ORLANDO – All eyes were on Orlando last night, not just for the renewal of the UF vs. UM rivalry but also the 150th anniversary of college football.
In a game that featured multiple turnovers and penalties, the No. 8-ranked Florida Gators defeated the Miami Hurricanes 24-20 for just the second time since 1986.
“I want to congratulate the University of Florida on winning the game,” Miami head coach Manny Diaz told media members after last night’s game. “It was a game filled, like most opening games like this are, with a ton of mistakes from both teams. It ultimately came down to a couple of red zone possessions and they were able to capitalize and we were not able to capitalize and ultimately that was the difference in the ball game.
There were a couple major blunders on special teams and the short fields right there really ended up being telling in a very low scoring game where everything mattered.”
Diaz didn’t stop there.
“I thought our guys played with a lot of courage,” Diaz said. “I think they played with a lot of effort. But it doesn’t matter because we lost the game. We did not come here to play with courage and effort. We came here to win the game and it’s not OK at the University of Miami ever to lose to the University of Florida. Everybody in that locker room feels the pain of that right now.”
The Hurricanes (0-1) took a 13-7 lead into the halftime break following a 25-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Jarren Williams, the first of his career.
Williams finished the finished game going 19-of-30 for 214 yards and that touchdown for the Hurricanes.
“You probably can’t put a guy in a more adverse situation than in this stadium,” Diaz said. “The amazing atmosphere from both sets of fans, you know, their defensive front, which we knew was really good. Jarren never really blinked. A lot of time he didn’t have a lot of time and I thought he just played a little of courage, you know, made some plays with his feet, scrambled the throw to keep this some things alive. I think you can see why we picked him to be our guy.”
The Hurricanes had a chance to take a late lead, but Williams was sacked on 4th-and-12, essentially ending the game.
The Hurricanes outgained Florida in total yards, 308-306, but also outgained them in penalty yardage as well, 125 yards for 14 penalties to 100 yards for nine penalties.
“Well, we talked about all offseason about developing a backbone, being able to withstand a punch, which happened to us in the first half with the long catch and run by [Kadarius] Toney,” Diaz said. “And then that happened the second half when we fumbled the punt and they score on the short field and a couple times where it’s like, well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s not your night and you can kind of let go of the rope and I thought our guys looked those situations in the eye, fought through them, and ultimately gave ourselves a chance to win the game with 10 seconds left in the game throwing the ball in their end zone. Like I said, that’s what a big time program should do. You don’t pat yourself on the back for not quitting, but it is something. And that was a big point of our offseason.”
Starting running back DeeJay Dallas had 95 yards on 12 rush attempts and the team’s lone rushing touchdown. He also had four receptions for 37 yards, which made it a grand total of 132 all-purpose yards for the game.
Brevin Jordan led the Hurricanes with a team-high five receptions for 88 yards and the lone receiving touchdown.
K.J Osborn had four catches for 41 yards.
Placekicker Bubba Baxxa went 2-for-3 on his field goals.
The Canes have a couple weeks before their next game up in North Carolina, when they take on the Tar Heels Saturday, Sep. 7 at 8:00 p.m. It will be Miami’s ACC season opener.
PHOTO CREDITS: Jeffrey Wimbrow
