Miami and Georgia Tech will tangle in South Florida eight seasons later, squaring off this weekend at Sun Life Stadium. The Hurricanes have won four straight in the series, while the Yellow Jackets’ upset win kicked off a four-game win streak for Tech.
In honor of this budding ACC rivalry, ESPN’s Classic Sports Network gave Miami / Georgia Tech some love, choosing the Yellow Jackets’ best moment and the Hurricanes’ worst. (In fairness, last season’s OT thriller was on the ACC Network, so CSN didn’t have the rights to it.)
For Miami, it marked the last time the Hurricanes were truly relevant. Having lost the season opener at Florida State, 10-7 , UM rattled off eight straight wins. The highlight; a 27-7 upset of then-No. 3 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Miami crept to No. 3 in the rankings and was 8-1 rolling into the make-up game against Georgia Tech. There was even chatter that the Hurricanes were a title game dark horse behind No. 1 Southern Cal and No. 2 Texas, had either undefeated squad slipped up.
In reality, Miami’s sub-par offense was overwhelmed by a stout Georgia Tech defense and the Hurricanes dropped two of it’s three final games, including the disastrous 40-3 loss to No. 9 LSU in the Peach Bowl, complete with post-game tunnel brawl.
There was also coaching fallout as then-head coach Larry Coker had to clean house if he was to be retained.
Offensive coordinator Dan Werner wasn’t considered a big loss, but long time legends were shown the door in running backs coach Don Soldinger, as well as offensive line coach Art Kehoe, who current coach Al Golden brought back three years ago.
Revisionist history is a scary thing as the legend of the 2005 has grown as the years have passed and Miami’s struggles continued. In an effort to prove relevant days weren’t that far off, more had been made of this season than it deserved.
Things felt good at 8-1, with a No. 3 ranking. Three games later, 9-3 and ranked No. 17 to finish the season, bell still rung from that Tigers-sized ass kicking. Meanwhile, the Longhorns topped the Trojans in one of the more exciting Rose Bowls and national championship games in recent memory.
Logic said to delete Miami vs. Georgia Tech 2005 from the DVR when it recorded earlier today, but the masochist within simply wouldn’t let that be.
Over the years, the loss became foggy. The Yellow Jackets’ defense dominated, but the Hurricanes’ self-implosion was uglier than remembered.
Some other tidbits from and idiot who actually rewatched this nightmare, for those wise enough to change the channel:
After the early loss to Florida State, Miami eked out a 36-30 overtime win at Clemson. From there, the schedule boasted Colorado, South Florida, Duke, Temple, North Carolina and Virginia Tech, the Hokies being a defensive squad with a sub-par offense.
Florida State wasn’t an offensive juggernaut, either and Georgia Tech was a defensive squad with little offensive firepower, outside of Calvin Johnson at wide receiver.
LSU put up 468 yards and dominated time of possession 2-to-1. UM was 1-of-12 on third down and had 153 total yards in the loss. Doesn’t get much uglier than that.
No disrespect intended, but facts are facts. It was a squad of guys that simply didn’t pan out, for one reason another, but all come back to the head coach’s doorstep.
Kyle Wright. Ryan Moore. Lance Leggett. Charlie Jones. Things were ugly across the board on that side of the ball and defensively, things weren’t that pretty either.
Kelly Jennings, Brandon Merriweather and Kenny Phillips held down the secondary, but the linebacker corps were in shambles with Glenn Cook and Romeo Davis. Jon Beason was in the mix, but as a sophomore hadn’t yet mad his mark.
The defensive line also had its overall struggles, outside a few moments here and there throughout the season.
Sinorice Moss picked up ten yards on an opening game reverse but on 2nd-and-10, Wright underthrew tight end Greg Olsen grossly, allowing a Tech linebacker to break up the play.
Minimal as one play may be, it set a tone. Miami’s offense looked rattled and Georgia Tech’s was immediately energized. Moss gained seven on third down and the Canes were forced to punt.
Ball went back the air, hitting Pat Clark and picking up 18 yards on a 3rd-and-17 (again, one of those nights right out the gate). Choice then broke off a 15-yard scamper and the Yellow Jackets were just outside the red zone.
Johnson got 11 yards on first down and a play later, Miami’s first self-inflicted wound with a pass interference call. Choice punched it in on 3rd-and-Goal from the two. 7-0, Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets wound up sacking Wright seven times over the course of the game, having found the Hurricanes’ weak spot and exploiting the hell out of it.
After a quick Quadtrine Hill run, Wright found Moss for the 19-yard score—Miami’s last points of the night.
Georgia Tech answered with balance and a seven-play, 61-yard drive ended with a Ball run of 16 yards for the game-winning score, midway through the third. The score didn’t come without some Miami self-implosion, though.
Facing a 3rd-and-5 early in the drive, the Hurricanes were hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call. Georgia Tech took the 15 yards and the momentum, scoring five plays later.
From there, the Jones show as Werner coached scared and ran his back five of the next six plays, outside of a 24-yard Wright to Buck Ortega hook-up on 2nd-and-8.
3rd-and-1 from the Tech 12-yard line, Jones rushed for a loss of one. 4th-and-2, Jones is swarmed for a two-yard loss.
From there, a Tech timeout and with a 1st-and-10 from the Yellow Jackets’ 27-yard line, Wright heaves up a lame duck to Olsen, double covered and not even looking back from the ball.
IN CONCLUSION: Call this a Jerry Springer “Final Thought” moment. In hindsight, should’ve deleted this train wreck of a game from the DVR, but in reality it gave a better appreciation for the squad Miami is fielding today, as well as for all things the Golden era.
In 2005, success was simply too fresh. The Canes saw four BCS games, two title games, a national championship, a 34-game win-streak, tons of NFL-bound talent and 9-3 season was considered a “down year”.
The early loss to Florida State in 2005 was followed by the eight-game tear, highlighted by the win at Virginia Tech—which gave the false illusion that things weren’t as bad as they seemed. (The 40-3 loss to end the season quickly changed that.)
A year later, Miami went 7-6, Coker was fired, Shannon took over and from there, 5-7, 7-6 and a false hope 9-4 season before back to 7-6 and another coaching change.
By 2005, the decline was fully on, outside of a few stay of execution-type moments, prolonging the bottoming out and eventual rebuild.
Miami isn’t “back” just yet, but these Hurricanes are on the right side of the hill; climbing towards the top again—like those late nineties-era Butch Davis squads that set the tone for a stellar run.
Reliving this relic from 2005 was like watching the Canes bleed out slowly. Still, it needed to be done as there will be a newfound appreciation as the rest of this season unfolds.
On that note, stomp out Georgia Tech this Saturday. Don’t even want to imagine to imagine “two” losses to the Yellow Jackets in a one-week span.
comments
The constant re-litigating of the winning-cures-all-while-losing-exposes-warts sentiment rolls on as Miami faithful continue flailing in…
Josh Pate gets it... and I'm not just saying that because he dedicated an entire…
Tyler Van Dyke may very well have thrown his last meaningful pass for the Miami…
We can debate the merits of winning-curing-all and losses-killing-perspective at another time. For now, focus…
Winning might not cure everything, but it certainly can shift a narrative overnight—immediately lightening…
The only remedy for a gut-wrenching loss to Georgia Tech would've been the Miami Hurricanes…
View Comments
I AGREE TO THE ASSESSMENT OF THE GAME. I CAME DOWN FROM ORLANDO TO WATCH THIS GAME. ILL NEVER FORGET THIS PITIFUL GAME, AND IT WASNT JUST THE OFFENSE, THERE WAS SOMETHING IN THE AIR! I UNFORTUNATLEY BOUGHT THAT REVOLUTION KYLE WRIGHT'ED #3 JERSEY I HAVN"T WORN SINCE THAT NIGHT. ON TO THE GAME, THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WAS MOSS MISSED 5 BLOCKS AS FB THAT LED TO MOST OF THE SACKS, AND REGGIE FREAKIN BALL COMPLAAAAAAAIIIINNNED ALL NIGHT FOR CALLS, UNJUSTIFIABLY SO AND THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE HAD, THE FINAL DRIVE THAT GT SCORED ON WE HAD THEM 3 AND OUT ON OUR 40 YD LINE AND THE D-LINE STARTING SWAGGING(DANCING) AND BALL STARTED WHINING ABOUT THAT AND THE REFS THREW A UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT FLAG AND THE FINAL SCORING DRIVE FOR THEM IS HISTORY BECAUSE THAT WAS THE FINAL SCORE! THE THING THAT HURT THE MOST WAS IF WE WON THE RUMOR WAS WE WERE GONNA LEAPFROG TO #1 OR#2 IN THE COUNTRY TO PLAY IN THE SHIP!
I agree, it was so tough to watch I STILL havn't rewatched the game. In fact its still recorded on my VHS sitting on a shelf. Interesting point you made about the helmet-to-helmet hit, I was unaware of that occurence however he was pitching a fit from the opening kickoff, so maybe Cook was proving a point?! All I know is, everytime its mia-gt week I hear Warren Sapp in my mind being quoted saying after this nightmare game in '05, "we lost to who? the only college football team in GA are the 'dawgs. I couldn't have agreed with him more....especially against them in '08, it felt like we gave up a 1000 yds on the ground, and then some gt tech fan on the side line wearing a shirting stating we may play in there league but they are way out of ours. Were the U, who are they. I finish with saying, lets win 5 in a row against them on saturday!
Steve - I blocked out much of that game. I swore a Miami win was in the bag that night, so had a bunch of friends over (who didn't care, but pulled for the Canes for me as I live in So Cal these days), as well as my folks, who took me to games at the Orange Bowl since birth and because of the allCanes connection, we live and die with this team.
The 2005 loss was akin to falling to Tennessee in 2003, 10-7. A game Miami had no business losing, but everything that could go wrong, did—and there was just a lack of concentration and execution. The Canes seemed to go through the motion in both games. It was as painful to re-watch as it was to witness live ... almost.
The Georgia Tech rivalry proved quirky over the years. That 2005 game had nothing to do with why Miami lost in 2006 or 2007 (falling apart under Coker and had a ripple effect), or 2008, where the triple option just ate Miami alive.
Like the old days, those quirky option offenses don't do shit when Miami is loaded with talent and playing proper ball. Hopefully that is the case on Saturday.
Trusting Al Golden and the fact that these kids will show up this weekend. If so, no worries. If not, it can get ugly.