Finish. Persevere. Never give up. Find a way.
Miami took down Virginia, 24-17 in OT on Saturday. Revenge may have been the name of the game leading up to this year’s meeting in Charlottesville, but once this thing got underway it was simply two 5-3 teams looking to get to 6-3, staying alive in the ACC’s Coastal Division.
The Canes did all they could to self-implode. From an early Travis Benjamin fumble the first time Miami touched the ball, to a slew of false starts on the afternoon’s final 95-yard game-tying drive.
Robert Marve joined the turnover parade with an interception on the first drive of the third quarter. A series later, Graig Cooper coughed up a fumble after a 15-yard run on 3rd-and-12.
Miami’s defense held steadfast, keeping Virginia off the board the duration of the afternoon, after a late second quarter touchdown. Even with turnovers and a short field, the Cavs couldn’t capitalize. Yannick Reyering missed a 38-yard field goal late in the third quarter and sent a 47-yard attempt wide right early in the fourth.
Either would’ve been the difference-maker in such a close affair. Neither were to be on this day when Miami proved to be the better team.
The critics will say Virginia gave this one away, nursing a touchdown lead for the majority of the game. A whole lot of could’ve, should’ve, would’ve crap the loser usually spews. “If” one of two missed field goals is good, this game never sees overtime. Stuff of that nature.
A little perspective for the folks licking their wounds today. Miami had 448 total yards to Virginia’s 311. The Canes outrushed the Cavs 197 yards to 71 and let in first down conversions, 22 to 18.
Miami also turned the ball over 3 times in regulation, to Virginia’s lone fumble in the final minute and like the Cavs, missed an opportunity to convert with a missed field goal of their own.
While we’re building a case for these Canes, how about 12 penalties for 81 yards to the Cavs lone five-yard penalty? Ron Cherry and a lame-duck bunch of ACC officials called a horrible game. Miami was it’s own worst enemy, with a slew of false start penalties – but it was a bogus personal foul and phantom pass interference penalty that twice kept Cavalier drives alive.
On 3rd-and-7 from the Miami 11, Bruce Johnson was called for PI, setting Virginia up with a first-and-goal from the 2-yard line and ‘gimmie’ touchdown.
To their credit and heeding their coaches’ advice, the Canes stayed the course. Miami hung around long enough to give them a fighting chance with what should’ve been the final possession of regulation.
Jacory Harris, again playing the role of back up, was reinserted late in the third quarter and remained the ringleader down the stretch. With 8:01 on the clock and with Miami staring at 95 yards of real estate between where they were and where they needed to get, Harris channeled his inner high school senior and went to work.
Deerfield Beach is no Virginia. These Cavaliers worked the Canes to the bone last fall, started this season 1-3 and have since gone on a 4-0 tear, taking down some of the ACC’s best – most notably, Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia Tech in the past month.
Virginia’s defense was in Miami’s face all afternoon, barely letting the Canes cross midfield in the entire second half. Swarming, forcing turnovers and stifling Miami’s offense, 95 yards looked an even more daunting tasks with the game on the line.
Not to Harris.
Calm and cool as ever, the true freshman quarterback began picking apart the Cavs like a skilled surgeon.
A 3rd-and-13 pick up to Sam Shields on the drive’s third play. A ten-yard pick up to fullback Patrick Hill. A 17-yard pick up to Davon Johnson. An 18-yard strike to A. Johnson. A few key runs by Coop and the drive culminating with a 26-yard improvised touchdown strike to LaRon Byrd. With just under a minute to play, Miami re-found the scoreboard for the first time since an early second quarter field goal.
With the game on the line, Miami smelled the blood into the water and went into ‘attack’ mode, channeling a playing style of yesteryear. After a short kick setting up Virginia at their 36-yard line, Marc Verica completed a 22-yard strike to Cary Koch. At the Canes 42, the Cavs found themselves one completion from what should’ve been a makeable field goal.
On 2nd-and-10, Verica used his legs and attempted to get Virginia in striking distance, but coughed up the ball in the process. As Verica was stopped, Miami’s Spence reached in and stripped the ball from the Virginia quarterback’s grasp. The Cavs first turnover of the day had the Canes in striking distance with :31 remaining.
With another chance to work some magic, Harris found Benjamin for a 30-yard strike – again, improvised as Benjamin came off his route, broke free and came back to help his quarterback. A four-yard rush by Coop had the Canes at the Cavs 34-yard line with :12 remaining. Bosher’s 51-yard attempt was dead on, but a few yards shy and this thing was headed to overtime.
As if shot out of a cannon, Cooper blasted for 11 yards to the 14-yard line. Two plays later, on 3rd-and-5, Harris found A. Johnson on a fade to the front corner of the end zone, putting the Canes up in the first OT. On Virginia’s first play from scrimmage, Lavon Ponder stripped Cedric Peerman after a 7-yard run, Romeo Davis recovered and this one was in the books.
For the second year in a row, this rivalry saw the loser’s heart ripped out in dramatic fashion. That said, this year’s contest wasn’t as much about revenge as much as it was a rebirth. Miami took another step forward on Saturday, albeit not the pretty, traditional, dominating type of win old school fans are clamoring for.
If you want to put this game under a microscope and dissect it, go right ahead. These Canes have their flaws. Too many penalties. Dropped balls. Missed blocks. Out of position defenders that had players whiffing on tackles. This group is hardly a well-oiled machine, but at the same time, they’re not supposed to be.
The majority of your playmakers are freshman and most of your mistakes are coming from upperclassmen – some of which simply aren’t Miami-caliber players who either aren’t good enough, lack the ‘it’ factor or were developed poorly.
This coaching staff is in year two of a monstrous rebuilding effort, fixing this program from the ground up. Patrick Nix doesn’t always call the right play, nor does Bill Young. That said, Nix had enough in the tank to assist these kids in a 95-yard game tying drive and another touchdown in overtime. For all the kudos Virginia’s staff has gotten as of late, they laid a goose egg in the second half.
As for Young, this marks back-to-back weeks his D has pitched a shutout, though the sailing not as smooth as the box score may indicate.
Nitpick this team apart and you’ll find things to get upset over.
Or simply look at the 4-0 record since a 2-3 start and thank your lucky stars these kids are simply finding a way, while not playing down to their age or experience level. Virginia is a veteran team and they wilted down the stretch against a bunch of kids who were in high school this time last year. Chew on that for a while and see where it takes you.
These Canes are improving and that’s the only stat that matters today. If these type of blunder are being made two years from now, shake your fist and curse this coaching staff. But not right now. Not in 2008. Not after back-to-back wins over good teams from Wake Forest and Virginia. Not with an ACC Championship game at least in sight. Ride this wave. It’s been a while since Cane fans have had anything to be excited over.
Save your coaching staff rants and quarterback controvery arguments for another time. Allow the proof to remain in the pudding. Four straight wins. If it ain’t broke… don’t bitch about it. In time it can be perfected, but for now, it’s working. An ugly win is better than a pretty loss, any day of the week.
Next up, a bye week. A time for this program to catch its collective breath, reflect on the last month of football and gear up for a three-game stretch that could save a season. Back-to-back Thursday night games against Virgina Tech and Georgia Tech and then a season finale at N.C. State on Thanksgiving weekend.
8-4 is a distinct possibility and 7-5 isn’t all that bad, after sitting in a post-Florida State funk at 2-3. Miami is bowl-bound this year and for another 11 days (at least), the sky remains the limit.
A North Carolina loss puts Miami in control of their collective fate. Win out and the Canes are Tampa-bound.
Not bad for a rebuilding year.
Now imagine how exciting things will be once Miami is officially ‘back’.
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Do you know how long Jason Fox will be out? That would be a huge loss although it does give reggie youngblood a chance to step up but he has had plenty of those. Great win for the canes.
Next Stop Tampa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rematch FSU vs Hurricanes in Tampa
allcanes:
I do not think I have every agreed with you more. I read your posts all the time and agree with you 100 percent of the time. But your last couple paragraphs really hit me. Its all the straight up truth. We are lucky we are 6-3 and these kids are finding a way, some ppl are blind to it because we want winning now but th fact is it'll come just not yet. So good work, keep it up, and hopefully we can talk about an ACC championship, but if not, im still going to hold my head up high cause im proud of these guys. Watching that game on saturday made me a believer in Shannon and the program. Keep it up Canes. Lets goooooooooooooooooo.
What a HUGE win for these 'Canes. I think they are gaining some key confidence as these games go on. The big change that I see is that earlier in the season, when the younger guys would make mistakes, it seems as if they would dwell on them. Now, it seems that when they do make a mistake, they process it and then let it go. That seems to be the message that RS is preaching to these young guys. One play at a time. One game at a time. Keep fighting and find a way to win. AllCanes you were absolutley right. These Canes are going to have to fight and scrap for every yard, on every play to get every win. It's great to see that the Canes have come out on top the last 4 games when faced with these situations. I do not believe this is luck. I think this is a product of the culture that RS is implementing. Believe first! They do have a tough schedule ahead of them. I believe that they can win all three, which was not what I was thinking post FSWho. Hope to see them in Tampa! Go CANES!!
From a CANES fan in ILLINOIS!!!
I said it before, as I witnessed the Wake game live. These kids have no quit in them.
I can't even comment on this game, more than to say, I'll take this win. Pretty, ugly, lucky, chance, whatever. A win is a win and is better than a loss any day.
Keep it rolling baby Canes...
7-5 is still my forecast. But as I stated on this blog like a month ago, I had 4 measuring stick games for this program. Wins at UCF, Virginia, G-Tech and UNC would tell us a lot about how far we've come since '07.
UCF => because people are starting to say USF - FAU - UCF are equal to or better than us
Virginia => 48-0 says it all
UNC => 21-0 at halftime in '07, enough said
G-Tech => damn, we're like 0-3 against them
So 2-1, with Tech to come. So rest up guys, and let's kick some Hookie butt in 2 weeks.
There are alot of Miami fans out there, who are complaining about not being in the polls or even recieving votes, but lets not get too crazy!! The Canes have proven alot to themselves and to the fan base, but we haven't proven anything to the voters!! After 2 years of being unranked, it is going to take more than close calls against UCF, Wake and UVA to win their votes. I would think an impressive win over VT would give us a punchers chance at the top 25. Wins against both Techs would all but ensure a ranking!! Either way, I don't think we need to worry about ranking; we need to keep winning football games!!
It is so relieving to see our team come through in the clutch like this. The last time i remember watching us in OT was last year at home vs NC State, where we missed a field goal in overtime and handed the game away. I think that was also the game where kirby freeman threw more picks than completions... This win is awesome, the young guys are starting to hit their stride in a big way, and the timing couldn't be better cuz the next two games aren't going to be easy. great post allcanes.
Oh and I know Harris came in and played incredibly, but no one is giving marve much credit for doing a good job in the first half and for putting up 6 points. He dodged several defenders and had the grit and the awareness to keep his body airborne long enough to cross the goal line. In my opinion, that was a pretty good play too.
Robert Marve has moments of brilliance. He also has moments when he plays and looks like Kyle Wright.
"The critics will say Virginia gave this one away..."
Agreed, and conversely, too many of our opponents have taken advantage of us over the years. Too many times have we have given the game away and let some sh*tkicker program take the W. If only someone could have just made one play...
Tennessee 2003
UNC, Clemson, VTech 2004
FSU, GTech 2005
FSU, GTech, VTech, Maryland 2006
UNC, GTech, NC State 2007
All three TD's against Virginia were scored by freshman. We have some players!
Im so pumped for the Thursday night game against VT. Dophlins staduim is going to be rockin (at least i hope). Do you know if the canes are going to break out the black uniforms?