Win At Duke Helps Set Stage For Next Year

Two straight losses have turned the Miami Hurricanes’ season upside down.

Another slip up could prove to be this season’s tipping point.

Next up for Miami is a Duke team riding a five-game win streak. The Blue Devils are 7-2 overall and control their own destiny in the ACC Coastal Division. As a result, this weekend’s game against the Hurricanes now looms even bigger than the Blue Devils’ recent road upset of Virginia Tech.

Supporters of “The U” are a bit restless this week, and it has little to do with this Saturday’s opponent.

Barbs continue to be tossed at defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio, while quarterback Stephen Morris was heckled by fans clamoring for backup Ryan Williams to put down the clipboard and assume position under center.

While a “sky is falling” mentality presently permeates throughout Coral Gables, logic must eventually prevail.

The fact remains that Florida State is a few steps ahead of Miami, while Virginia Tech again proved fundamentally sound in the annual showdown. In a game where rain and turnovers were key elements, protecting the football was crucial.

The Hokies did so and the Hurricanes didn’t. Learn from it and move on.

This Miami squad certainly has its defensive issues, but the “talent versus scheme” debate isn’t going to be solved mid-November. Three regular-season games remain for the Hurricanes, and success in Durham—however it comes—is all that matters at this very moment.

Entering this season, Miami was 13-11 under third-year head coach Al Golden, who inherited a squad that went 28-23 in the four campaigns prior to his arrival. Throw three years of being in the NCAA’s crosshairs on top of that mess, and the Hurricanes are simply trying to regain their footing as a program.

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