MIAMI GARDENS – There is one statistic that stands out above all else for the Miami-Michigan State game on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 18).
Hurricanes 4, Spartans 0.
Yes you read that right.
The 4-0 margin played a big role in the outcome of No. 24 Miami’s 38-17 home loss to Michigan State.
“Obviously, we are disappointed in our performance and disappointed in the outcome,” Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz said.
“I have to give credit to Michigan State,” Diaz continued. “Turnovers and the red zone told the story today. Missing opportunities and not creating any turnovers hurt – they won basically all the critical moments of the game. Like I said, it was very disappointing. It was tough on the guys in the locker room. There are still a lot of tight bonds in that locker room and there are a lot of guys who want to play hard for each other and want to make this right. That is going to be our job as coaches to find a way to make it right.”
Let us begin with the first turnover of the game for Miami (1-2), which was not necessarily a costly one.
It happened on the game’s very first drive, when graduate senior quarterback D’Eriq King led a 7-play, 36-yard drive that resulted in his lost fumble at the Michigan State 39-yard line.
King’s first of four total turnovers took place at the 12:36 mark of the first quarter, as Michigan State linebacker Quavaris Crouch recovered the ball to get his team going.
Michigan State’s first three points of the game did not happen until the 13:58 mark of the second quarter, when kicker Matt Coghlin connected on a 23-yard field goal to make it 3-0.
After both teams went on to trade passing touchdowns – Michigan State had a 10-7 lead over Miami with 2:56 left in the second quarter – King’s second turnover was on a first down play from Miami’s own 38-yard line. At the 1:29 mark, Michigan State safety Angelo Grose made the grab that ultimately kept his team’s 10-7 halftime lead intact.
In the third quarter, both teams traded touchdowns again. At the 3:53 mark, King found wide receiver Charleston Rambo for a 14-yard touchdown pass that helped Miami to trim Michigan State’s lead to 17-14.
For the record, Rambo finished the game with 12 catches, 156 yards, and two touchdowns. It was the best individual game of Rambo’s college football career, including his three playing years at Oklahoma.
Now going back to the game itself, King (38-for-59 passing, 388 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) committed his third turnover when he was sacked for a 15-yard loss by Spartans defensive end Drew Beesley at the 14:37 mark of the fourth quarter.
With the score still at 17-14, Michigan State defensive end Jacub Panasiuk recovered the ball and got it to the Miami 13-yard line.
In just three plays, Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne (18-for-31 passing, 261 yards, four touchdowns) connected with wide receiver Jayden Reed for a 10-yard touchdown.
With Coghlin’s extra point, Michigan State (3-0) took a 24-14 lead at the 13:10 mark and never looked back.
The final four meaningful drives of the game ended like this:
- 55-yard field goal made by freshman kicker Andy Borrageales at the 8:11 mark that cut Michigan State’s lead to 24-17
- 39-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to wide receiver Jalen Nailor at the 4:12 mark that extended Michigan State’s lead to 31-17
- King’s fourth turnover with 4:05 left in the game, which was an interception thrown to Michigan State cornerback Ronald Williams
- 8-yard touchdown run by Reed at the 2:32 mark that helped to make the final score of 38-17
Diaz spoke about King, who gave quite a valiant effort throughout the game despite his four turnovers.
“D’Eriq has been as courageous as they come,” Diaz said. “I think that’s why the team in the locker room is together. How can you quit on a guy who gives what D’Eriq King gives? The guy leaves everything out there and lays it all on the line for the University of Miami. I know, talking to him in the locker room after the game, he is hurting emotionally. He wants so badly for us to be great on offense. He is such a competitor and he is not going to be satisfied until we are.”
Diaz recapped the second half and how it went down.
“They were creating a lot of one-on-one tackling opportunities with their screen game,” Diaz said. “They were running harder through our tackles and we were running harder through contact and that’s on us. It’s very disappointing from where we’ve been throughout this year. Fundamentally, I thought that [Kenneth] Walker [III], and the way that he ran, and the way that they got the ball to him through the screen game told the story. I don’t know that they completed a pass down the field to a wide receiver until the touchdown on the third down in the red zone after the interception. That will be the point of emphasis this week defensively.”
NOTES: Michigan State outgained Miami in total yardage, 454-440. But Miami had more first downs than Michigan State, 29-23.
This is important to note because it could have been a different outcome if not for the four Miami turnovers on Saturday.
NEXT GAME FOR MICHIGAN STATE: Home vs. Nebraska (2-2) on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. EST
NEXT GAME FOR MIAMI: Home vs. Central Connecticut State (1-2) on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. EST
PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde
