Podcast: Manny Diaz has his biggest win yet. What does it mean for him, Miami and QBs?

It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the Miami Hurricanes finally looked Friday like the team Manny Diaz said they would when he took over as coach ahead of the season. The defense played with the intensity of a Diaz defense of old. The offense made winning plays in the fourth quarter for the first time all season. Miami did what it’s supposed to do to when a team like the Virginia Cavaliers comes to Hard Rock Stadium.

It won.

There was plenty to take away from Diaz’s biggest win yet, and David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, break it down with immediate reaction from inside the press box in Miami Gardens on the latest episode of the Eye on the U podcast.

The result felt like a bit of a necessity for Diaz. The Hurricanes (3-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) were in danger of their first 0-3 start to conference play. Miami was in danger of dropping two in a row as favorites at home. The Hurricanes’ ACC hopes would have been all but dead by the midpoint of October.

Instead, Diaz and Miami provided reasons for optimism. The Hurricanes should have been winning with defense all year and Diaz’s decision to become more involved with his familiar side of the ball clearly invigorated Miami’s defense to scrape out a 17-9 win against then-No. 20 Virginia. Could this decision be a turning point for the Hurricanes this year?

The bigger question, though, is one which seems more difficult to answer than ever: Who is the quarterback who should be leading this team. With Jarren Williams injured, fellow quarterback N’Kosi Perry stepped in and scored a critical touchdown in the final minutes to cap an up-and-down game with one of the biggest plays of the year.

The podcast this week covers all that, plus defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau’s breakout performance, the legend of kicker Turner Davidson and a little bit of a cameo from wide receiver K.J. Osborn.