Canes' Offense Eager to Perform at Boston College

By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes know they need to do better.
 
No one wearing orange and green is shying away from the disappointing loss at Virginia. Instead, the Canes have come back hungry to improve on their deficiencies in advance of the second half of the season.
 
“This week has been a better week for the offense, as a whole,” quarterback Malik Rosier said. “I think the big thing that we learned was that we need to come out and execute every play. Two weeks ago, we didn’t have a good practice, but the last two weeks the ones, twos and even the threes have been dominating.” 
 
The improvement in practice has Miami’s offense feeling good after a tough showing at Virginia. The Hurricanes have been much more consistent in practice and wide receiver Mike Harley believes that will translate to success on Friday.
 
“Just being consistent on a daily basis, we dominated the week so far,” Harley said. “Sunday, Monday and Tuesdays, no days off. We look good. I feel like we are going to have a great game this week.”
 
Freshman tight end Brevin Jordan is impressed with the reinvigorated Canes’ attack and how it has responded to adversity since falling at UVA. 

“That loss to Virginia, it kind of fell on our shoulders,” Jordan said. “The defense held them to less than 200 yards, three turnovers, and the offense didn’t show up, we didn’t come to perform. In that week overall, we didn’t have the best week of practice. We had to stop in the middle and do up-downs, so this week we came out and we did pretty good.”

Friday will serve as Boston College’s Red Bandana Game honoring Welles Crowther, who is remembered for his heroics during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Canes expect a highly motivated Eagles team, as well as a raucous crowd in the stands, when they team the field at Alumni Stadium.
 
“I know since they’ve been doing this game, they haven’t lost,” Rosier said. “For them, it’s almost a pride thing and as it is, it’s hard to go in someone else’s home and beat them and then you add this game where it’s a very emotional game for them so they’re going to come out fired up. We have to be able to execute.”
 
The Canes and Eagles will be playing in frigid temperatures on Friday night, as forecasts indicate that it will be in the upper-30s when the game kicks off. But Rosier and the Hurricanes are not concerned with the weather. They have the necessary equipment and mindset to succeed at Boston College.
 
“For me, I don’t think cold is the biggest issue,” Rosier said. “I’ve played in a little bit of cold weather. The biggest issue sometimes is when you’re up in northern areas, it’s dry air and the ball gets slick. Sometimes you’ll see quarterbacks licking their fingers because we’re just trying to get moisture and trying to get that grip on the ball. Coach Richt has done a great job. We’re going to be wearing tights, I’ll have hand warmers, the heated benches, so we have no excuses why cold will be a factor. That’s not even an excuse.” 

Rosier will be under center for the Hurricanes and the fifth-year senior brings experience and maturity to Miami’s offense. Senior Tyree St. Louis is confident Rosier will excel at leading the Canes’ offense.

“This is his fifth year here, it’s my fourth year playing with him and second year as a starter, so just the most experience he has,” St. Louis said. “He has pretty good leadership, as all the other quarterbacks do, he is a bit different because he has been here, he knows all the guys, he knows all the calls, he knows everything.”

“The offense flows a little bit better, just because of the experience that he has,” St. Louis said. “Whether it be making the calls, or getting things lined up, or hitting certain targets, things flow a little easier.”

Friday’s game means a lot for Miami, as a victory would get them back on track after falling at Virginia. But the Canes are not feeling any additional pressure heading into the contest because no game means more than another. 

“We need to win all of them,” Harley said. “This is just another game on the schedule that we need to win to move on past the negativity of the loss we took two weeks ago. It is something that we need to do, it is just another W.”