Two weeks ago the nation deemed Miami a horror show. Now the ACC title game is in play
Once unfathomable to consider, a day after the University of Miami upset No. 17 Pittsburgh 38-34 on the road, the Hurricanes are still in the race to win the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference and get to the ACC title game in Charlotte.
We know. Two weeks ago at this time, when the Hurricanes (4-4, 2-2 ACC) had just fallen at North Carolina to post a 2-4 record and bring the “fire Manny Diaz” chants to a bubbling crescendo, the league title wasn’t even worth mentioning. Now, after consecutive wins over top-20 teams (including then-No. 18 NC State), the Hurricanes should be favored to win all four of their remaining games — beginning 12:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Georgia Tech (3-5, 2-4) and continuing Nov. 13 at Florida State (3-5, 2-3), back home November 20 against Virginia Tech (4-4, 2-2) and concluding with the regular-season finale November 27 at Duke (3-5, 0-4).
The Canes, who must win two of their remaining games to qualify for a bowl, will need help. But with the way the ACC usually plays out, it’s hardly a stretch.
Without getting into tiebreaker scenarios, which would introduce complications that might not favor Miami, here’s the simplest path for the Hurricanes to win the Coastal Division, still led by Pittsburgh (6-2, 3-1):
▪ Miami wins out, and Pittsburgh and Virginia (6-2 and 4-2, including that 30-28 win over Miami on Sept. 30, when UM freshman Andy Borregales missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt that hit the left upright and ricocheted out as time expired) each lose another ACC game.
Preferable for Miami would be Pitt beating Virginia on Nov. 20 in Pittsburgh, because Pitt right now has four ACC games left and thus more chances to lose to one of the other ACC teams, which include Duke, North Carolina, and Syracuse in the regular-season finale.
Virginia’s final four regular-season games include nonconference opponents Notre Dame and BYU before the Pitt game, and then at-home against Virginia Tech.
Diaz situation
Diaz, on a blazing-hot seat two weeks ago, has somehow found a way to keep his Hurricanes not only engaged in their games, but thriving with the inspiring play of second-year freshman quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who completed 32 of 42 passes (76 percent) for a career-high 426 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.
Diaz was asked Saturday by 247Sport’s Inside the U if UM athletic director Blake James had “reached out’’ to him and “tried to explain what he was thinking with that action or tried to make amends” regarding his Oct. 22 conversation with some media members, including the Miami Herald, that Diaz “knows we need to win games” and that James was evaluating every game. James at that point declined to say if Diaz’s job was secure for the rest of the season.
“We have good conversations every week with our administration,’’ Diaz replied. “We have a good working relationship. We both want the same things. Everybody is really excited about the fact that we got this win. It’s a humongous win for our program.
“Back-back-top-20 wins keeps us alive in the Coastal Division and we got a team that’s really, really confident and we’ve got four games left. There’s no way we’ve played our best game. We are still getting better, there are still obviously a lot of places for us to improve. But if we continue to play with the spirit and fight that we have, the other stuff is a lot easier to fix.
“It’s hard to fix fight if you don’t have it. And our guys, they have it in abundance.’’
This story was originally published October 31, 2021 at 11:17 AM.
