MIAMI GARDENS — Following the game, there were not many positives that Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz could take.
“Obviously very disappointed in the result today. Certainly had more than enough chances to win this football games,” Diaz said. “Some mistakes early on, gave them hope, gave them life. And to their credit, they did a good job possessing the football in the second half, wearing us down.”
The statement seemed fitting for the Hurricanes (3-4, 1-2 ACC), as they suffered a 28-21 overtime loss to a Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-5, 1-3 ACC) team that is currently undergoing a massive reconstruction process.
The loss was a complete flip from their win against Virginia just a week prior. The Hurricanes struggled both on offense and defense.
Despite an extra day to prepare during the week, the Hurricanes offense struggled to get anything going, as they gained 357 yards of total offense and came away with points on just three of seven red zone drives.
“We’ve just got to make the plays. I feel like that’s been a recurring theme in our season,” wide receiver KJ Osborn said about the Hurricanes’ red zone struggles. “In the red zone, it’s tight with man-to-man coverage and blitzes and things like that, but we’ve just got to make the plays, myself included.”
Starting the game at quarterback was N’Kosi Perry, who was making his second start of the season. Perry finished the game completing 16 of his 28 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 15 yards on the ground and another touchdown.
In the third quarter, Perry went down with an apparent shoulder injury after attempting to scramble, but would quickly re-enter the game and complete it.
On the ground, the Hurricanes were forced to turn to Cam’Ron Harris after a knee injury ended DeeJay Dallas’ day early.
On 18 total carries, Harris finished with 136 yards rushing but failed to find the end zone when given chances. Harris was able to find the end zone through the receiving game, though, as he took a screen pass from Perry 19 yards out to give Miami a 21-14 lead in the second quarter.
Despite the Hurricanes getting multiple chances in the second half to put more points on the board, kicking troubles ensured that the Harris touchdown would be the Hurricanes final one of the day.
Miami started Turner Davidson at kicker, but he was promptly replaced by Bubba Baxa after a 34-yard missed field goal in the second quarter.
Baxa, however, struggled himself, as the sophomore kicker missed a 27-yard field goal which would have put the Hurricanes ahead late.
Despite those struggles, the Hurricanes had one final chance late in the fourth quarter to walk out of Hard Rock Stadium with a win.
On the first play of the drive, Perry connected with wide receiver Dee Wiggins, who was making the start for the suspended Jeff Thomas, for a 50-yard gain to put the Hurricanes at the Georgia Tech 25-yard line. After a few rushes to set the Hurricanes up at the 8-yard line, the team turned to Davidson again, who had his kick blocked by Antwan Owens.
“It’s so fascinating. You could write a book on it and if you figured it out, you could sell that and not even do what you do for a living,” Diaz said about the kicker’s confidence. “This week in practice, they were unbelievable kicking the ball, Bubba [Baxa] and Turner [Davidson] both.”
The kicking game was not the only struggles the Hurricanes had on special teams.
In the first quarter, Georgia Tech successfully executed a fake punt for a 41-yard touchdown. The touchdown gave Georgia Tech a 14-7 lead.
For the Georgia Tech offense, it was the rushing attack that proved to be too much for the Hurricanes defense to handle. Despite switching from the famed triple-option offense to a more traditional and modernized offense, the Yellow Jackets finished with 207 total rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
Accounting for most of the rushing yards was sophomore running back Jordan Mason. Entering the game with 284 yards and three touchdowns for the season, Mason added 141 yards on 22 carries and the eventual game-winning 1-yard touchdown in overtime.
Mason accounted for seven of the Yellow Jackets’ nine rushing chunk plays (10+ yards).
“It’s attention to detail. In the Coastal, games are always close. You see ups and downs in the ACC all across the board,” linebacker Shaquille Quarterman said about the defense allowing chunk plays. “So, it’s about attention to detail. It’s always been our downfall.”
With the loss, the Hurricanes are likely eliminated from the ACC Coastal title race. The loss also makes the road to a bowl game exponentially tougher, as the Hurricanes would have to win three of their remaining five games to qualify.
The Hurricanes will look to build towards a potential bowl game next week (Oct. 26), as they travel to face Pittsburgh.
PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde
