Canes Rewind: A Look Back at the Win over Bethune-Cookman

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Each week this season we’ll take a look at the game that was for the Hurricanes.

Here are some key storylines, numbers of note, and quotes from No. 5 Miami’s 45-3 win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Recap

The Hurricanes opened the season last week with a thrilling, hard-fought win over rival Notre Dame.

It was a victory that put Miami in the national spotlight and pushed the Hurricanes into the top five of the Associated Press Top 25.

But less than 24 hours after the game was over, Miami’s coaches and players made it clear: they were turning the page and focusing on the work still to do, including preparing for their next opponent, Bethune-Cookman.

They weren’t empty words.

The Hurricanes (2-0) were methodical and efficient against the Wildcats (0-2) on Saturday.

Miami scored touchdowns on all four of its first-half possessions to build a 28-0 halftime lead.

It never looked back after that.

Quarterback Carson Beck completed his first 15 passes and, according to the Associated Press, became the first Miami quarterback to accomplish that feat. With those 15 completions, Beck also broke Vinny Testaverde’s 1986 record of 14 consecutive completions in a game.

Beck finished the night 22 of 24, throwing for 267 yards with a pair of touchdown passes. Both of those touchdown passes went to to CJ Daniels, who finished with five catches for 73 yards.

Running back Mark Fletcher Jr., meanwhile, had 11 carries for a team-high 86 rushing yards with two touchdowns.

Those performances meant that midway through the third quarter, some of the youngest Hurricanes were logging minutes and gaining invaluable in-game experience.

Among the freshmen to make an impact Saturday were running back Girard Pringle Jr. , who scored on a 30-yard touchdown run, and safety Bryce Fitzgerald, who had an interception on a 4^th-and-goal that kept the Wildcats out of the endzone late.

Ultimately, it was a business-like effort for the Hurricanes, who came into the game hoping to play cleanly and get a win.

They did exactly that.

“Pretty solid job by our guys, coming out, handling business, really efficient by the offense, scoring on every drive,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “Our defense did a really good job, too, although their team was obviously trying to snap the ball with a low count on the shot clock to try and limit the number of possessions that we had. And once we played the ones [on the first drive of the second half], I thought that was a good time to work on developing the other half of our roster and lots of guys got their first opportunity, and the opportunity to get significant playing time and play within our system. So, a lot of positives, a lot of things to fix, a lot of things to get better at.”

Numbers to Know

543 – Yards generated by the Miami offense against Bethune-Cookman. Miami had 199 rushing yards, 344 passing yards, and averaged 8.2 yards per play.

0 – Punts by the Hurricanes on Saturday night. Miami capitalized on every single one of its possessions against the Wildcats, scoring six touchdowns and kicking a field goal. Bethune-Cookman, by contrast, punted four times.

14 – Hurricanes who caught at least one pass Saturday from either starting quarterback Beck, or reserve Emory Williams, who entered the game in the third quarter. Freshman Malachi Toney led the Hurricanes with six catches for 80 yards.

98 – All-purpose yards for Fletcher. Along with his 86 rushing yards, Fletcher caught a pass and gained an additional 12 yards.

10 – Tackles for loss totaled by the Miami defense. Keionte Scott led the way with three TFLs, while Isaiah Taylor had two.

Quotable

“I mean, it’s super cool, obviously to perform at a high level and do things like that. It’s actually funny. I was talking to coach [Mike] Bobo, the offensive coordinator at Georgia last week after the game a little bit. I think I had a streak there where I had a couple completions in a row last week and he texted me because he has the record at Georgia. I think it’s 19 in a row and he texted, ‘You’re not going to break my record, blah, blah, blah.’ So, I was going into it like, ‘Alright, I’m going to try and get 19 in a row’ and then I threw that out route over Malachi [Toney’s] head and I was [angry]. Not really. I’m kidding. But, no, it was super cool, man. Those guys were out there making plays. I mean, the o-line was giving me all the time in the world and when you’ve got CJ [Daniels] going up and grabbing balls out of the air like that, it makes my job a little easier.”

– Quarterback Carson Beck, on breaking Vinny Testaverde’s record of consecutive completions in a game

“It feels great. I texted my mom this morning, ‘Ma, I’m going to get a pick just for you,’ so going into the fourth quarter, my brothers, I was getting a little down, but they told me to trust God and just go out there and just go out there and play ball.”

– Safety Bryce Fitzgerald, on making the first interception of his college career in front of family and friends at Hard Rock Stadium

“All of the guys are amazing. I feel like we’re going to be next up. We’re behind guys, a couple of us, but we’re going to be next up, and I feel like we’re going to be able to continue the path that the older guys are doing. I’m grateful to have them as well.”

– Running back Girard Pringle Jr., on Miami’s freshmen, who were able to see significant playing time against Bethune-Cookman

“I tried to get on that from the jump. I think the first text I sent to the group was I want everybody to be as one outside of the field. We’ve got to do some things to get the chemistry right and I think doing those things off the field definitely helped our bond grow. It is not a selfish group. We play for each other, and it was just a blessing to see all the guys get in there today and really show the work that they put in because a lot of times, they’re not able to see that. So, it’s really good to see those guys go out there and perform, man. It was really good.”

– Wide receiver CJ Daniels, on stepping up to be one of the leaders in Miami’s receivers room

“I feel like this team has built the motto up from the start of the first week. Everybody’s coming in and we’re treating everybody the same. Our main focus is just getting better each week, treating everybody the same. No week is different than no other week. Every week is the same. Everybody’s got to see us. We’re just trying to be the aggressors each week and just take on everybody, taking the challenge each week to get better.”

– Cornerback Keionte Scott, on the team’s approach to facing Bethune-Cookman after playing Notre Dame in the opener

Up Next

The Hurricanes stretch of home games against Florida opponents continues, with USF coming to Hard Rock Stadium next week.

The Bulls are coming off an impressive 18-16 upset win over Florida in Gainesville and now find themselves ranked inside the AP Top 25 at No. 18.

USF, which has now knocked off two ranked opponents to open the season, clinched the win with a last-second, 20-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica.

The Bulls (2-0) put themselves in position to earn the win by capitalizing on more than a few Gator miscues, including two crucial Florida penalties on the game’s final drive.

Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown showed his dual-threat ability, completing 23 of 36 passes and throwing for 263 yards and a touchdown while rushing 17 times for 66 yards.

The Bulls defense, meanwhile, held the Gators to just one touchdown and collected seven tackles for loss.

Miami and USF are familiar foes, having played each other six times. The Hurricanes won five of those meetings, including last year’s matchup in Tampa.

In that game, the Bulls built a 15-14 lead late in the second quarter before Miami, led by then-quarterback Cam Ward, scored 36 unanswered points to earn a 50-15 win.