Game Twelve : Boston College 24, Miami 17

On paper, a throwaway game. 6-5 on and having recently accepted a self-imposed bowl game ban, was there really a huge difference between 6-6 and 7-5? As a Hurricanes enthusiast would your chest be puffed out anymore this weekend had Miami beaten a then 3-8 Boston College team?

This one hurts for one lone reason; it was a season finale, Senior Day at Sun Life and the last time many of these kids will ever put on a football uniform. Holiday weekend, family in tow and the desire to go out on a positive note after a less-than-stellar four-year body of work.

It’s been beaten into the ground ad nauseam, the fact that this top-ranked recruiting class of 2008 “underachieved”. On some level they did. On another, their were failed by a coaching staff that didn’t properly develop or motivate them the first three years of their career, while failing to bring in more quality players and depth to support them.

Virginia Tech locked up the ACC Coastal on Saturday, routing rival Virginia, 38-0. Another 11-1 season in Blacksburg that will result in a conference title game – a rematch against a Clemson team that beat them 23-3 early October – and potential BCS berth, where the Hokies could easily get run out of the stadium again by a Big XII or Pac-12 team, as has happened in years passed.

The point? That the Atlantic Coast Conference remains a weak conference that any fundamentally sound, disciplined team can run roughshod over. Over the past decade the Hokies have been far from great, but have been consistently good enough to dominate a less-than-good conference.

Quarterback. Running back. Wide receiver. Secondary. Defensive front seven. Frank Beamer and staff continue reloading their program with role players and the “next man in” mentality works in full force. There’s rarely a drop off and while there are few true superstars coming out of Blacksburg, there’s consistency.

Virginia Tech is a ‘team’ in every sense of the word and there’s a reason this program has won the Coastal Division five times and was the ACC Champion four times in a seven-year span.

Miami and Virginia Tech both joined the ACC in 2004 and while the Hokies are experiencing a decade and a half of consistency, the Canes drop-off began the year of the conference switch and on its third coach since the decline, UM is still working on building a quality, depth-heavy program, full of players that will truly make up a team, instead of a collection of talented individuals.

The holes were again apparent in Miami’s sixth loss of the season, as were those pockets of greatness that seem to appear a handful of times per game.

The Canes came out swinging, with Jacory Harris hitting Travis Benjamin for a sixty-yard pick-up on the game’s opening play. From there, a quick eight-yard strike to Tommy Streeter, a three-yard Lamar Miller run and after Harris picked up three with his feet, found LaRon Byrd for a seven-yard score on 2nd-and-Goal. Five plays, eighty-one yards, two-and-a-half minutes. Touchdowns, Hurricanes.

Unfortunately Boston College answered with an eleven-play, seventy-yard drive of their own and the Miami defense seemed on par to let another mid-level quarterback go all world on them as Chase Rettig was 5-of-5 for 49 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown strike to tight end Chris Pantale.

Pantale went on to finish 4-for-70 on the day, with two touchdowns while Rettig was a respectable 13-of-17 for 196 yards with two scores and no turnovers. The Eagles also did some damage on the ground, rushing for 153 yards, with Rolandan Finch and Andre Williams combining for 148 on 35 carries.

Tied 7-7, Miami responded the ensuing drive. Miller lost seven on first down, but facing 2nd-and-17 tore off a 79-yard touchdown run – the longest the Hurricanes ground game had seen since the 2000 season.

But that was all she wrote, offensively. 14-7 and two big plays was all the Canes had in the tank in a season finale and pseudo bowl game. Two three-and-outs ensued, with Miami punting it’s final three first-half possessions.

Up 14-10 entering the third quarter, Boston College took over at their own twenty after a touchback and marched eighty yards on six plays, with Retting and Pantale hooking up for the second time on the day, a thirty-two yard strike on 1st-and-10, after giving up four first downs on the six-play drive.

Miami again went three-and-out, punted, finally got a defensive stand against the Eagles and with a 3rd-and-8 from midfield, Harris dialed up his first of four interceptions on the day.

The Canes defense fought back, though, forcing a fumble on the Miami two with Boston College facing a 1st-and-Goal but the close 17-14 contest was blown wide open when linebacker Luke Kuechly intercepted Harris and ran it back for a forty-five yard touchdown.

Miami inched its way into field goal range in the final two minutes, going sixty-six yards and setting Wieclaw for the forty-nine yard field goal, cutting the lead to 24-17. The previous possession ended with another Harris turnover and even though Miami forced the punt, the Canes were again pinned deep, at their own two-yard line.

Dalton Botts attempted an onside kick after the Wieclaw field goal and like his effort at Florida State, another solid kick, but no recovery. Boston College kneeled it out and earned their fourth win of the season.

Miami out-gained Boston College 367 to 349 in total yards, but failed just about everywhere else. 14 first down to the Eagles’ 20 and four turnovers to one, which was the most glaring differential. BC also owned time of possession, 38:24 to 21:36.

Of course the biggest play of the game proved to be a fourth quarter press release, announcing that UM had extended the contract of head coach Al Golden, adding four years to the current five-year deal he’s one season into.

The Golden extension is another story for another time, but regarding Friday’s end result, it made the short-term disappointment easier to swallow. Miami lost the day’s battle, but won a much bigger war in retaining its head coach.

Honestly, this program couldn’t handle another December like the Gruden-heavy one it dealt with last time this year.

With no bowl practice on the horizon, Golden and staff have hit the recruiting trail, looking to build on the twenty-seven verbal commits and to solidify relationships with those have pledged, but can’t yet sign.

(It was reported earlier that Micheal Barrow and Terry Richardson are visiting Georgia-product and four-star linebacker Raphael Kirby at home tonight while Coach Golden and Jedd Fisch spent the afternoon in Miami with Westminster Christian quarterback and standout baseball player, David Thompson.

Kirby is fully-committed, is done with visits and plans to enroll early, while Thompson and family have stated that playing for UM is a dream and there’s a good chance Thompson goes to college over the MLB draft. Miami however did lose wide receiver Ricquan Southward to Ohio State on Sunday.)

The bonus recruiting time, as well as knowing coaches don’t have to deflect any questions about the stability or future of the staff, both help ease Friday afternoon’s sting, but it still doesn’t replace the feeling that a season-ending win gives you.

Miami hasn’t ended the year with a win since the 2006 Smurf Turf Bowl win over Nevada. This was a good chance for one last positive step forward in and up and down season and let’s be honest, Thanksgiving would’ve been that much more enjoyable adding a Canes win to the festivities, coupled with losses by the Gators and Buckeyes.

For fans, another loss. The Canes were 35-30 since the 2005 Peach Bowl, when Golden took over. Now that total moves to 41-36, which on some level makes you numb to another loss as it’s become all too commonplace. (Honestly, the last truly “meaningful” game Miami lost was November 2005, falling to Georgia Tech when ranked No. 3 and coming off a curb-stomping of then-No. 3 Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.)

But for the seniors, another blemish and epic fail for some good-hearted kids who you would’ve loved to see get that one final win. Especially knowing the majority of them won’t ever put on a football uniform again.

Like or dislike, Harris under center, you saw growth as a senior and what better coaching did for his overall game. Makes you wonder a Golden-lead coaching staff and an offensive coordinator like Fisch could’ve taken him if this was year one instead of four.

Harris made great strides this season. He played smarter and up until Boston College, was getting better every game and sharper as each game went on, though he never displayed that “it” factor where he put a game on his shoulders and let his team ride him to victory.

A three-star prospect and local high school legend who stuck with the hometown team – once nicknamed “Quarterback U” – and was expected to bring home a sixth title, he and his seven Miami Northwestern teammates who won a high school national championship. The pressure simply proved too much, to the point where it wrecked Harris’ psyche as a junior.

Still, a new coaching staff was able to turn some things around and in the end, 2,486 yards on the season and a 65% completion rate. Harris threw for 3,352 yards as a sophomore in 2009, but had 106 more attempts.

Harris also put up 20 touchdowns in 2011 as compared to 24 in 2009, but the most notable difference came regarding the elimination of turnovers.

17 interceptions in 2009 and 15 in 2010 were followed up by five on the year entering the season finale, where in the second half Harris tossed four, including the pick-six, in the loss to Boston College.

The majority of Harris’ career was a sour note and after all the work the kid put in this season, you’d have liked to see his best effort in game twelve – not a second half full of freshman mistakes.

Unfortunately that was a common theme with many in that 2008 class, for one reason or another.

Benjamin, an up and down career where he never truly channeled his inner Santana Moss (or Roscoe Parrish, for that matter). Byrd, a mere eleven receptions for 125 yards as a senior after 74 grabs for 901 yards as a sophomore and junior, combined. Byrd’s freshman numbers even trumped his senior year, twenty-one receptions for 228 yards and four touchdowns in 2008.

The loss of Sean Spence will hurt a defense that can’t afford to lose it’s best player, though the subtraction of Micanor Regis, JoJo Nicolas and Marcus Robinson will hurt depth more than overall production.

Golden and staff look to welcome upwards of thirty new Hurricanes in the coming months, making up for nine impact players who will graduate and move on, making for another step forward for the program. Next year, another haul after saying goodbye to another crop of seniors, coached half of their collegiate career under the old regime.

6-6 is in the books and a new seasons starts today. Put 2011 in the rearview, start building towards 2012 and hope this is the last season finale thud that Miami experiences for a long while. – C.B.

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