in the first quarter. The Hurricanes settled for a field goal on the game’s opening drive when Jon Feliciano jumped early on third-and-1 from the Kansas State 17. And later in the period, Joel Figueroa–who had just entered the game after Brandon Washington limped off shaken up–moved early on a fourth-and-4 play where Harris had two open receivers and wound up forcing the Hurricanes to punt.

Those mistakes wound up costing Miami dearly in the end.

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Game Notes

• Miami is 16-8 in games at Sun Life Stadium and Al Golden is 28-36 overall, 1-2 at Miami following the 28-24 loss to Kansas State on Sept. 24, 2011.
• After a brief weather delay, the Canes and Wildcats took the field for a 3:58 p.m. kickoff. The weather was 84 degrees, felt like 93, with winds at 11 miles per hour from the SSW, gusting to 16 mph. Attendance for the game was 43,786.
• Captains for the game were Jacory Harris, Harland Gunn, JoJo Nicolas, Sean Spence and Jake Wieclaw.
• Honorary captain Joaquin Gonzalez cranked the Hurricane Warning Siren prior to the game.
• This is the inaugural meeting between the two teams, the first of a home-and-home series that has UM travelling to the Little Apple (Manhattan, Kan.) in the 2012 season.
• The game was the second of three-straight for the Hurricanes at Sun Life. Miami faces Bethune-Cookman next week to wrap up the three-game homestand.

Team Notes

• UM collected 139 yards on the ground and 272 yards through the air against K-State. Entering the game, Kansas State possessed the nation’s No. 1 overall defense, allowing an average of 100 yards through the air and a scant 64 yards on the ground.
• The UM defense forced K-State into four-straight penalties in the middle of the second quarter, pushing the Wildcats back 16 yards, to their own six yard line.
• In the third quarter, UM blocked a field goal for the first time since 2004, when the Canes stopped a kick by Thomas Carroll of Florida on Dec. 31.

Player Notes

• UM’s offensive starters for the game were WR Allen Hurns, WR Tommy Streeter, LT Brandon Washington, LG Harland Gunn, C Tyler Horn, RG Brandon Linder, RT Jon Feliciano, TE Chase Ford, WR Travis Benjamin, QB Jacory Harris, HB Lamar Miller.
• Canes defensive starters were DE Adewale Ojomo, DT Micanor Regis, DT Marcus Forston, DE Andrew Smith, SLB Ramon Buchanan, MLB Jimmy Gaines, WLB Sean Spence, CB Mike Williams, FS Vaughn Telemaque, SS JoJo Nicolas, CB Brandon McGee.
• Lamar Miller has rushed for more than 1,000 career yards in just the 14th game of his career. Miller collected 646 yards in 2010 and added 106 yards in the game against K-State. In just 13 career games, Clinton Portis recorded his 1000th yard with 14 yards against Louisiana Tech in 2000.
• Miller exploded for a 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, surpassing his previous career-long 54-yard rush from last week against Ohio State.
• Miller has recorded three-straight 100-yard games including 106 against Kansas State, 184 vs. Ohio State and 119 at Maryland.
• Lamar Miller totaled 18 carries against Kansas State, marking the third-straight game that he has recorded at least 12 carries.
• After connecting on a pair of TD passes against K-State, QB Jacory Harris needs just one more TD pass to move into a three-way tie for 15th place on the ACC’s Career TD passes list. He started the game in 17th place, with 52 career TD passes.
• Junior WR Tommy Streeter made his first-career start. In the third quarter he scored the Hurricanes’ first touchdown with a 4-yard reception, the second of Streeter’s career. He ended the night with four catches for 31 yards.
• Senior Travis Benjamin returned the opening kickoff 41 yards, his third-longest return of his career. Benjamin had returns of 57 and 42 yards against Florida State on Oct. 4, 2008.
• In the fourth quarter, Benjamin scored UM’s go-ahead touchdown (24-21), a 34-yard pass from Jacory Harris.
• The Hurricanes scored on their opening drive with a career-long 39-yard field goal by Jake Wieclaw.
• Rashawn Scott recorded his first-career catch, a two-yard reception in the first quarter.
• LB Sean Spence recorded five total tackles (three solo, two assisted) in the first quarter, including a tackle for a three-yard loss. Spence posted 14 tackles in the game, eight solo and six assisted, tying his career high of 14 tackles at Clemson in 2010.
• In the third quarter, Spence notched his first sack of the season, which is also number 8.5 of his career.
• Spence also recorded 2.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards in the game, nearly tying his career high of three which was set at Georgia Tech on Nov. 13, 2010.
• Senior LB Jordan Futch posted his first career sack in the third quarter, an eight-yard loss for the Wildcats.
• DB JoJo Nicolas collected eight tackles against K-State, tying his career-high of eight, which he did twice, the last time being at Maryland this season.
• In the third quarter, DT Marcus Forston notched his 10th-career sack, the fourth of the day for the Hurricanes.
• DL Marcus Robinson recorded five tackles in the game, tying his career high of five, which was against FAMU in 2010.
• Entering the game, freshman WR Phillip Dorsett had one reception for five yards. Against K-State, he caught two passes for 41 yards.