Miami Canes enter critical month. ‘If we let off the gas now, November will eat you up’
The well-timed shove of Miami Hurricanes running back Mark Fletcher by guard Javion Cohen in UM’s overtime win last week against Virginia was the type of head’s-up play that helped buoy the Canes to victory — and in the long run could mean even more.
In his third consecutive OT rush, freshman Fletcher ran right, broke two tackles, bounced off Cohen to stay inbounds, then was pushed by Cohen into the end zone for the game-winning 11-yard touchdown.
Cohen said this week that he was just doing what offensive line coach Alex Mirabal “preaches everyday — finishing every play with maximum effort. ...Mark Fletcher is an exceptional running back. He got out there, made a man miss, made another man miss, plowed his way to the end zone and I was just there to help clean it up.’’
As Miami (6-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) prepares to travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, for an 8 p.m. Saturday game (ACC Network) against the North Carolina State Wolfpack (5-3, 2-2), the Canes have entered the critical days of November.
Two-thirds of the regular season is behind the Canes and plenty is still on the line. To have even a remote shot of getting into the ACC title game, Miami has to win out and depend on others to lose — and three of the last four regular-season games are on the road.
No matter how mentally and physically spent the Hurricanes might be, they insist, and seem to be proving, that the new culture under coach Mario Cristobal is one of persevering to the end of every play and every game.
‘Enhance toughness’
“Yesterday, Coach Cristobal started off the week with, ‘Man, everybody is in Week 9, so we have to enhance toughness, we have to enhance mental toughness and we just got to keep pushing,’ defensive tackle Branson Deen said Tuesday. “All our goals are right in front of us. If we let off the gas now, November will eat you up.’’
“This is the most important part of the season,’’ added UM safety James Williams. “It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. We’ve got to finish this season off the right way.’’
Entering the week, the Hurricanes, who won their past two games in overtime, were thriving nationally in several statistical categories. Offensively, Miami was No. 9 of 130 FBS teams in completion percentage (70.6), 11th in sacks allowed per game (1), 19th in total offense (456.1 yards a game), 20th in scoring offense (35.4 points a game), 22nd in third-down conversion percentage and 31st in rushing offense (183.8).
With UM quarterback Tyler Van Dyke having struggled recently with knee, rib and back injuries sustained Oct. 14 at North Carolina, UM’s vaunted offensive line, which kept him untouched last week, needs to continue its exceptional play.
Defensively, the Hurricanes were No. 8 in the country in sacks, No. 8 in team tackles for loss, No. 8 in rushing defense (86.9 yards allowed a game) No. 24 in total defense (321.5 yards allowed) and 27th in scoring defense (20 points allowed).
“It starts with our process and preparation,’’ Cohen said. “We attack every day with enthusiasm, with the will and the want to be 1-0 at the end of the week.’’
On Saturday, Miami, a 5 1/2-point favorite, will be attacking an NC State defense that typically uses a 3-3-5 stack defense. The Wolfpack is 17th nationally in team sacks, 28th in team tackles for loss, 36th in total defense (allowing 336.8 yards a game), 27th in turnovers gained (14), 13th in passes intercepted (10) and 24th in rushing defense (109.6).
Offensively, NC State, which defeated Clemson 24-17 at home last Saturday, is led by sophomore quarterback MJ Morris, who was promoted last month over former starter Brennan Armstrong. The Pack is 104th nationally in total offense (329.2 yards a game), 93rd in rushing (133.4) and 105th in passing (195.9).
November
Cristobal was asked this week about the month of November for football players.
“Well, you gotta get stronger as the year goes on. Right?” Cristobal said. “Hopefully you’ll avoid some injuries. Your team leaders become your hardest workers and play their best football in clutch situations. The team starts understanding that it’s not about, ‘Hey, someone making a play.’
“The team starts understanding that it’s about everyone doing their job and doing it really, really well. Because when that happens, the plays just come to you. ...Everybody around the country is in the same week. Our fatigue, our pain that we feel when we go out there to practice, it’s not unique to us. Everybody’s going through it. But to be able to wake up regardless of what you feel, how you feel, and still have that drive, that appetite to go get better, and understanding that Tuesday and Wednesday become your game reality...
“The teams that pushed through that are the ones that really separate themselves in the closing months of the season.”
The “effort’’ plays, as coaches call them, include receiver Jacolby George sprinting all the way down the field after Brashard Smith took a handoff in the Clemson game and motored 80 yards. Smith fumbled just before he entered the end zone, and because of George’s hustle, he was there to recover the fumble for a touchdown.
“If he’s not hustling the entire time,’’ Cristobal said of George, “he’s not there to recover that fumble in the end zone.’’
“Those plays right there come down to who wants it more,” said Williams, who during the Clemson game, had a forced fumble and fumble recovery at the goal line, preventing a Tigers touchdown. “Do you really want to win or do you just say you want to win?”
Miami leading receiver Xavier Restrepo concurred that the effort plays have become part of the Canes culture.
“That’s why we’re excelling this year, because of our effort. We never take a play off. When you see guys running down the field and recovering fumbles or tackling guys, if you come to practice you see the same thing every single play.”
As for the bumps and bruises and fatigue, Restrepo said this: “You’re going to play one single play healthy all year. That’s the first snap of the year. Everything else you’re going to play hurt.
“Hurt and injured are two different things. As football players that’s why mental health is so important for us, because we are battling through injuries and on top of that we have to remember all the plays. You signed up for it since Day One and you know what you’re going to get yourself into.’’
This story was originally published November 2, 2023 at 1:01 PM.
