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The Miami Hurricanes got back to winning ways, topping the Virginia Cavaliers 45-26 in the final home game of the season.

Impressive in a stats-sense as Miami’s defense forced turnovers, didn’t give up a ton of points and had its most impressive showing scoring-wise since a 45-30 win over Georgia Tech on October 5.

While those final scores were comparable, the paths to victory couldn’t have been more different.

As the 2013 season winds down, and sense is made of the Hurricanes’ recent decline, porous defense is only part of Miami’s problem. Equally as big for Al Golden and staff has been adjusting to life after Duke Johnson.

The sophomore running back suffered a broken ankle late in a 41-14 loss at Florida State, and Miami as a team, has yet to fully recover. The Hurricanes lost their biggest home run threat and playmaker going into the most important stretch of the season and has paid dearly.

Miami totaled 28 rushing yards in a recent 42-24 loss to Virginia Tech, unable to get anything going on the ground with Dallas Crawford or Gus Edwards. Crawford was serviceable a week later in the loss at Duke, but struggled to keep drives alive and didn’t have a run longer than 14 yards.

Defensive turnovers bailed Miami out against Virginia, while a few big plays through the air pushed the Hurricanes over the top.

Tracy Howard intercepted the first pass of the game, running it in for a touchdown, while David Gilbert returned a fumble 72 yards for Miami’s final score late in the fourth quarter.

In between was the Stephen Morris and Allen Hurns show, shining in their home finale, with the senior quarterback and wide receiver duo hooking up six times for 126 yards and a touchdown. Still, it marked the fourth-straight week the Hurricanes were outrushed, putting up 90 yards to the Cavaliers’ 243.

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