Any notion that Miami wouldn’t “show up” in Tallahassee for that annual tussle with Florida State was dismissed by the second quarter, after a few big plays by the Noles set the Canes back on Saturday night.
Miami fell into a quick hole, scrapped back, chipped away at the lead in the second half, went ahead but again fell short. Hard as it is to accept or fathom; even in a lesser year the Noles are still a few plays better than the Canes, who pulled out the 29-24 victory.
Be it one final defensive stand, or the offensive capitalizing on its last possession—UM simply couldn’t clear the hurdle.
To Miami’s credit, there were some standout moments. Brad Kaaya stood strong in the pocket and delivered a turnover-free performance; throwing for 405 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.
The kid wasn’t perfect, but for a sophomore asked to carry the majority of the offensive weight, he deserves nothing but praise at this point of his career.
Stacy Coley was as good as he’s looked since his freshman campaign; hauling in seven receptions for 139 yards and what for a short while was the go-ahead touchdown. Behind him, a very solid performance from Rashawn Scott, who had six receptions for 108 yards and a score.
Kaaya spread it around to ten different Hurricanes, despite another mistake-prone outing from the offensive line.
MIAMI FLIES HIGH BUT STALLS LOW
Unfortunately the ground game was non-existent as neither Joe Yearby or Mark Walton could get going. The two combined for 16 carries and 33 yards in comparison to the 49 times coordinator James Coley and the offense called on Kaaya to step back and let it rip.
The Canes worked to exploit a weakness in the Noles’ secondary, but at the expense of selling out completely on the running game—now rearing its ugly head in back-to-back losses.
Conversely, Florida State was all about that balance—letting Everett Gholson attempt 33 passes, while hammering the ball 36 times on the ground. Dalvin Cook was again the best player on the field; untouchable as he rushed 33 times for 222 yards and two rushing scores and a receiving touchdown.
Cook got to work early; taking Gholson’s pitch 72 yards for the score as Raphael Kirby and Deon Bush both bit on the quarterback; Bush choosing wrong. On the next possession Cook took a Gholson pass 36 yards for another touchdown—misdirection pulling Miami defenders left, leaving the right side of the field wide open.
Late in the fourth, a 23-yard run had Chad Thomas whiffing in the backfield as Cook made a few moves and put Florida State up for good.
Miami’s beginning and end couldn’t have been any different than how the home team started and ended. 1st-and-Goal from the two-yard line immediately cost the Canes yards after a fumbled snap. A quick incompletion on second down had Miami on its heels, with Kaaya sacked on third after another early-game offensive line misstep.
After settling for three between Florida State touchdowns, the Canes second possession was defended by two incomplete passes, a one-yard run and a false start penalty. Miami finally found the end zone a drive later as Kaaya hit Scott for a 58-yard touchdown, now trailing, 17-10.
Trailing 20-10 on the final possession of the half, an illegal block on 2nd-and-9 had Miami facing 2nd-and-22. Kaaya found Herb Waters for 12 yards, but on 3rd-and-10 another false start set up 3rd-and-15 and the day’s second drop by David Njoku.
The Noles pushed for more points in the waning moments of the first half after taking over midfield, but the almost-always-automatic Roberto Aguayo pushed a 49-yarder wide.
The missed field goal was one of many breaks for the Canes; including a few would-be interceptions the Noles couldn’t haul in, as well as Jimbo Fisher getting cute midway through the second quarter, going it on 4th-and-1 as running back Jonathan Vickers was stopped twice in a row and FSU turned it over on downs.
Miami stopped Florida State on the opening drive of the third, followed by a 17-play, 80-yard drive to pull within three. The teams traded possessions before the Canes’ defense got a huge red zone stop—Al-Quadin Muhammad sacking Gholson for an 11-yard loss on 2nd-and-Goal from the three—setting up the 25-yard field goal.
Kaaya found Coley for a brilliant 29-yard touchdown six plays later, but the excitement was short-lived as the Noles rolled 84 yards in eight plays and Cook put the game away. Miami had two more opportunities; ball in hand with under two minutes remaining, but a 4th-and-4 attempt to Waters was batted down at the line.
SO CLOSE YET STILL SO FAR; THE NARRATIVE REMAINS
Another loss and another game where a few missed opportunities thwarted out yet another Canes’ comeback attempt. It’s hard not to feel like the script isn’t predetermined and written before kickoff as it’s happened so often over the years.
Miami players were disappointed, but seemed to handle coming up short better than falling apart late last season. The post-game quotes had all the expected talk of the Coastal still being the goal and a potential rematch with Florida State in the ACC title game.
“We can definitely beat them. We definitely can. I told [FSU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly], ‘I’m going to see you again.’ I plan on seeing him again,” Kaaya told reporters in the bowels of Doak Campbell.
“We have to take handle business first in the Coastal, we’ve got to handle it one week at a time, but I plan on seeing those guys again. That’s my plan. That’s our team’s plan. We just have to go out there and execute it.”
The surprise post-game meltdown; head coach Al Golden.
The man who preached about treating this one as just another game and no war-chant pumping at practice last week, seemed to be the most visibly rattled by the loss—the pressure obviously mounting on the fifth-year leader.
WEEKLY PRESSURE CONTINUES TO MOUNT
Golden did his standard pressers on Monday, talking of goals still being in tact and trotting out expected lines regarding the Canes not yet playing a divisional game; but in the wake of the loss, a shell of himself. To the point where the University of Miami didn’t uploadt his press conference online—standard procedure the past few years—until questions and mounting pressure on Monday forced them to address the situation by posting.
Even Golden’s harshest critics have to feel an ounce of something other than hatred when watching the seemingly punch-drunk, beaten-down coach struggle through the 8:54 clip below.
As much as Golden worked to play things down to his kids, it’s painfully obvious that he knew what a win over Florida State meant, how so-close-yet-so-far his team was—again—and just how crucial every remaining game is as the season rolls on.
All the talk about a Coastal Division title seemed logical when the Canes were ranked third in the preseason and were looking at Virginia Tech and top-ranked Georgia Tech; both who are headed to Sun Life Stadium this year.
Since then, both the Hokies and Yellow Jackets have faltered, while slow-and-steady Duke is in the driver’s seat, with Pittsburgh close behind.
Even worse for the Canes regarding the Blue Devils; imbalance regarding Atlantic Division foes. While Miami traveled to Florida State and will host Clemson; Duke won a 9-7 slugfest with Boston College and taking on bottom-dwelling Demon Deacons in the season finale.
BASKETBALL SCHOOL IN DURHAM IS CREEPING AGAIN
Duke has quietly put together a 5-1 season and is 2-0 in conference, starting off with an early-season upset of Georgia Tech. Remaining conference foes; @Virginia Tech, @North Carolina, Pittsburgh, @Virginia and @Wake Forest.
Sandwiched between road games against the Hokies and Tar Heels; potentially the Coastal game of the year when the Hurricanes visit on Halloween—a must-win game for Miami, based on recent history and a simple playing-of-the-odds.
The Canes winning out with Clemson and Georgia Tech on the roster—as well as kryptonite-like road games at Duke, North Carolina and Virginia—seems like a big stretch.
Factor in at-best one more loss and it’d put Miami 6-2 in conference; where even a win in Durham leaves the Canes rooting for another Blue Devils’ loss to win a tiebreaker. Meanwhile the Panthers are 2-0 in conference, closing with Duke, Louisville and hosting Miami in the season finale.
The point continues getting hammered home; a lot of football remains—but if the Coastal it the be all, end all goal this year, it’s fair to take a mid-October temperature reading based on how things have played out thus far.
An immediate rebound against a sub-par Virginia Tech team this coming weekend is a no-brainer. The Hokies have dropped one game and are fresh off a come-from-behind win against North Carolina State. Losses this year have come against Ohio State, East Carolina and Pittsburgh. Like Miami, Virginia Tech is in desperation-mode and must turn things around quickly.
The consolation prize for the Canes if they can beat the Hokies; a home showdown against Clemson, followed by that road trip to Duke.
COASTAL DREAMS: ONCE AIMING LOW, NOW LOFTY
In flushing all this out, Golden’s post-Florida State reaction seems to make a bit more sense. What appeared to be a watered-down pre-season goal—opposed to gunning for a national championship, or winning the ACC—now looks like a seven-game battle-royale with little margin for error.
Miami’s heavy investment in Florida State the past two seasons resulted in the Canes going 2-8 combined after falling to the Noles.
“The U” was a paper champ-type team in 2013—7-0 when rolled, 41-14 in Tallahassee and a 9-3 regular season run not good enough to take the Coastal. Last year, the Canes appeared to give up in losses to Virginia and Pittsburgh as conference dreams were already dead.
Can this team rally around it’s ultimate season goal that remains in tact? Can the Canes top Virginia Tech and muster up the type of fire it brought to Tallahassee for their next game-of-the-year when Clemson visits in two weeks?
What about those road trips to Duke, North Carolina and Pittsburgh—as well as a home game against a Virginia team that’s owned Golden and a run-heavy Georgia Tech team whose offense oft gives Miami fits?
The Canes may be five games into 2015, but with little forward progress thus far—and based on how the next two months set up—it almost feels like an entire’s season worth of challenges lie ahead.