UM almost had a historic night rushing against Duke. Turnovers spoiled the fun

As a torrential downpour unleashed on Hard Rock Stadium, Deejay Dallas made his move.

The speedy sophomore running back found a hole through the right side of the offensive line, slipped past a Duke defender and outran two more down the right sideline for an 83-yard touchdown in the pouring rain to jolt the Miami Hurricanes back to life early in the second quarter against the Blue Devils.

But just as quickly as Dallas’ surge lifted Miami up, his two costly fumbled drained any rare momentum Canes offense built up during their 20-12 loss. It was Miami’s third consecutive defeat and snapped a 13-game regular-season home winning streak that dated back to the 2016 season.

It also soured an almost historic night for Miami, which tallied a season-high 300 rushing yards against Duke, a milestone UM had reached just once before in ACC play (314 vs.NC State on Nov. 3, 2007). Dallas finished the game with a career-high 124 yards on 12 carries, while Homer tallied a season high 133 yards on 18 carries.

“When you run the ball, you’ve got to make sure you keep your hands on the ball and dig through whatever’s going through your head, whatever you see on the field,” running back Travis Homer said. “You just got to push.”

The Hurricanes certainly pushed late in the first half. Immediately after Dallas’ touchdown drive, Miami rattled off a second scoring drive, this one traveling 82 yards on six plays and capped by a 6-yard Homer touchdown. Homer also ripped off a 43-yard run on the second play of that drive to provide a spark to get the team downfield.

After that touchdown, though, Miami fell flat. The Canes managed just 176 yards on its final 10 drives, which included four three and outs and Dallas’ two fumbles.

“It’s a lot of lack of execution,” Homer said. “A lot.”

The Hurricanes don’t have much time to fix it, either. Miami goes back on the road for consecutive games against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech before closing at home against Pittsburgh. UM needs at least one win among those three games to become bowl eligible.

“Do what we can to get better,” Homer said.

For that to happen, Homer said the Hurricanes need Dallas at his best.

“I just told him that I need him, the team needs him,” he said. “I know it hurts, but at this point he’s just got to get that out of his head.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2018 at 9:05 AM.