This picture tells demoralizing story. Miami’s coach, players talk loss. Did Canes quit?
The picture tells only part of the story that unfolded in an ugly way Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium: University of Miami offensive linemen sitting on the bench as they witness the final minute of the misery they endured against Duke in a 45-21 Blue Devils victory.
At that point, Miami had already amassed a ghastly eight turnovers — four in the final quarter, including Duke’s interception that defensive back Brandon Johnson made at the Miami 29-yard line and returned for a touchdown with about five minutes left to put the dagger deeper into the Hurricanes.
Starting right tackle DJ Scaife Jr. is shown with a pained look, his eyes closed and face leaning into his white-gloved, balled-up fist. The others, of course, are forlorn. And who wouldn’t be after allowing six sacks, including one that took out now-injured starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, and watching the Canes running game produce 48 yards.
Duke, by the way, ran for 200 yards, as the Hurricanes lost their third consecutive home game, where the announced crowds (Saturday’s was “57,421” — about twice as much as it appeared) keep dwindling.
Coach Mario Cristobal was upset the previous week that UM was penalized 17 times for 159 yards. On Saturday, when UM dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Canes improved that to three penalties for 30 yards. Didn’t mean much in the final result.
ACC race/bowl
With No. 21 North Carolina, which beat Miami, 6-1 and 3-0, the Canes appear all but out of the ACC race. Duke rose to 5-3 and 2-2. Miami goes on the road to Virginia for a 12:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff against the Virginia Cavaliers (3-4, 1-3), before heading back to Hard Rock to face Florida State (4-3, 2-3) on Nov. 5, then Georgia Tech (3-4, 2-2) in Atlanta on Nov. 12, at No. 5 Clemson (8-0, 6-0) Nov. 19 and back to Miami for the regular-season finale Nov. 26 against Pittsburgh (4-3. 1-2).
UM needs to win three more games to qualify for a bowl.
Cristobal, in only his first season of an $80-million, 10-year contract, will obviously not give up on his Hurricanes. But it appeared at least some of his players gave up during the second-half collapse. When asked about the apparent “lack of effort’’ and how he would explain it and fix it, Cristobal said he would first have to look at the tape.
Did Canes give up?
“We’ll see on tape,’’ Cristobal said. “If someone’s not playing hard, they have to go play somewhere else. What we have to do requires tough people. To turn a program, rebuild it, it requires tough-minded people willing to do the work. If that shows up on tape, they have to find somewhere else [to play]. Some guys have played really well. Some guys have played hard. We’ll go from there.”
The coach said the solution isn’t “magical.’’
“...Most importantly, of all the things, is understanding that when you go through something like this, and you’re rebuilding a program, and you get hit in the face like this, you have to be tough enough to look each other in the eye and stick together and go to work. It doesn’t magically get better. You have to go to work and that’s the only focus. That’s the only thing we’re going to do.”
Injury situation
UM got back several formerly injured players for the Duke game, but wound up with its most important player, plus one more, sustaining what appeared to be significant injuries. Van Dyke was sacked and landed on his throwing shoulder/arm with 8:58 left in the first half. When the medical personnel finally accompanied him off the field and into the locker room, he had his right arm up against his chest. If he can’t play at Virginia, he’ll be replaced by redshirt freshman backup Garcia, who was 13-of-21 for 198 yards and two touchdowns, with three interceptions and two fumbles.
The other injury was to backup center Jonathan Denis at 5:07 of the second quarter. He grasped at his left leg in the knee area, clearly in a lot of pain, and couldn’t touch the leg to the ground when he was helped off the field. The Canes are still missing injured right guard Justice Oluwaseun and tackle Zion Nelson. Formerly injured starter Jakai Clark, who was dressed for the game but didn’t start, had to replace Denis.
Players speak
After the game, tight end Will Mallory (two catches for 45 yards and a touchdown), receiver Colbie Young (six catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns) and cornerback DJ Ivey (seven tackles, forced fumble/recovery) spoke to the media. Each of them had good games, and each said the Canes were sticking together as a team. But Cristobal approves or picks who speaks, so it’s unknown how the masses are feeling at this point.
“Honestly, I just feel like we’ve got to keep pushing,’’ Ivey, a fifth-year redshirt junior said. “You’ve got to block out all the outside noise.”
Ivey said there probably “is a lot of head-scratching” going on among the players regarding the eight turnovers. “We’ve got to come back Monday and Tuesday, prepare hard for the next opponent and move forward. We can’t keep dwelling on this loss. ...I’m very confident in the group I play with. If that wasn’t the case I wouldn’t be at the University of Miami.’’
Said Mallory, considered a leader, on any lack of effort among his teammates: “I have to do a better job of leading and keeping the energy. ...It’s on us. It’s on the whole team. It’s on me. We have to stay together and keep moving forward, because if we don’t stay together, it’s only going to get worse.”
Concluded Young: “We stand together. Nobody is fighting with each other, nobody is separating. We all got some things to clean up and we’ll all figure it out tomorrow on film.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 2:13 PM.
