MIAMI GARDENS – Run, run, run.
It was literally all the Miami Hurricanes needed to do in their season opener against the upstart UAB Blazers. The refreshed and rejuvenated offense was led by graduate senior quarterback D’Eriq King and junior running back Cam’ron Harris, who combined for three rushing touchdowns in their team’s 31-14 win at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami (1-0) came back from an early 7-0 deficit and went to work on the ground in the game’s late first, second, and third quarters. All of tonight’s scoring for the Hurricanes came in this time frame against the Blazers.
Harris, who led all rushers with 17 carries for 134 yards and two touchdowns, got the running party going when he shook off the opposition for a blazing 66-yard sprint to the end zone with 1:04 left in the opening frame. The speedster literally outran the opposition and went untouched in the process.
With an extra point by graduate senior kicker Jose Borregales, Miami tied the game up at 7-7.
And then after the Hurricanes defence did their part, it was the D’Eriq King Show on the next drive. The dual-threat quarterback led a scoring drive that took six plays for 66 yards, including his 12-yard touchdown run with 10:04 left in the second quarter that gave his team a 14-7 lead.
Miami’s seven-point lead over UAB (1-1) held serve going into halftime.
The third quarter was when the game decidedly went into the Hurricanes favor for good. It began with a series of runs from King and Harris, followed by a 25-yard field goal made by Borregales at the 10:15 mark to extend the lead to 17-7.
There was a bit of a scare right after that due to UAB scoring a touchdown on the next drive, a 6-yard end zone run by senior running back Spencer Brown (16 carries, 74 yards, 1 touchdown). The lead for Miami was cut to 17-14 at the 6:19 mark.
It was all Miami the rest of the way, as Harris punched in his second touchdown of the game (4-yarder with 4:02 left in the third) and King finished it off with a 4-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Brevin Jordan at the final buzzer of the third quarter.
Those two touchdowns made the final score possible.
“It was a lot of things that usually happen in the first game,” said King, who completed 16 of 24 passes for 144 yards and one touchdown, while adding 12 carries for 83 yards and another score.
“I think we did some good things and we got to better on a lot of stuff,” King continued. “We’ve got to get better quick on a lot of stuff, but it felt good to go out there [and we were] running the ball pretty well. I think the o-line did a great job, the running backs did a great job and a few people made plays…It felt pretty good overall.”
Miami head coach Manny Diaz was generally happy with the offense’s production against UAB.
“Well, I think you saw a glimpse of what it can be. Again, it took us a minute to get going,” Diaz said. “I’ll say this, as a football team, we need to learn how to finish a game better. I didn’t think we were as good in the fourth quarter as we were in the third, but they put so much stress on the defense. And then D’Eriq [King], obviously with his running ability on some of those scrambles [and on] the touchdown, there’s always the threat of the explosive play. Cam Harris’ first touchdown on the fourth down really got us going there in the first quarter. And so, I’m proud of those guys. I’m proud of the way we were physical and ran the football.”
Miami finished the game with 492 total yards against UAB’s defense. The home team gained 337 yards on the ground, while adding 155 in the air.
“That’s a really good UAB team,” Diaz said. “No one does what [we did to them] in terms of rushing yards and total yards. Everyone in this profession knows Bill Clark is an outstanding defensive coach, and to run for over 300 and have almost 500 yards of offense is really impressive.”
LOCAL PERFORMANCES
- Redshirt senior linebacker and season captain Zach McCloud: 2 tackles, 1 pass breakup
- Senior safety and season captain Amari Carter: second on Miami’s defence with 5 tackles (4 solo)
- Junior safety Gurvan Hall, Jr.: 3 tackles (1 solo)
NEXT GAME FOR MIAMI: Saturday, Sept. 19 on the road at Louisville; Kickoff time to be announced
NEXT GAME FOR UAB: Thursday, Sept. 24 at South Alabama; 7:30 p.m. kickoff
PHOTO CREDITS: Canes Football
