The Miami Hurricanes have struggled with placekicking, but just how bad has it been?
Success in the kicking game has been hard to come by for the University of Miami Hurricanes.
As the misses have piled up, so have the losses. The Canes (4-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) face rival Florida State (4-4, 3-3) on Saturday in a series that has often been decided by kicks. Coach Manny Diaz indicated early in the week that walk-on Camden Price, who hit his lone field-goal and extra-point attempts last weekend in a 16-12 victory against Pittsburgh, will likely handle the kicking game in Tallahassee.
While Price’s recent success surely is a point of optimism, UM’s kicking game has been bleak. Much of the Hurricanes’ futility comes down to placekicking.
Through the first seven games, Diaz mainly used two kickers — scholarship-athlete Bubba Baxa and walk-on Turner Davidson — and the result was the same. The two are a combined 90.9 percent on extra points but 46.2-percent on field goals.
UM’s field goal percentage ranks 122 out of 130 FBS teams. Only four Power 5 teams are worse: Florida State (44.4 percent), Nebraska (41.7 percent), Maryland (33.3 percent) and Oregon State (28.6 percent).
“You could write a book on it,’’ Diaz said of UM’s terrible kicking game after the Oct. 19 loss to Georgia Tech. “And if you figure it out, you could sell that and not have to do what you do for a living. I mean, any of us. This week in practice they were unbelievable kicking the ball. Bubba and Turner both. It’s just, you get them out there [and] it is what it is.’’
The Canes’ chances of securing the ACC’s Coastal Division title has plummeted without solid placekicking. Ahead of the UM-FSU matchup, the Miami Herald examined the kicking in each of Miami’s losses.
▪ Game 1: University of Florida (Final Score: 24-20), Key Miss: 27-yard field goal
The Gators’ fourth quarter was not off to a great start.
Two plays in, Feleipe Franks threw an interception to UM safety Amari Carter, who returned it to the Florida 24. The Canes would only advance the ball 15 yards before calling in Baxa.
He kicked it... and the ball sailed wide left.
The Gators got the ball on their own 9-yard line. One play later, Franks connected on a 65-yard bomb to wide receiver Josh Hammond. Three plays later, Franks was celebrating in the end zone.
While arguing UM’s chances hinged on a field goal would be a hypothetical nightmare, it should be noted that its win probability percentage dropped from 72.3 to 44.4 after Franks’ pass, according to ESPN.
▪ Game 2: University of North Carolina (Final Score 28-25), Key Misses: 26-yard field goal, blocked PAT, 49-yard field goal
Speaking of hypothetical nightmare, this was the type of game that keeps coaches up at night.
Let’s start in the second quarter. Down 14, UM’s offense has started to show signs of life. Jarren Williams started connecting on passes, DeeJay Dallas began running all over the Tar Heels defense — things were looking good.
Then, on UNC’s 9-yard line, Baxa got the call to finish off the drive. He’d miss wide left. Remember, this was right after he had just hit one from 50 yards.
UNC’s offense didn’t do much for the rest of the quarter and UM went into halftime down 17-13.
The kicking woes only continued.
After a Cam’Ron Harris rushing touchdown cut the Tar Heels lead to 20-19 late in the third quarter, Baxa was sent in to kick the extra point. The PAT was blocked.
That block forced the Canes to go for two on their next scoring drive which didn’t come until late in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion failed and they only led 25-20.
Their lead doesn’t last long. The Tar Heels responded with a touchdown and two-point conversion on their next series, putting them up three.
The Canes then got the ball with roughly a minute left. They needed three to send the game into overtime. Six plays later, Baxa took the field for the 49-yard attempt with under 10 seconds left on the clock. Wide left. Again.
▪ Game 5: Virginia Tech (Final Score: 42-35), Key Miss: PAT
Four.
That’s how many rushing yards Dallas had prior to his 62-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 35.
Hard Rock Stadium went wild when Dallas crossed the pylon. The score couldn’t have come at a better time. There was just under four minutes left in the game, the Canes’ heralded run game had only managed 94 yards and Jarren Williams had been benched since throwing three interceptions in the first quarter.
With all that had gone wrong, it looked like the Canes might somehow escape with a win. All they needed was Baxa to hit the PAT. The excitement, joy and relief evaporated as Baxa’s kick missed.
Although the game was tied, the missed kick felt like a losing blow. And, in some sense, it was — five plays later the Hokies scored the game-winning touchdown.
▪ Game 7: Georgia Tech (Final Score: 28-21), Key Misses: 34-yard field goal, 27-yard field goal, blocked 25-yard field goal
Two kickers. Three kicks. Three misses. One surprised coach.
“We’re not asking them to kick very difficult kicks,” Diaz said after the Georgia Tech loss. “The thing is they are kicks that they make at an almost 100 percent rate in practice so they’ve got to be able to turn that over to the game obviously to win these types of games.”
Before Tech tied the game at 21 on its next series, the Canes had a chance to go up 10 in the second quarter. Davidson, who had not yet missed a field goal on the season, was trotted out to take the first kick. He missed and Diaz’s confidence in him seemed to go with it.
The Canes wouldn’t get another chance to take the lead until just after the halfway point in the fourth quarter. This time, it was Baxa handling the field goal duties. Another miss.
But all hope was not lost. UM still had one more chance to win In what should’ve been the final drive of the game, the Canes got the ball with about four minutes left and proceeded to go 67 yards to the Tech 8.
Diaz chose Davidson to take the 25-yard field goal with roughly half a minute left on the game clock. The kick would seal the game, barring any insane kick return from Tech. Davidson fired off a line drive that got blocked at the line of scrimmage.
Tech went on to score the first touchdown in overtime and the Canes, unable to reciprocate, suffered their fourth loss of the season.
The next chapter of UM’s kicking saga begins at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Miami Herald staff reporters Susan Miller Degnan and Jordan McPherson contributed to this report.
