Ten Things We Learned From UM's Win Over CMU
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Hurricanes know this one wasn’t particularly pretty. And they said so.
But after posting a 17-12 win over Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami coach Manny Diaz and his players made note of one key fact.
Winning, no matter how it happens, matters.
“From a mental toughness standpoint, in a game like this where instantly style points came out of play and it was all about how we manage this situation and how do we come out of here with a win, the only thing we could do today was win the football game,” Diaz said. “Which, mission accomplished. There are a hundred things that we have to fix, but I would rather fix them all after a win than after a loss.”
A third of the way through the season, the Hurricanes have played in three games decided by five points or less. Saturday’s performance against Central Michigan marked the first time this year Miami has won such a game.
Given how young the Hurricanes are at several key positions, knowing they can hang on in a tight game against an upset-minded opponent should provide a boost of confidence as Miami heads into its off week.
But with a stretch of six key ACC games set to begin Oct. 5 when Miami hosts Virginia Tech, there will be things the Hurricanes address in the coming day.
Here, a look at some of what they learned after their win against Central Michigan.
1. Jarren Williams continues earning respect
Redshirt freshman quarterback Jarren Williams put together another strong performance on Saturday, completing 17-of-24 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown.
He did so while facing an at-times relentless pass from the Chippewas, who managed four sacks and more than once, forced the quarterback to scramble to keep plays alive.
Williams delivered and according to the Associated Press, on Saturday became the first Hurricanes quarterback in the modern era to have zero interceptions in the first 100 pass attempts of his college career.
After Williams’ performance against the Chippewas, teammates sang his praises.
“Jarren, he’s a very competitive guy. I’ve seen his toughness from day one. In that first game against Florida when he took 10 sacks, not one time did he complain, not one time did he have a bad face on,” tight end Brevin Jordan said. “He just always keeps going on. He’s always like, ‘Let’s go, guys. Just give me a little bit more time. He’s never negative, so that’s Jarren’s personality. We love Jarren as a team.”
Added linebacker Shaquille Quarterman, “Resiliency, to say the least. I think he does a great job with it. I think he does a great job with a lot of the stuff he has to deal with as a quarterback. … When he does what he wants to do, he plays well and the offense plays through him. On the times he may get sacked or he may get hit, he always pops up. And his offensive line is still there to pick him up. So are the backs and tight ends. I think he’s doing an awesome job and we’re going to continue to play with him.”
2. The penalties were a problem
In last week’s 63-0 win over Bethune-Cookman, the Hurricanes played a relatively clean game, committing a season-low five penalties. Things were messier against Central Michigan.
The Hurricanes finished with 13 penalties for 93 yards, their second-highest total of the year.
Worse for Miami wasn’t just the fact the Hurricanes committed those penalties, it’s that several of them came at inopportune times.
An intentional grounding call cost the Hurricanes a down in the third quarter. A holding call erased a 19-yard game in the same quarter. An illegal formation call erased a 45-yard punt from Lou Hedley that, on the ensuing play, turned into a partially-blocked 16-yarder. And with Miami trying to keep the Chippewas out of the end zone late in the fourth quarter, a defensive holding extended Central Michigan’s drive. Two more penalties later on that drive helped Central Michigan score and pull within five with 3:16 left.
Miami ultimately overcame all of that and got the win, but Diaz made it clear fixing the penalty issue will be a major priority during the upcoming off week.
“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,” Diaz said. “What that caused, when you talk about our offensive performance, is that our defense could not, or would not, get off the field in the first half due to penalties. … This 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.”
3. Lou Hedley is making an impact
The Hurricanes came into the season knowing they needed to improve their punting numbers.
New addition Lou Hedley is doing that.
Through four games, the redshirt sophomore is averaging 44.9 yards per punt, a number better than last season’s 38.2 yard average. And against Central Michigan, Hedley again made a difference.
Early in the second quarter, he boomed a career-long 57 yarder that pinned Central Michigan inside its 15-yard line. And in the game’s final minute, with the Hurricanes clinging to a 17-12 lead and needing him to flip the field, Hedley delivered again.
He bested the career mark he’d set earlier with a 59-yarder that put the Chippewas on their own 5-yard line. That was the longest punt the Hurricanes have had since Justin Vogel booted a 58-yarder in November 2016 and it made a difference.
4. The defense continues forcing turnovers
Miami’s defense committed its share of inopportune penalties, something both Diaz and Quarterman acknowledged. And the unit understands that while it made some plays, it too, has things it needs to correct before Miami moves into the heart of its schedule.
But the Hurricanes found ways to get turnovers, especially in some key moments.
Cornerback Al Blades Jr. snagged an interception on Central Michigan’s final drive that sealed the win. Greg Rousseau ended a 9-play Chippewas drive with a sack that resulted in a fumble he recovered. And Jonathan Garvin had another sack that resulted in a fumble that was recovered by teammate Pat Bethel.
All of those were positives for the Hurricanes.
5. The defense was active behind the line of scrimmage
Another positive for Miami’s defense Saturday? It was active behind the line of scrimmage.
Central Michigan quarterback David Moore was sacked four times and hurried six times. Miami also had nine tackles for loss, with Quarterman notching a team-high two TFLs.
Through the first quarter of the season, the Hurricanes have totaled 33 tackles for loss, a number that ties them with Clemson, Mississippi, Oregon, and South Florida for 10th in the nation overall.
“I thought we were okay getting after the quarterback [Saturday], to be honest. I still think that we are not as good as we are going to be with rushing the passer as the year goes on, but it’s still great to see guys like Greg Rousseau continue to make big plays,” Diaz said. “We did make some timely sacks in terms of where the ball was on the field, whether they knocked it over midfield and we kept them out of field goal range or things like that. That’s a big part of who we are, creating negative plays. It felt like, on the run game, we did a good job with that.”
6. Miami’s tight ends showed they can make big plays
Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory arrived last year as two of the most highly coveted tight ends in the nation and both have said, more than once, they’ve long wanted to be Miami’s dual threat at the position. Against Central Michigan early, they were.
Mallory, who finished with 37 receiving yards last season, caught a 38-yard pass on the Hurricanes’ first play from scrimmage. On Miami’s next drive, Jordan had an impressive 27-yard catch of his own.
Both those receptions were the longest catches the Hurricanes would have Saturday.
In all, the sophomore tight ends combined for 129 yards, their best performance to date as Hurricanes.
“Will’s a beast and we’re slowly unleashing him more and more,” said Jordan, whose 70 receiving yards Saturday were a team-high. “And I’m just excited for us.”
7. Shaquille Quarterman impressed
Quarterman entered his senior year as a preseason All-ACC selection that had earned spots on the watch list for both the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award.
On Saturday, he delivered one of the best performances of his Hurricanes career, finishing with a game-high and career-high 14 tackles, including a game-high two tackles for loss. He also made his 43rd straight start since arriving at Miami. That’s the second-longest such streak among all current FBS players.
Additionally, Quarterman delivered a big play on special teams when, on the game’s final punt, he made it downfield to combine on a tackle with Robert Knowles that limited Central Michigan’s Kalil Pimpleton to a mere 2-yard return.
The Chippewas started that drive on their own 5-yard line, making their last-gasp bid for an upset that much more difficult.
“Shaq Quarterman took 78 snaps in a very physical football game. [Pimpleton] is a great returner. That guy can play,” said Diaz. “To have Shaq running 65-yard sprints on that down to go make that play, that is who Shaq Quarterman is. That is maybe one of this best plays since coming to Miami.”
8. The offense needs to improve its efficiency on third down
Third down has proved to be problematic at times for the Hurricanes through the first quarter of the season and there were more struggles on that front Saturday.
Miami converted on just one of its 10 third-down opportunities. Conversely, Central Michigan was 6-of-18 on its third down chances.
The Hurricanes’ offense has playmakers. It just needs to find ways to keep those playmakers on the field longer and doing a better job on third down will make that happen.
9. The off week will be key
Saturday proved a physically tough game for several Hurricanes, including Williams, who took several big hits and veteran linebackers Quarterman and Michael Pinckney, who barely left the field. They’re just three of the players whose bodies will benefit from some of the rest the Hurricanes will get in the coming days.
But recovering from a physical game won’t be the only benefit for Miami, Diaz noted.
The next week will be a time to address some of the issues the Hurricanes had to deal with on Saturday, from penalties on down. And while Diaz and his players made it clear they’re happy they left Hard Rock Stadium with a win, they understand there is still work to be done.
“I don’t think anybody’s upset or angry. A win’s a win. But we’re not going to get complacent,” Williams said. “We understand we’ve got to get better. We understand we’ve got to learn from this win. We’ve got to take everything from this game that we can learn and apply it to this week coming up and get better from it.”
Added Quarterman, “When the bye week comes, it’s time to heal, as well as time to really get into the next opponent and the fact the next opponent is [in] ACC play, you’ve got to take advantage of it. … 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.”
10. The key stretch of the season is here
The Hurricanes are officially a quarter of the way through the season. They have a .500 record. And now, they face a stretch of games that will likely determine their postseason fate.
Despite a loss to division foe North Carolina, Miami knows it can still win its second Coastal Division title in three years if it does what it needs to do against the likes of Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Louisville and Duke in the coming weeks.
The good thing for the Hurricanes is that their next three games will be played at Hard Rock Stadium, where Miami went 5-1 last year and is 18-3 in regular-season games since Diaz joined the Hurricanes’ coaching staff in 2016.
Another positive is that for the first time this season, the Hurricanes won a close game.
Building on that will be key moving forward.
“We’ve just got to learn from what we did wrong in this game and get better, get better from this win,” Williams said. “It’s really a mindset. It starts in practice, preparing like a championship-caliber team. That’s really what it comes down to, preparation. And then just having that mindset of going out there first, second, third and fourth quarter, don’t take your foot off their necks. We have to have that dog mentality. But it’s coming. I wouldn’t say we’ve arrived yet, but it’s coming and the guys are hungry. They want to get better.”
