Takeaways from Miami's Loss to FIU
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
MIAMI, Fla. – The Hurricanes came into Saturday night hoping for a homecoming of sorts.
Returning to the site of Miami’s old home, the Orange Bowl, was supposed to bring a sense of nostalgia the Hurricanes would hopefully use to build on what had been a budding win streak.
Things didn’t exactly go as planned.
The Hurricanes started slow and while they eventually rallied to score 21 points in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough in what was ultimately a 30-24 loss to crosstown foe FIU.
Here, a look at what some of Miami can take from a tough night at Marlins Park:
The Canes’ post off-week struggles continue
Miami has been in the unusual position of having to deal with three off weeks this season and after each of them, the Hurricanes have struggled.
First, there was a slow start and a loss to North Carolina after the Week Zero game against Florida. Then, another slow start and a loss to Virginia Tech after a September bye.
Now, there’s this.
After winning three straight, the Hurricanes had an extra week to prepare for FIU and instead of coming out strong, they quickly found themselves in 16-0 hole as FIU capitalized on turnovers and built momentum the Hurricanes were never able to overcome.
The Hurricanes rallied and pulled within a touchdown twice in the game’s final four minutes, but it was too little, too late. After the game, Miami head coach Manny Diaz acknowledged he and his staff had adjusted their off-week approach, but things still went awry.
“We were aware of it. We talked about it like it was the elephant in the room. We did different things,” Diaz said. “We didn’t practice the same way this bye that we did [the] last bye and just again, to start the game in the manner we did was very disappointing. Again, we put ourselves in a hole that ultimately, we were not able to climb out of.”
Turnovers proved costly
Over the course of their three-game win streak entering Saturday’s showdown against FIU, the Hurricanes had done a solid job taking care of the football, turning it over just once against Pittsburgh and just once against FSU.
They weren’t as fortunate against the Panthers.
Quarterback Jarren Williams had three interceptions Saturday and FIU capitalized on two of those, converting on a pair of field goals. One was a 53-yarder that came after the Miami defense actually pushed the Panthers back eight yards after the turnover.
Williams finished the day 19-of-36 for 249 with two touchdowns and the three picks and acknowledged he wasn’t at his best.
“I wasn’t as sharp as I normally am. I wasn’t as sharp with my reads and being decisive…I wasn’t as decisive today.”
Added Diaz, “We still felt like Jarren was into the game and seeing what was going on out there. Obviously he played well in the fourth quarter. A couple of the interceptions, two of them were in essence RPOs. The first one of the game, we are running a slant and our guy runs into traffic, which gets us late in the route and their guy is there to get it. The other one, their guy comes through the back of our guy, which in theory creates and advantage, but the ball pops up in the air and they get it. It wasn’t just the manner of the interceptions, it was where they were on the field, which gave them short fields. We’ve prided ourselves on field position. Tonight it was the exact opposite.”
Penalties were again an issue
The Hurricanes have dealt with penalty issues at points this season, but seemed to have turned the corner on that front in recent weeks.
But once again, one of Miami’s early-season problems reappeared.
The Hurricanes were whistled six times for 65 yards and were penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct on the same fourth-quarter play, a sequence that gave FIU 30 free yards and ultimately, led to a touchdown.
Yes, FIU was whistled too, the Panthers totaling 14 penalties for 144 yards, but as Diaz has pointed out at times this season, it wasn’t so much that Miami was penalized – it was when and how those penalties happened that proved costly.
“The 30 yards in penalties, these are things we had just gotten away from. We’d solidified ourselves as a not-a-highly penalized team over the last six weeks of the season,” Diaz said. “To have that type of stuff jump in today, in critical situations, and [from] not fringe guys on our team, older guys … I’ve got to own that. That somehow speaks to our preparation.”
Third downs were a problem on both sides of the ball
On both offense and defense Saturday, the Hurricanes had issues on third down.
Statistically, the defense held FIU to just 6-of-14 on third-down conversion attempts, but the conversions they allowed will be tough for defensive coordinator Blake Baker and his players to watch on film this week.
In the first quarter, FIU converted on a 3rd-and-8 that helped set up its first touchdown and in the second quarter, the Panthers converted on a 3rd-and-19 with a 24-yard run up the middle.
FIU didn’t score after the play, but it extended a drive and chewed up valuable time the Hurricanes needed.
Offensively, Miami was just 1-of-10 on its own third-down conversion attempts with that lone conversion coming late in the third quarter.
“Just utter disappointment in how we played. Whether it was turning the ball over, third down, red zone, penalties, it was as poor of a performance as we’ve had all year,” Diaz said.
Some of Miami’s reserves stepped up in tough situations
The Hurricanes entered Saturday’s game without one of their top playmakers, tight end Brevin Jordan. By the end of the night, Miami was also without running back DeeJay Dallas, who left the game with an elbow injury.
But on a night when little went Miami’s way, some of its reserves filled in admirably.
Tight end Will Mallory finished with a career-high four catches for a career-high 71 yards, while running back Cam Harris finished with 11 carries for a team-high 86 yards and fellow back Robert Burns added four carries for 31 yards.
Losing DeeJay Dallas hurt in more ways than one
All season long, Dallas has been the heart-and-soul of the Hurricanes’ offense.
He’s made plays all over the field and currently has a team-high 846 all-purpose yards with a team-high 10 touchdowns.
Just as importantly, though, Dallas is also the heart-and-soul of the Hurricanes locker room, inspiring teammates before, during and after games. And there’s no doubt his injury was costly from more than just a production standpoint.
“DeeJay’s a huge loss. Not just what he does as a player, but he’s as important from a leadership aspect as anybody we have on our offense and in our entire program,” Diaz said. “I thought Cam and Robert Burns did a nice job in terms of handling the run load, but there will be a leadership vacuum that other guys will have to fill in. That’s part of our thing on that side of the ball. I think our maturity to handle the bye weeks and our maturity to handle these types of games appears to be what’s letting us down.”
Shaquille Quarterman made history
Like Dallas, linebacker Shaquille Quarterman has been one of Miami’s heart-and-soul players and on Saturday, the senior added his name to the Hurricanes’ record book.
Quarterman made his 50th straight start on Saturday night, tying the Miami record set by former Hurricanes defensive tackle William Joseph, who set the mark between 1999 and 2002.
And Quarterman did more than merely start against FIU. He had a game-high 12 tackles, too.
It’s time for the Hurricanes to look inward and dig deep again
Diaz didn’t mince words after Saturday’s loss, saying it was a “dark” moment for the Hurricanes and that he, his staff and players would all have to examine closely what happened.
That has to be the approach Miami takes, especially with two games left on the schedule, including next week’s regular-season finale at Duke and a bowl game looming next month.
If the Hurricanes want to finish the season on a good note and send seniors like Quarterman, Michael Pinckney, K.J. Osborn, Pat Bethel, Jimmy Murphy, and Robert Knowles out with wins, they have to be willing to ask and answer some tough questions, something Diaz, Quarterman and Williams all acknowledged.
“Everything’s under investigation. … The first thing you’re going to do is get in the film room and watch the film and watch what’s real. What’s measurable? What are the things that got us today? What players played below their standard? What could we have done to help them? What could we have done differently? I think that’s the point as a coach – where you always feel like it’s our responsibility to put those guys in the best position,” Diaz said. “What was our plan going in? What things presented themselves that didn’t allow it to work out the way we wanted it to work out? Those hard truths come the second you press ‘play’ on the film.”
All that said, the coach believes the Hurricanes can bounce back.
“We have to focus on what’s real and we’ve got to work to get it fixed. The noise is deserved. We have to get this fixed,” Diaz said. “But the key is that it’s fixable. … It is fixable and the solution is in that locker room. The solution is in the building. We just have to do a better job. We’ve seen the signs this year when it’s gone right of what can be. We just have to make sure we build on that, but we have to look very hard at why what happened tonight happened.”
