MIAMI GARDENS – The final regular season game for the Miami Hurricanes was one to remember for a variety of reasons.
It was Senior Day (Dec. 12) at Hard Rock Stadium against the North Carolina Tar Heels. It was planned to be a great capstone for those who played for UM these past few years.
It turned out to be a lessons learned experience for the Hurricanes in more ways than one.
For starters, the defense for Miami (No. 10 national ranking; 8-2 record) allowed a whopping 778 total yards to North Carolina in its 62-26 loss. The vast majority of today’s scoring came on the ground, as Tar Heel running backs Javonte Williams and Michael Carter combined to set a FBS record with 544 rushing yards.
The running back tandem had five combined rushing touchdowns in this one, as Carter ran for 308 yards (two scores) and Williams had 236 yards (three scores) of his own.
The dagger of today’s game happened with 14:16 left in the fourth quarter, when North Carolina wide receiver Rontavius Groves found quarterback Sam Howell for a 1-yard touchdown pass. This trick play, called the Tar Heel Special, gave the road team a commanding 48-18 lead.
Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz provided some commentary on how this one turned out.
“We have to give credit to North Carolina. They were phenomenal,” Diaz said. “That was probably as good as they can play matched up with probably as badly as we can play and that’s the result. We are who we are. We learned a harsh lesson tonight.”
Diaz commented on the flow of this game and how it went.
“They were able to continue to do the same two or three things over and over again and have the success that they had,” Diaz said of North Carolina.
“Once you’ve got those backs out in the open field, then they really become a problem,” Diaz continued. “We were not ourselves tonight and that was the disappointing part…The biggest disappointment is that, with everything on the line tonight, we took our eye off the ball.”
Despite all that, there were several positives for the Hurricanes in this one.
Graduate senior quarterback D’Eriq King had a relatively respectable performance, as he finished the game with 18 pass completions on 30 attempts for two touchdowns and an interception. He also led the team’s running games with 53 yards.
One of Miami’s best plays of the game was a beautifully thrown 76-yard touchdown pass from King to a wide open Brevin Jordan, who hauled it in from the middle with ease. The junior tight end and Mackey Award Watch List honoree finished the game with a team-high six catches for 140 yards and a score.
King’s touchdown to Jordan came at the 6:49 mark of the third quarter, with Miami down 41-18 to North Carolina (No. 17 national ranking; 8-3 record).
King’s other touchdown pass was to senior wide receiver Mike Harley (six catches, 77 yards, one score; 72 kick return yards; 149 all-purpose yards). It was a 2-yarder to the end zone with 10 second left in the first half, as Miami saw itself down 34-10 to North Carolina.
“They outplayed us and they played harder than us,” King said. “But you have to learn from it. It’s like anything in life, when you fall down, you have to get back up. You can’t let it keep you down. There’s a lot we can learn from this game. You can expect to win, but you have to play like it. We just have to learn from it and move on.”
LOCAL PERFORMANCES
- Senior safety Amari Carter: six tackles
- Redshirt senior linebacker Zach McCloud: three tackles
- Junior safety Gurvan Hall Jr.: three tackles, pass breakup
TOP OVERALL PERFORMER FOR MIAMI
- Junior safety Bubba Bolden: team-high 13 tackles
NEXT GAME FOR MIAMI: Bowl game to be announced at a later date
NEXT GAME FOR NORTH CAROLINA: Bowl game to be announced at a later date
PHOTO CREDITS: Canes Football
