Canes Rewind: A Look Back at Miami's Game Against Georgia Tech
ATLANTA – Each week this season, we’ll take a look at the game that was for the Hurricanes.
Here are some key storylines, numbers of notes and quotes from Miami’s 28-23 loss to ACC rival Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The Recap
More than once this season the Hurricanes have shown their ability to come back in games against ACC opponents, even when falling behind by double digits.
In Miami’s wins over Virginia Tech, California and Duke, the Hurricanes found themselves trailing in the second half before rallying to eventually earn wins.
There would be no such comeback on Saturday in Atlanta.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes fell behind former Coastal Division foe Georgia Tech, 28-16, after the Yellow Jackets capped a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Haynes King.
And while Miami pulled within five when wide receiver Xavier Restrepo caught a 38-yard scoring pass from quarterback Cam Ward with 6:07 left, the Hurricanes (9-1, 5-1 ACC) wouldn’t get any closer.
Instead, Miami turned the ball over on its final possession and ultimately, the Hurricanes saw their nine-game win streak come to an end.
Early on, it looked like Miami and Georgia Tech were headed to an offensive shootout, with both teams scoring on their opening possessions.
But after their quick opening drive, the Yellow Jackets turned to a methodical, run-heavy game plan that limited Miami’s offensive opportunities for much of the afternoon.
Georgia Tech (6-4, 4-3) held the ball for nearly 35 minutes, and King rushed for a game-high 93 yards to lead the Yellow Jackets, who totaled 271 yards on the ground. Running back Jamal Haynes added three carries for 83 yards.
Ward, meanwhile, completed 25 of 39 passes for 348 yards with three touchdowns. Jacolby George had seven catches for a team-high 88 yards, Restrepo finished with four catches for 78 yards and Elijah Arroyo had three catches for 82 yards.
“Obviously disappointing. We didn’t do a good enough job. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t coach [well] enough and credit to them for playing better and coaching better than we did,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “Story of the game [was] third-down conversion downs. Them being, I believe, 9 of 14, us being 3 of 10 and being 1 for 4 on fourth down. Really, going into the game, we were the best at both offense and defense [on] third-down conversions in the conference, or up there. And today, that did not show up. We did not sustain drives, and they did.”
Numbers to Know
32 – Touchdown passes on the season for Miami quarterback Cam Ward. In Saturday’s loss, his three scoring passes helped him move past Steve Walsh’s single-season record of 29 set back in 1988.
186 – Career receptions for Xavier Restrepo after Saturday’s game. That set a new Miami record that was previously held by Mike Harley (182). Last week, Restrepo became the Hurricanes’ leader in career receiving yards.
5 – Touchdown catches for tight end Elijah Arroyo this season after Saturday’s 74-yard scoring grab. That’s a new career high for the redshirt junior.
Quotable
“The reality of it is, you have to own it. You have to own every bit of it, all of us. In this profession, when you take one on the chin like that, you’ve got to be a grown man. You’ve got to own it. There’s no finger-pointing, and by that, I mean starting of course with myself and every coach on the staff and every player. You just own it, and you don’t talk about it very much. You just go do something about it. We have a bye week with everything in front of us to play for, to do something about it and to make sure that as sick as everyone’s feeling, I hope we all feel sick to the point where it drives us to be better. Because certainly, that was not our best football. Nowhere near it.”
– Head coach Mario Cristobal on his message to the team after Saturday, with two regular-season games remaining on the schedule
“I just think we didn’t play our best ball, at the end of the day. We’re the best offense in the country and we only put up 23 points. That says it all right there. The fourth downs, we’ve got to get. The third downs, we’ve got to get. We weren’t explosive like we always are. Everything was there. … We just didn’t execute at a high level. That’s something we’ve got to do going into [the] next game.”
– Quarterback Cam Ward, on Miami’s offensive performance against Georgia Tech
“Cam [Ward] emphasized, you know, just to remember this feeling and I think the team’s going to do that. Like I said, we still have everything to play for and we’ve just got to go out and execute and go 1-0 every week. I think we’ll be alright.”
– Tight end Elijah Arroyo, on what Miami’s leaders said in the locker room after Saturday’s game
Up Next
The Hurricanes are off next Saturday and won’t return to action until Nov. 23 when they host Wake Forest for their home finale and Senior Day at Hard Rock Stadium.
That’s not to say they won’t be busy.
After the loss to Georgia Tech, head coach Mario Cristobal vowed Miami will spend part of its off week focusing on what went wrong against the Yellow Jackets and how the Hurricanes can improve.
“This loss needs to hurt everybody really badly. All of us, in our gut, in our heart and our gut, every ounce of our soul,” Cristobal said. “It needs to hurt us. It does. And it needs to drive us. That’s how we built this thing. That’s the DNA of the program. And that is what we trust in and believe in, and we trust and believe in each other. So, that’s why we’re going to get it done.”
Wake Forest, meanwhile, is 4-5 overall and 2-3 in ACC play after a 46-36 loss to California this past Saturday. The Demon Deacons are set to face North Carolina on Nov. 16 before their matchup against Miami.
