Explosive, big-play Miami Hurricanes unleash spread offense to dominate Louisville
The no-huddle, steal-your-breath-away Miami Hurricanes were introduced to the nation Saturday night at Louisville, and all they did was make it look spectacularly fun.
Credit the new spread offense, another fine performance by D’Eriq King, some explosive playmaking and a graduate transfer kicker with a golden leg for lifting No. 17 Miami to a 47-34 victory over the No. 18 Cardinals.
It was Miami’s first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season. The result, in front of a reduced Cardinal Stadium crowd of 12,120 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, marked the first time the Canes (2-0, 1-0 ACC) have strung together victories since they won their third consecutive game against none other than Louisville on Nov. 9, 2019.
“That’s a very excited locker room right across the hall,’’ UM coach Manny Diaz said after the game. “That was a hard win, obviously. Everything we thought about Louisville before the game turned out to be true —very dangerous football team. That offense, they create so many problems for you, but I’m just so proud of the way we persevered through.
...A lot to be proud of. It feels great to be 1-0 in the conference heading back home for Florida State week.”
It also was UM’s first victory away from Hard Rock Stadium since Florida State in Tallahassee on Nov. 2.
The Hurricanes scored in four consecutive drives in the first half, including on field goals of 48 yards and a school-record-tying 57-yarder by graduate transfer Jose Borregales (four field goals for the night). That is the same Jose Borregales who contributed significantly to a UM loss last season with three field goals (including 50 and 53 yards) when he played for FIU.
Not only was the 57-yarder Borregales’ all-time best, it was the longest field goal ever kicked at Cardinal Stadium.
Quarterback D’Eriq King completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns. He added 9 yards rushing and was sacked once His favorite target: tight end Brevin Jordan, who caught seven passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.
“Coach [Rhett] Lashlee did a great job of scheming up this week,’’ King said. “We had a lot of guys wide open to make big plays...The protection was great all night.
“From Week One to Week Two that’s where you see the biggest jump of the season. We had a really, really good week of practice. Everyone came with a great attitude.”
Louisville quarterback Micale Cunningham also had an impressive night, though he tossed an interception. Cunningham completed 26 of 36 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns, with the pick. And the Cards’ Tutu Atwell, a native Miamian out of Northwestern High, torched the Canes for the second consecutive season with 8 catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
Miami junior running back Cam’Ron Harris surpassed 100 yards for the second game in a row, with 134 rushing yards and a career-long 75-yard touchdown on nine carries.
Freshman Jaylan Knighton scored his first two career touchdowns, including one on a 75-yard catch.
UM generated 485 yards of offense, but allowed 516 on defense.
The defense, however, finally earned the turnover chain — three, actually (interception by Al Blades, a fumble recovery by Amari Carter and fumble recovery by Zach McCloud). Linebacker McCloud had nine tackles, a sack, tackle for loss and forced fumble.
Bring on the Florida State Seminoles, the Hurricanes’ upcoming ACC opponent at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday at Hard Rock, another prime-time, nationally televised matchup on ABC — and another ESPN College GameDay showcase. UM has a three-game winning streak against its archrival Seminoles (0-1, 0-1 ACC).
UM’s victory Saturday was especially critical because this unorthodox season, due to the pandemic, has the Canes facing 10 consecutive league opponents to conclude the regular season.
“It was huge for us,’’ defensive end Jaelan Phillips said of the statement win. “Any time you go on the road, it’s a lot harder to beat teams, especially when it’s a ranked team. I give a lot of props to Louisville. Those boys played a great game, but you know, this was definitely an important win for us and it’s going to give us a lot of momentum moving forward.’’
With Miami up 20-6 at halftime, the teams traded touchdowns twice to start the third quarter — Miami’s two scores both on electrifying 1-play, 75-yard drives: a Harris sprint that took only 13 seconds and put UM up 27-13; and a pass from King to Knighton that took 11 seconds and gave Miami a 34-20 cushion with 5:02 left in the third.
Louisville got its third-quarter touchdowns on a 19-yard Javian Hawkins rush and 6-yard pass from Cunningham to Atwell, who also scored in the fourth quarter.
The Canes looked as if they had yet a third touchdown in that quarter, but Mike Harley dropped a sure scoring opportunity in the the end zone and Borregales nailed the 22-yarder for the 37-20 insurance.
The Cardinals scored first by capping a nine-play, 58-yard drive with a 40-yard field goal by James Turner. The drive was aided by a critical mistake by safety Keontra Smith, who was flagged 15 yards for pushing Cunningham when he was already out of bounds. Three plays later, fellow safety Bubba Bolden had a diving tackle for loss at third-and-2 to force the Cards 2 yards back and hold them to the field goal.
Bolden was all over the place Saturday, leading UM with 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Z
UM’s first-half touchdowns came on drives of 75 and 86-yard drives. The five-play, 75-yard drive took only 1:51 off the clock. It began with an 11-yard sideline pass to Dee Wiggins and was highlighted by Harris’ 38-yard rush and King’s perfect 17-yard touchdown pass to the back shoulder of tight end Will Mallory.
The 11-play, 86-yard drive was an all-out, heart-pounding beauty. It included a 74-yard completion that took Mallory to the Louisville 11-yard line before it was called back for a false start by guard DJ Scaife. On the next play, King hit Mark Pope for 31 yards, then Mike Harley for 9 to midfield. Harris rushed right for 18 yards and after a Harley drop and King loss of a yard, King hit tight end Brevin Jordan for 13.
Two plays later, King connected with Jordan for another 13, and the tight end hurdled a defender to get to the 3. Freshman tailback Jaylan Knighton rushed over right guard for a 3-yard touchdown, the first of his career, and UM was up 14-3.
After Turner made a 22-yard field to close the gap to 14-6 with 11:06 left in the second quarter, Borregales’ shots gave UM a 20-6 lead with 5:49 left in the half.
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 11:35 PM.
