The Miami Hurricanes’ Coastal Division hopes have gotten bleak
Win or lose Friday night against Boston College, the Miami Hurricanes would not control their own path in the race for the Coastal Division title of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Now it’s gotten even tougher.
The simplest path for the Canes to win the Coastal would have been to win out and hope that Virginia, which defeated UM on Oct. 13, loses at least once to an ACC opponent.
Now with a second ACC loss, Miami will need Virginia to lose at least twice.
The Hurricanes remaining schedule: Duke (5-2, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at Hard Rock Stadium; at Georgia Tech (4-4, 2-3) in Atlanta on Nov. 10; at Virginia Tech (4-3, 3-1) on Nov. 17 and home for the regular-season finale against Pittsburgh (3-4, 2-1) on Nov. 24.
Virginia (5-2, 3-1) hosts North Carolina (1-5, 1-3) on Saturday, then hosts Pittsburgh next Friday, before hosting Liberty, an independent, on Nov. 10. The Cavaliers then travel to Georgia Tech on Nov. 17. Virginia’s regular-season finale is Friday, Nov. 23 at Virginia Tech.
Boston College hurts Miami with trick plays
Boston College opened the game against the Hurricanes with touchdowns on back-to-back drives. Both of those marches were aided by a trick play.
The Eagles waited less than three minutes to run their first trick play. Then they waited only another five minutes to run one again.
The Eagles struck first on their seventh offensive play. After running back AJ Dillon and quarterback Anthony Brown helped Boston College move across midfield, the Eagles set up a double pass. Brown threw backward to Jeff Smith and the wide receiver threw right back to the quarterback for a 27-yard gain. Three plays later, Brown threw the first touchdown of the game to Smith.
Boston College broke out its second trick play once again when it got near midfield. At the 50-yard line, the Eagles set up a reverse to Smith, who eventually dropped back to throw. Miami couldn’t pressure the receiver and coverage broke down. The senior lobbed a 31-yard pass to running back Travis Levy. Five plays later, Brown ran in a 5-yard touchdown to give Boston College a 14-7 lead.
The Hurricanes tried to answer with a trick play of their own on the ensuing drive. DeeJay Dallas attempted a pass to start the drive, but wide receiver Dee Wiggins lost a jump ball after the running back’s pass was tipped. Miami went three and out, and punted from its own 41-yard line.
DeeJay Dallas sets season high, then costly low
After taking a game-opening punch from Boston College, Miami needed a big play to answer and Dallas delivered. The Eagles opened with an 88-yard touchdown drive on their first possession, but Dallas gave the Hurricanes a chance for an immediate response with a 53-yard kick return — Miami’s longest of the season.
The Hurricanes capitalized with an eventual 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Malik Rosier to wide receiver Darrell Langham.
Dallas wasn’t done, though. The sophomore got Miami on the board again in the second quarter when he lined up as the quarterback and took a direct snap 10 yards into the end zone. Dallas’ touchdown cut the Eagles’ lead to 17-14 at halftime. He finished with 30 yards on 10 carries.
The first half was Dallas at his best. In the second half, he was at his worst. The Hurricanes started their first drive of the second half at the 6-yard line and managed to have even worse field possession for their second after Dallas muffed a kickoff out of bounds at the 3-yard line. What could have been a penalty on the Eagles turned into Miami’s fourth straight drive starting at its own 15 or worse.
Miami rides Malik Rosier for full game
Mark Richt said heading into Friday that he may use both Rosier and redshirt freshman quarterback N’Kosi Perry under center. Instead, the coach stuck by the redshirt senior.
Rosier played all but one snap at quarterback in the first half — the lone exception was the direct snap to Dallas — and guided Miami to 14 first-half points. The Hurricanes made the play calling a bit more friendly, incorporating short passes and letting Rosier run, as well.
Rosier finished the first half 9 of 15 with 79 yards and a touchdown. He added another 35 yards on six rushes. Rosier did, however, finish completed just one of his final six passes in the first half after an 8-for-9 start.
Rosier then did the same in the second half. Dallas again took a couple direct snaps, but Rosier played otherwise. He finished 18 of 36 with 150 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for 71 yards on 14 carries.
▪ UM tight end Brevin Jordan, who caught a career-high eight passes for 36 yards, sustained a bruised thigh, according to WQAM. Receiver Jeff Thomas sustained a bruised knee. Defensive end Joe Jackson has a hip-pointer. Safety Sheldrick Redwine said he had a left-shoulder stinger in the fourth quarter.
▪The weather for the 7 p.m. kickoff at Alumni Stadium: 41 degrees — the coldest temperatures the Canes had faced this season. By game’s end the temperature was 38.
▪ The Canes went to their fourth different combination of starters on the offensive line Friday. From left to right: tackle Tyree St. Louis, guard Jahair Jones, center Tyler Gauthier, guard Navaughn Donaldson, tackle DJ Scaife.
▪ UM’s defense, which entered the game No. 2 nationally in total defense, had already allowed 170 total yards — 113 passing and 57 rushing — and nine first downs by the time Boston College made it 14-7 with 2:50 left in the the opening quarter. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles had 209 yards, 152 through the air — and 11 first downs.
UM at that point had 74 yards and four first downs.
▪ The Miami captains on Friday were running back Travis Homer, linebacker Shaq Quarterman, linebacker Michael Pinckney and safety Jaquan Johnson.
▪ NFL teams with scouts at the game: Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions. Former Canes great linebacker Dan Morgan represented the Buffalo Bills.
This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 10:43 PM.