HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – It took the Miami Hurricanes 13 years to reach the ACC title game.
After last weekend’s 38-3 loss to reigning ACC champion and defending national champion Clemson, the beat goes on to Miami’s next and final stop this season: the Orange Bowl.
Back to the ACC title game for a moment.
Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant is who the Hurricanes are slowly erasing out of their psyche. Bryant ran for a touchdown, threw for another and passed for 252 yards to help the nation’s No. 1 team stay atop the College Football Playoff rankings with a 35-point blowout win over then No. 7/now No. 10 Miami.
Miami (10-2) has now lost to Clemson (12-1) by a combined score of 96-3 in their past two meetings.
“Well congratulations to Clemson, they thoroughly whipped us,” Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt stated.
Bryant set an ACC championship game record by completing his first 15 passes, eclipsing the mark held by former teammate and quarterback Deshaun Watson two years ago. More than 30,000 Hurricanes fans in attendance – and wearing their orange and green – witnessed the action at Bank of America Stadium.
The ‘U’ is not back. At least not yet.
However, they have leaped further than expected. This Hurricanes team won the ACC Coastal Division as predicted, defeating the Florida State Seminoles (6-6) on the road and earning immense back-to-back wins at home over rivals Virginia Tech (9-3) and rival Notre Dame (9-3) on the primetime stage.
Also, winning 10 games with a trip to the ACC championship for the first time qualifies as a major accomplishment at Miami.
But for the ‘U’ to be back, it will take more than two seasons. The lesson is this: Clemson is the measuring stick.
“We are not there yet,” Richt indicates. “We have some more recruiting to do. We have some more developing to do. We have some guys who can play against anybody in America, but I don’t know if we have enough of those guys yet.”
The Hurricanes are the first team in 40 years to qualify for the Orange Bowl on a two-game losing streak. Their opponent, the Wisconsin Badgers (12-1), is from the Big Ten conference.
Miami is the designated home team, literally with the game being played at Hard Rock Stadium.
“It is going to be somewhat of a home game for us,” Richt added. “It is our home stadium. Our fans have been phenomenal all year long. It will be a great ball game and a great atmosphere for college football.”
Miami is heading to the Orange Bowl for the first time in 14 years and is 7-0 at home. Wisconsin is making its Orange Bowl debut.
The first team to score the most touchdowns will win this game. More than likely though, it will be a defensive battle all game long.
Wisconsin has the nation’s top-ranked defense, but Miami isn’t bad themselves, allowing just 4.77 yards per play. And while Miami may be a bit behind when it comes to allowing yardage, the Hurricanes have forced 29 turnovers and lead the country in turnover margin.
Combine that with Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook’s tendency to turn the ball over and the absence of three of Miami’s most prominent offensive weapons (season-ending injuries to running back Mark Walton, wide receiver Ahmmon Richards, and tight end Christopher Herndon IV), and you can easily see why I think this will be a defensive struggle.
Repeat after me: turnover chain, turnover chain, and turnover chain.
