Top Five UM Plays In Win Over BCC

The Miami Hurricanes knocked off the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats in game three, 38-10 in UM’s first home game of the year.

Below are the top five plays from the win and a hint, you might see the name Duke Johnson in there as the freshman running back found his way to the end zone four times in the win.

No. 5 – Eduardo Clements breaks off ten-yard touchown run late – Leading 31-10 the back ups were in the game and after a Dallas Crawford interception on a fake punt attempt, Miami rolled out Ryan Williams at quarterback and Clements at running back, third behind Mike James and Duke Johnson, both who had strong showings.

The Canes were hit with a holding penalty on first down and still chose to run Clements four times in a row, where he picked ten, seven and four yards before punching in the ten-yard touchdown run.

When Lamar Miller left Miami high-and-dry this past off-season, there were huge questions about the running game. Could James be the top dog? How would Johnson fit in as a freshman? Did Clements have what it takes?

All questions are slowing being answered. James is in the best shape of his career, Johnson is blowing up and growing up right in front of everyone’s eyes and Clements is a tough third-down, short-yardage back who is showing he too can carry the load.

With quarterback Stephen Morris struggling a bit, there’s more reliance on the ground game and to see James / Johnson / Clements forming a solid little unit, the late runs by fresh-legs Clements were a welcomed site, as was UM punching it in one last time down the stretch.

No. 4 – Dallas Crawford intercepts a Bethune-Cookman fake-punt attempt – Bounced around between offense and defense, it was just nice to see a playmaker like Crawford on the field for special teams, and making the most of the opportunity.

WIth the Canes leading 31-10, the Wildcats attempted a fake punt with Kory Kowalski, who noodle-armed a pass right into the hand of Crawford, two feet in front of him. Crawford returned it nine yards to the Miami twenty-one and running back Eduardo Clements punched in the score a few plays later.

The play came late in the game when the Canes had a large lead, but it’s always a good feather in the cap of the special teams unit or defense when something like this happens. It can give a spark later in the season as these guys now know they have made plays in the past. Similar to a late Brandon McGee interception at Kansas State last week, despite Miami being in a huge hole and the game out of reach.

You want your playmakers, special teamers and defenders making plays like this no matter what phase of the game you’re in. Heads up by Crawford and nice to see Miami score after the turnover.

No. 3 – Miami takes over midfield after poor Bethune-Cookman punt – With the score tied 7-7 midway through the second quarter, Miami finally got a spark and won the field position battle when Wildcats punter Kory Kowalski sent his kick out of bounds at the fifty- yard line.

Mike James picked up twenty on back-to-back runs and on a crucial 3rd-and-4 quarterback Stephen Morris found Phillip Dorsett for a fifteen-yard pick-up. A quick James run on 1st-and-Goal didn’t get in so on second down The Duke got the handoff and barreled in for his second score of the day and Miami led, 14-7.

No. 2 – Duke Johnson takes Morris dump off 50 yards for touchdown – Miami led 17-7 midway through the third quarter and in all reality, Bethune-Cookman was still a score from getting back in the game, despite their offense doing nothing.

Miami started the drive on its own twenty-two and after some dinking and dunking from Stephen Morris, he hooked up with Rashawn Scott for a fourteen-yard reception.

A play later tight end Asante Cleveland was nailed with a holding penalty and with the offense stagnant, a 1st-and-20 seemed rather daunting until Johnson ran away with it.

After receiving the toss and bouncing left, Johnson stopped, cut right, accelerated and found the end zone. It happened in a split second and again, showed this kid is special. Canes went up 24-7 and truly put the game out of reach on this play.

No. 1 – Duke Johnson returns kickoff 95 yards for touchdown – After Phillip Dorsett fumbled a punt return, Bethune-Cookman took over on the UM twenty and after six straight runs by Isadore Jackson, had the early 7-0 lead.

Before Miami even had a moment to panic – or fans had time to ‘boo’ – Johnson took the kickoff, cut through everyone and found the end zone, with the closest defender twenty yard behind him.

The Miami defense fed off the score, buckled down and while the offense remained in a lull until midway through the second quarter, because of the kickoff return, the Canes never had to play from behind – and ESPN didn’t have much time to flash – Bethune-Cookman 7, Miami 0 – across the ticker, as they’d have loved to.

Duke woke up the Wildcats with this return and took over the game from that point.

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